Council for Cultural Education
Improving the quality of cultural education in Germany
Eight German foundations, including the Siemens Foundation, established the Rat für Kulturelle Bildung (Council for Cultural Education) in June 2012. This independent body of experts aims to enhance the importance and quality of cultural education in Germany and entrench it permanently in educational structures. The council, which was initiated by the Mercator Foundation, will provide a total of some 1.5 million euros over the next three years to help achieve that goal. Up to 13 experts from science, art and culture will be represented in it. Members of the initiative include: Altana Kulturstiftung gemeinnützige GmbH, the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Deutsche Bank Foundation, the Körber Foundation, the PwC Foundation, the Siemens Foundation, the Mercator Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation.
Group photo of the founding members
The council’s core task is to analyze and assess the status quo of cultural education in Germany in the political sphere and in relation to theory and practice in the field of education. As part of this the body will gather hard and fast data and create studies on the quality and impact of cultural education and work to make it an integral part of education. The results of this work will be published in an annual expert report.
A further objective is to create recommendations for activities in the field by the protagonists – which also include the foundations themselves – and so help optimize the quality of cultural education projects and programs.
The Council for Cultural Education, whose head office is to be located in Essen, will convene for a constituent meeting at the beginning of November and discuss the key topics for the first three-year term of office and the first annual expert report.
