LabforCulture.org is a partner initiative of the European Cultural Foundation LabforCulture Update Edition 2 LabforCulture.org is dedicated to cultural cooperation across some 48 countries that make up the broader Europe. Through its website, LabforCulture shares information and knowledge about transnational cultural practice; offline, it stimulates cross-border cultural cooperation, including research and analysis. LabforCulture is very much a partnership project and is jointly developed, funded and supported by many of Europe’s leading cultural organisations. More details can be found at www.labforculture.org and www.eurocult.org/lab.

Testing Phase Completed In order to test the usability, accessibility and outreach of the LabforCulture website, as well as the relevance of its content from the users’ perspective, an evaluation phase took place between mid-November 2005 and early March 2006. Users gave vital feedback through various channels during the 4-month testing phase, including workshops, phone interviews and an online questionnaire. Thank you to everyone who took part in the evaluation, which resulted in valuable comments from cultural practitioners across Europe. The LabforCulture team has implemented these suggestions in the final build-up to going live, which is expected at the end of May. If you would like a copy of the short report on the testing results please email labforculture@eurocult.org. Look out for LabforCulture Update Edition 3, which will announce the live launch of LabforCulture.org.

Gateway to Cultural Cooperation The Gateway to Cultural Cooperation (G2CC) is a project contributing to the core content development of LabforCulture that focuses specifically on cultural cooperation, and includes case studies, research, support for offline events, and development of a focused and targeted search tool on the site. The G2CC project is a crucial part of the initial development phase of LabforCulture.org and this partnership is a key example of the networked development approach used in producing the site. G2CC receives support from the European Union (through the Directorate-General for Education and Culture). The partners in this project are: European Cultural Foundation www.eurocult.org Fondazione Fitzcarraldo, www.fitzcarraldo.it European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research www.ericarts.org On-the-Move.org

Fondazione Fitzcarraldo Case Studies Update The Case Studies section of LabforCulture.org offers a lively behind-the-scenes perspective on European cultural cooperation, bringing to life the voices of artists and administrators who have participated in trans-border projects across Europe – from a cultural exchange between Nordic and West Balkan countries to urban art interventions across thirteen European cities. In this section, you can read first-hand stories from artists and listen to audio clips about the challenges they have faced, as well as hearing anecdotes and reflections from a wide range of people at the grassroots level. Featured artists and practitioners are given free rein to bring their own individual voices and experiences to the debate. In the Case Studies section, LabforCulture.org users are given a face, a name and a real life story through which people can reflect upon the debates and current issues about cultural cooperation that are being discussed in other sections of the site. The case studies also provide a useful tool for managers and artists. By providing learning points, these stories affirm common experiences and provide support to artists who aspire to engage in projects on a trans-border level.

Case Studies – special features: Case studies have been chosen because they each present a unique trait, not necessarily because they exemplify a current issue of cultural debate. The appeal of each of the featured projects relies on a multilayered perspective, allowing the user to focus on a different feature every time they visit the site. Multi-media objects are used throughout the section, which features audio interviews carried out by the Italian cultural organisation, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo, as well as clips sent in by artists themselves. Projects in the database are organised so that it is possible to highlight specific parts and to search for cross-cutting themes in unique combinations.

ERICarts - Defining European cultural cooperation The European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts) has carried out a comprehensive survey of 100 studies and position papers from across Europe to develop a common understanding of European cultural cooperation. Short abstracts are available in English on the key messages from each research resource – including a link to the original document, where available. Content is arranged by theme and a summary identifies Europe-wide trends regarding European, national, local and regional strategies and actors in European cultural cooperation, as well as the role of networks and the mobility of actors. Interactivity, which goes far beyond unilateral efforts of cultural diplomacy, is one of the most important elements of European cultural cooperation, according to a definitional framework developed by ERICarts that has been tested by experts across Europe. A second review of the framework will identify and analyse trends in national cultural cooperation policies. The results will be published on LabforCulture.org in early autumn 2006. To find out more, visit www.labforculture.org at the end of May 2006.

On the Move As the G2CC project moves into its second year, On-the-Move.org – a website dedicated to information about professional mobility in the performing arts – is running a number of training sessions on "Mobility, Intercultural Competence and Cultural Cooperation in the Age of Digital Space". The first trainers were briefed in Paris in February and a network of trainers was set up under the supervision of Corina Suteu from the ECUMEST Association in Romania. Further training sessions are planned for the autumn in Romania and Finland during the Mobile.Home Intersectoral Conference on Mobility of Artists and Arts Workers in the EU, which takes place from 9 to 12 November 2006. On-the-Move.org and its parent organisation – Informal European Theatre Meetings (IETM) – recently received an EU Year of Workers’ Mobility subsidy to organise this conference, which will highlight good practice among the main public, private and social actors and will address current obstacles concerning workers' mobility in the cultural sector, notably in performing arts. The Mobile.Home Conference will also host an On the Move and G2CC cross-sector expert workshop. This follows on from an earlier meeting of international experts that will focus on issues related to the synergy between different online resources and databases and produce recommendations for the sector in general. More information about On the Move training and the November conference will be available at www.labforculture.org and www.on-the-move.org soon.

Have something to say? Then please get in touch: labforculture@eurocult.org www.eurocult.org/lab You can see this Update online at: www.eurocult.org/lab/newsletter

The European Cultural Foundation would like to thank the following organisations for their support: The European Union - Directorate General Education and Culture; Federal Cultural Foundation Germany (with partner: Deutsches InformationsZentrum Kulturförderung, DIZK); Robert Bosch Foundation, Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences; Compagnia di San Paolo; Polish Ministry of Culture; The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation; Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs; Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture; Fritt Ord Foundation; Luxembourg Ministry of Culture; Spanish Cultural Ministry and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The European Cultural Foundation is funded by De Bank Giro Loterij, De Lotto and Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation. LabforCulture.org would like to thank its partners ERICarts Institute, Fitzcarraldo Foundation, On-the-Move.org aisbl and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education.

Sole responsibility for the contents of this online text lie with the individual authors and the European Cultural Foundation. Views expressed by individual authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the ECF. If you would like to unsubscribe to this e-Update please email labforculture@eurocult.org writing “unsubscribe” in the message.