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1. Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

2. Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

Debate about intensifying the connection between culture and sport

The website of the Boekman Foundation (Boekmanstichting) reports about a closed meeting in February 2017, organized by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, about the combination of sports and culture. Thirty scientists, policy makers, researchers and other professionals in the fields of sports, culture and education debated about the connection between sports and culture with regard to talent development and vulnerable youth.

Research of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau (Tiesen-Raaphorst et al. 2016) shows that the worlds of sports and culture cannot be separated easily. However, apart from collaborations on a local level, collaborations on a policy level are not very common.  The two guest speakers concluded that there is still a long way to go. They expressed the need for extra money and appealed to everybody to make contact with their target groups and to get inspired.

Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

• Van Gogh connects

An example of a programme about cultural diversity is Van Gogh connects (Van Gogh verbindt). How can the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam reach local young people with Surinam, Turkish, Antillean and Moroccan backgrounds more effectively? That is the main question of this four-year learning programme. Together with the target group the museum develops forty activities to research how the museum can be more effective in reaching young people of 18 to 30 years with diverse migrant backgrounds.

The aim of Van Gogh connects is not only to reach a new group of visitors, but also to measure the social impact of culture participation. The social value of culture is a well-known fact, but there is hardly any knowledge about how this can be measured. For this research, the museum joins forces with the Impact Centre ICE of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Together with ICE and Fonds 21 the Van Gogh museum will share knowledge, experience and results with other culture organizations and the science field in order to enhance social responsibility in the museum world.