Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe
The Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends is a web-based and permanently updated data base of national cultural policies and related development of all European countries (http://www.culturalpolicies.net). Compendium cultural policy country profiles are mainly drawn up and updated by independent cultural policy experts (i.e. 'expert authors'), in consultation with respective ministries.
The Compendium seeks to generate and review policy standards in areas of concern to governments and society, by providing data, information, knowledge, comparative and trend analyses, expertise, advice and case studies. The country profiles provide information on the historical development, present structure, legal framework, financial aspects and ongoing debates in cultural policies and trends. New indicators are constantly introduced to regularly monitor policy developments in Europe.
This transnational project was initiated in 1998 by the Council of Europe's (CoE) Steering Committee for Culture. It was managed and edited as a joint venture by the CoE with the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts). Since its foundation in 1998, the Compendium has transitioned into a multi-stakeholder Association which has its seat at the Boekman Foundation, the institute for arts and culture, culture and related policy in the Netherlands. With Latvia as a member state, it is represented in the Association by the the Latvian Academy of Culture with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The unique character of the Compendium system that comprises both NGO's and government bodies as members, ensures the independence of the community of expert authors in its statutes.