Culture is our thing!
The cultural mission statement of the South Westphalia cultural region
Page content:
- The cultural region of South Westphalia
- Facts about cultural work
- The people and their region
- Culture is our thing: The cultural mission statement
The cultural region of South Westphalia
The South Westphalia Cultural Region is one of ten cultural regions in North Rhine-Westphalia that jointly implement the core principles of the Regional Cultural Program NRW (RKP). The South Westphalia Cultural Region is comprised of the independent city of Hagen, the Märkischer Kreis (Märkischer District), and the districts of Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein.
The cultural mission statement of the South Westphalia Cultural Region forms the basis and guides the Regional Cultural Program NRW (RKP) in the region. The mission statement describes the content-related criteria for project funding. Furthermore, the mission statement provides templates for collaborations, including cross-sector collaborations, networks, and new cultural directions in the region. The mission statement serves as the basis for the work of the Cultural Region Service Office and the South Westphalia Cultural Council, which aligns work content and activities accordingly. Furthermore, the mission statement offers an opportunity to engage with the region, its places, and its people.
A few facts about cultural work in the region:
- around 20 arthouse theatres
- approximately 55 theatres, mostly run by volunteers
- around 52 music schools
- an innumerable number of music clubs, choirs, music groups/bands
- in about 110 history and regional museums, local museums/houses/rooms, half of them supported by associations
- approximately 170 history and local history societies
- over 60 galleries and exhibition forums (at least those that are visible at first glance)
- around 130 associations that promote culture and carry out cultural programs
- 12 adult education centers, libraries in every municipality (often several), countless studios...
In the South Westphalia cultural region, countless people are committed to ensuring cultural activity. Each of them has made cultural work their own thing: whether through involvement in a cultural association, through their own initiative, as a founder of a cultural enterprise, as an employee in a cultural organization, or even across disciplines as a source of inspiration or resource.
The people and their region
The region represents a cultural landscape that has always been shaped by the work of people.
The cultural mission statement: Culture is our thing!
...and everyone should participate in their own "cultural thing." Cultural work in the region is supported by many people who are committed to revitalizing and preserving culture. The guiding principle "Culture is everyone's thing" explicitly incorporates the potential of a diverse cultural society that champions culture in our region and thus makes it their own concern. All of these people make cultural work their own thing in their own way: whether through involvement in a cultural association, through their own initiative, as founders of a cultural enterprise, as employees in a cultural organization, as initiators or as resource donors. Accordingly, the three areas of "culturally engaged people," "cultural entrepreneurs," and "cultural drivers" form the framework for the RKP's funding and support measures in the South Westphalia cultural region. Cultural participation, involvement, and sharing are cross-cutting themes across all three areas. This is the only way that cultural work can truly function for everyone in a diverse, multifaceted society.
Design field for culturally engaged people
Cultural engagement has a broad base in the South Westphalia cultural region; the people of the region shape their cultural environment with passion and heart and soul. Cultural engagement is social glue and connects people with one another. Those involved share social responsibility for the preservation and development of their surroundings and their environment. To ensure the future preservation of the cultural infrastructure, promoting volunteer engagement in the region is of great importance. Strategies and measures should be developed to support volunteers in their work. In this context, it is important that the structure and quality of cultural engagement be further developed, the framework for volunteer action be improved, new ideas be implemented, and young people be inspired to get involved.
Impulses - Ideas - Inspirations
- Digital and analogue design spaces
- Information and meeting platforms
- new forms of volunteering
- Development of engagement strategies
- Qualification and promotion of young talent
- Structural measures such as the establishment of cooperations, including those across sectors
- Integration into regional and supra-regional initiatives and networks and development of communication concepts.
- Establish decision-making structures that involve committed volunteers
- Ideas on how commitment can be strengthened in conjunction with full-time structures.
Design field of cultural entrepreneurs
Cultural workers act like entrepreneurs, must assert themselves in the market, keep an eye on target groups, and balance this with available resources. Project management is part of everyday life, as is the development of strategies and networking. Culture is also an important component of location marketing and the region's tourism potential. The driving and critical force of art must not be lost sight of. The South Westphalia region offers sufficient open and creative spaces that can be filled with new ideas and utilized for artistically innovative projects. This also includes engaging with and engaging with the "green industrial region," with the people and mentalities living here, questioning social developments, and developing future perspectives.
Impulses - Ideas - Inspirations
- Concepts for cultural change
- digital and analogue communication platforms and knowledge transfer
- cultural valorization of “old” and new places and spaces
- Staging regional peculiarities
- Implementation of cooperation events
- Strengthening expertise and cultural skilled workers
- Supporting young culture and initiatives
- Professionalization through further training and expert networks
- Marketing campaigns for culture
- Concepts for sustainable use and sharing of resources
Design field of culture drivers
Culture needs to reach the heart of society to have a positive impact there. Everyone who lives in the region shapes its cultural life and, in turn, benefits from it. A culture of participation and sharing, meaning the active involvement and co-determination of a diverse, multifaceted cultural society with its experts in their own field, is therefore the foundation for resilient cultural work. A vibrant cultural environment creates atmosphere and is therefore a driving force for the welcoming and stay-at-home culture in South Westphalia, builds bridges between cultures, and serves as a link between different disciplines and sectors. To give culture a boost, a secure infrastructure, sufficient resources, reliable framework conditions, and close as well as interdisciplinary cooperation in the region are necessary.
Impulses - Ideas - Inspirations
- Partnership initiatives between cultural actors and regional businesses
- Campaigns to raise awareness and communicate the cultural scene through, for example, storytelling or (digital and analogue) marketing
- Measures for the strategic cultural tourism valorisation of regional culture
- Strengthening the welcoming culture
- Establishment of interdisciplinary cooperation, partnerships and networks
- Building alliances and developing strategies for sustainable action
- Participation and sharing initiatives that are inclusive and take the diverse cultural society into account.