The ECF attended the Netwerk CS farewell conference & networking event ‘Estafette2008' hosted by Netwerk CS in Amsterdam on 19th November. There were over 300 participants from the Dutch arts and cultural scene that all work on the topic of cultural diversity. There were 21 workshops, 30 artistic performances, mentoring talks and speed-dates. The ECF hosted one workshop in the programme discussing the values of cultural workplacement schemes.
During the programme the ECF was publicly declared as one of the top five Front Runners in the intercultural debate and was praised for being strong in the internationalization of the cultural debate and sharing of knowledge between different cultures. In the jury report the ECF was hailed for their contribution to spreading knowledge about diversity.
The jury thinks it’s great that the ECF (European Cultural Foundation) not just submitted their plans, but especially the content of these plans. According to the Jury the exchange of experiences, the best practice analyses and the influence on everyday practice and policy are a great contribution to the knowledge about diversity. (Full report available in Dutch)
About NetwerkCS: Netwerk CS is, or to be accurate was, a Dutch network for professionals and organizations in the cultural sector, with the aim to develop diversity projects and policy. It was temporarily set up in 2002 with the aim to furthering the diversity discourse in the Netherlands. They officially closed their office by the end of 2008, considering their mission as successfully completed. This is however not the end: it is transforming into a network of cultural professionals ("Netwerk Culturele Sector"), organised and held together through a community website and knowledge database: www.netwerkcs.nl.