[EXTENDED] culture360.ASEF.org INVITES | Expressions of Interest for Strategic Partnerships

culture360.ASEF.org

INVITES

Expressions of Interest for Strategic Partnerships

[Invitation extended to 31 July 2020]

culture360.ASEF.org is excited to open its doors to new strategic partnerships in 2020. After 13 years of leading the development of this website, we are now inviting expressions of interest from public agencies and private foundations working in the arts, culture, heritage, creative industries, cultural diplomacy and digital sectors, to work with us to shape the future of this exciting project.

Managed by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and publicly funded by partners of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), culture360.ASEF.org brings together 51 countries with the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.

What is culture360.ASEF.org?

Since 2008, ASEF’s arts and culture website – culture360.ASEF.org - has been enabling public access to relevant digital information on arts and culture for individual artists, arts organisations and policymakers across the 51 countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) region. It remains the only website offering such a service in the ASEM context.

The website is recognised particularly by professionals and experts in the sector, who consider it as an enabler of both cross-regional and intra-regional cultural cooperation. It has been acknowledged as a highly significant model in facilitating international cultural relations, an inspiration for other bi-regional or multilateral frameworks to follow.

What can we offer to partners?

Expertise in developing research in the form of country analysis briefs and reports, publications, guides, articles and interviews with the following focus areas:

Strategic focus

Access to 51 countries of Asia and Europe
Take part in culture360.ASEF.org Steering Committee
Access to less visible and less represented countries, regions and communities
Be visible in countries that you are focusing on in terms of cultural cooperation
Contribute to the UN Agenda 2030, particularly SDG 16.10 (access to information).

Geographical focus

Special Magazine articles or interviews on your country or country of interest
Series of articles on cultural cooperation and cultural diplomacy
Curated special news/opportunities on your country or country of interest
Cultural policy profile of your country / cultural cooperation initiatives with your country

Discipline focus

Any of the arts & culture related disciplines
Cross-sectorial topics such as art & health, art & environment, etc.

Why is it critical to work on this project?

Despite several online information channels available today, publicly accessible content on the arts sectors of all ASEM partners is not always readily available. Some regions and artistic disciplines are regularly under-represented. An independent external evaluation of culture360.ASEF.org in 2016 also confirmed that several digital arts websites have shut down in the last decade due to lack of sustainable funding. UNESCO has acknowledged information gaps as a key challenge to access to information and deeper international cultural co-operation. culture360.ASEF.org directly responds to this global challenge in the cultural sector. This is also reflected in the civil society report on digital access prepared by culture360.ASEF.org for UNESCO.

What do we seek through this partnership?

We are inviting partners that are interested in co-leading the future direction of important bi-regional cultural information system with us. We are seeking collaborators who will bring intellectual and financial contributions and are looking for long-term partnerships with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). We are also looking for partners interested in a holistic approach to arts and culture and their relation to technology, environment, social inclusion, other global challenges and mega trends.

We invite expressions of interest from public and private institutions from the 51 ASEM countries, such as Ministries of Culture, public agencies working in culture, national institutes of culture, national libraries and archives, cultural foundations & privately-funded foundations with a strong interest in arts, culture and heritage.

Please submit your expressions of interest by 31 July 2020 to:
Valentina Riccardi, Senior Project Manager, Culture Department, ASEF – valentina.riccardi@asef.org