The overall objective of the cultural policy in Montenegro is to increase participation of young people in cultural events and their interest in cultural activities and the creation of those policies.
 

Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture
 

Recent researches that have been implemented during the period of the preparation of the National Cultural Development Program have demonstrated that people under the age of 29 and from the age group 30-45 do not have high interest for cultural activities and programmes and that they are not satisfied with the quality of these programmes or events. Thus, the strategy stipulated various activities aiming at the enhancement of both participation and interest of young people in these activities. 
 

Namely, cultural institutions should plan special programmes devoted to specific target groups, including young people and promote incentive measures for the accessibility of cultural institutions and programmes so that students and young people in general can have affordable price for attending cultural events. In this regard, cooperation between national office of EYCA – European Youth Card Association and cultural institutions including museums, libraries, theatres and music institutions has been established providing incentives for young people who are owners of the card. In order to widen this cooperation on other cultural institutions, including the ones established at local level and festivals, National Program stipulated close cooperation with EYCA office in Montenegro for the period of implementation of the strategy (until 2027), that will contribute not only to financial aspect but also to the promotion and interest of young people for cultural events.
 

In addition, cultural policy in Montenegro stipulates special supporting measures for young artists and cultural professionals who want to upgrade their skills and performances abroad or in Montenegro. Namely, the Ministry of Culture and Media provides support for all fields of cultural and artistic creativity: music, theatre, cinematography, literature, visual arts by funding projects that contribute to the promotion of their talents and Montenegrin culture. In addition, the Ministry provides support for art students that study abroad or participate in master classes and other events. 
 

In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Media devoted special public call for the projects and programmes for children and youth, that has already been described in the previous part of this Chapter.  

Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people
 

At the moment, there are no official data regarding the interest of young people in cultural heritage in Montenegro. Nevertheless, the overall impression is that young people have lack of interest in traditional way of the presentation of cultural heritage. That is the reason why the National Program foresees, amongst other measures, the establishment of digital communication tools aiming specifically for young people, that will specifically aim to promote culture and cultural heritage in a different model that is closer to young people. 
 

In addition, supporting measures for creative industries often foresee close link between cultural heritage and contemporary creativity in order to communicate Montenegrin rich cultural heritage through creative expressions that are different than everyday ones. One of the sectors that is very attractive in this regard is ICT and gaming and special supporting measures for this field have been foreseen under the call for creative industries projects.