ECLN Research starting in 10 European countries

Today the updated and tested European Cultural Learning Network (ECLN) research tool-kit hits Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK.  Partner Organisations will be mapping the work of Artists, Freelance Creatives and Cultural organisations using 7 special research tools developed by ECLN.

The first of these tools aims to indicate  relationships between three levels of cultural and creative activity: the creative and cultural industries; the specialist, passionate and talented  cultural enthusiasts that are committed to developing their own arts and cultural practices despite not being commercially contracted; and the generalist arts and cultural participants that engage in these activities for fun, social or broader educational purposes. The research will examine the portfolio of current and historic cultural and artistic experiences of 250 artists, freelancers or representatives of cultural organisations in order to identify any indicative trends in movement within and between these 3 levels of cultural activity. It will also examine the contexts in which cultural experiences have taken place i.e. on an individual basis, as part of a group or as part of a community of interest or practice. The tool enables individuals to track their own sequence of engagement within 9 zones of cultural learning and identify in which of these zones they currently offer cultural learning support to others.

Artists, freelance creatives and cultural organisations support cultural learning in a wide range of contexts and using different methods e.g. as part of  a weekly formal education process in a classroom or as a peer-mentor in an informal writers’ group meeting monthly in a cafe.  The research will also enable an examination of who is benefiting from this type of cultural learning support, who is paying for it and how it is being currently evaluated and by whom. Artists, freelance creatives and organisations will quantify the amount of cultural learning support they do and the skills, expertise and resources they provide. The first set of results will be available in October 2013 and will be published on the ECLN web-site.

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