Closing the Gap

The advocacy scheme that builds bridges and promotes cooperation between cultural centres and their local authorities

The programme in a nutshell

We are committed to amplifying the voices of our members and promoting the interests of European socio-culture at large. That is why in 2022, in the framework of our CUBE project supported by Creative Europe, we introduced Closing the Gap, a programme aimed at promoting fruitful and potentially transformative cooperation between cultural centres and their local authorities.
In order to build bridges between different actors and create lasting connections, the programme envisions the organisation of six roundtables in six different European locations.

We designed this programme because many of our members experience a significant divide between the work done by cultural centres and their local authorities. There is often a need for improved communication, collaboration and connection processes, increased trust and more structured dialogue. On the other hand, some experience supportive and productive working relationships with local policy-makers and institutions, and could share good practices and recommendations with those seeking to improve them.

How does it work?

The programme includes three main actions.

- Six roundtables in different regions in Europe will gather cultural actors, local authorities and international guests to discuss challenges and best practices, join study visits and matchmaking initiatives;

- The roundtables will result in the creation of easy-to-access and user-friendly advocacy sheets listing reasons and benefits for cooperation between local policy-makers/civil servants and socially oriented cultural centres;

- Ten ambassadors will represent the network and the programme in various local, national and international fora, and promote European cooperation as well as inspirational examples of joint work between local authorities and cultural centres. The appointed ambassadors are:

Raluca Iacob, member of the ENCC advisory group
Piet Forger, ENCC Board member and member of the ENCC advisory group
Vittorio Bianco, ENCC Board member
Piotr Michałowski, ENCC Co-chair
Ioana Cruegel, from ACCR
Tom Van De Velde, from member Dijk92
Heather O' Donnell, from member TGR The Green Room
Théo Majcher, from member ALTER EGO (X)
Žaneta Vávrová, from member Vzdělávací a kulturní centrum Broumov

If you are interested in hosting one of the roundtables or have questions, please contact Sara Turra, the programme coordinator, at sara.turra@encc.eu.