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1. Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

2. Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

3. Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

Lower student fees in municipal culture schools

High student fees may hinder equal opportunities for participating in culture school activities (kommunala kulturskolan). Therefore, the Government has in 2016 commissioned the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet) to allocate project funds for municipal culture schools. Municipalities can, since autumn of 2016, apply for a government grant.

Since 2016, the Swedish Arts Council distributes grants totalling SEK 100 million (9.5 million euro) annually to municipal culture schools. By the end of 2018, the majority of municipalities with culture schools had applied for grants, and these were primarily used to broaden the offering and reach new groups according to an evaluation from 2021. 

Leisure card

The Swedish Arts Council, together with four other authorities, is tasked with preparing and introducing a leisure card for children and young people starting in 2025. The leisure card shall cover children and young people aged 8–16 and provide increased access to sports, culture, outdoor life and other association life. In particular, children and young people from socioeconomically vulnerable households will have increased opportunities to participate in leisure activities through the leisure card. Children and young people with disabilities or other special support needs must also be covered by the leisure card on the same terms as other children and young people.

In 2024, the government has tasked the Swedish Arts Council with distributing a temporary grant for capacity-building efforts in cultural schools, which aims to give cultural schools good conditions when the leisure card is introduced in 2025. In total, 245 out of a total of 290 municipalities have been granted the temporary grant. The grant can also be used for educational initiatives and for purchasing materials and equipment to make it possible for all children to participate in the cultural school's activities regardless of socio-economic background or need for special support.

Cultural heritage and schools

Institutions for cultural heritage, such as museums, archives and libraries, can be described as alternative learning environments that serve as meeting places for open discussion on art, history and social issues. Many cultural institutions offer activities for schools. Many institutions even have various types of partnerships with schools. The policy documents for public museums emphasise the need to engage in educational activities.

The government proposed in 2017 that the Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) to be commissioned to define how cultural heritage can contribute to the school system. The board was tasked to promote increased cooperation between cultural institutions and schools in all parts of the country. The assignment was  reported to the Government in autumn 2020. Among the results, the following is of main interest:

• The survey shows that museums, archives and world heritage offer activities of great educational value for schools around the country. Collaboration is widespread, many children and young people come into contact with the country's cultural heritage institutions.
• At the same time, there is a potential to further develop the collaboration between the school system and the institutions. Among other things, there are significant differences in students' access to cultural heritage institutions.
• The cultural heritage institutions contribute to students, regardless of background, feeling that they can participate in and claim the cultural heritage that shaped Sweden. They give students knowledge and experiences of the past that make them better equipped to understand their present and to shape their future.

Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

During the recent years, no nation wide information campaigns or policies have targeted young people in order to inform about opportunities to access cultural environments, besides the initiatives already described in this section.

Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

Each year in September, Heritage Days are arranged all around Europe as a part of the Council of Europe's and the European Commission’s joint programme, European Heritage Days. In Sweden the event it is called Kulturarvsdagen (Cultural Heritage Day) and is organised by the Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet). On Cultural Heritage Day, cultural environments, cultural landscapes and historic places of interest are shown all over the country and the history around these is told. Little Heritage Day’ (Lilla kulturarvsdagen), focusing on children and young people is a part of this event.

The Swedish National Heritage Board is the national coordinator, and arranges the event in Sweden in collaboration with Sweden’s Local Heritage Federation (Sveriges Hembygdsförbund) and the Working Life Museums Co-operation Council (Arbetslivsmuseernas Samarbetsråd).