‘Nataša’ is a new civil society initiative of a number of cultural NGOs working in the Eastern Partnership countries and the European Union. The initiative is based on a set of already existing connections among this group of independent cultural organizations. For the past years these NGOs have been collaborating in the framework of numerous local arts projects, programmes for cross-border cooperation and capacity building as well as cultural policy reform initiatives in the Eastern Partnership context. During the recent Culture for the Eastern Partnership Congress in Lublin (www.epccongress.eu) a working group of key players from this field decided to further consolidate their informally established ties by forming a more structured but nevertheless open collaboration platform.
‘Nataša’ is not operating as a formal membership-based network or club of professionals. It rather stands for an open platform of like-minded cultural initiatives and individual cultural actors who intend to further connect their deep involvement in other Eastern Partnership culture projects, programmes and networks. Right from the beginning the new platform already reaches out to most of the regional projects co-funded by the EU Eastern Partnership Culture Programme (www.euroeastculture.eu), the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (Subgroup Culture) (www.eap-csf.eu), the alumni network of the Robert Bosch Cultural Managers Programme (www.cultural-managers.net), the Ukraine Culture Network (www.kultura.org.ua), the participants network of the Tandem Cultural Managers Exchange (www.tandemexchange.eu) of MitOst and the European Cultural Foundation, etc. The new civil society platform is open to everybody interested in cultural collaboration across the Eastern Partnership. The platform’s informal, non-representative and non-bureaucratic character is underlined by branding it with the name ‘Nataša’.
Goals
‘Nataša’ is a platform of civil society organizations and cultural actors which support, promote and inform sustainable cultural development throughout the Eastern Partnership countries (and in collaboration with their European counterparts across all Schengen borders). The platform aims to:
- link established actors and involve new players in the Eastern Partnership culture field for more coordinated and synergized actions
- pool and provide access to existing knowledge, practical experience and resources (online) for cultural collaboration and development in the Eastern Partnership
- develop, launch, promote and represent civil society initiatives for cultural policy reforms in the framework of all local, national and EU policy and governance structures concerned
- initiate and promote new ideas and flagship projects for sustainable cultural development in the Eastern Partnership
Work Programme 2013/14
‘Nataša’ does not have a secretariat or employees. All coordination work and initiative-taking is based on the unpaid working time, voluntary efforts and dedication of organizations and individuals who share commitment to the platform goals.
For the period 2013/14 four cultural organizations and individuals involved in the establishment of the ‘Nataša’ Platform have agreed to realize a set of actions in the following four working areas:
1) Digital/online communication & knowledge sharing tool
(responsible: Agata Will, Warsztaty Kultury, Lublin, Poland – a.will@warsztatykultury.pl)
- development, launch, promotion of an online news-sharing tool (by making use of technical infrastructure on new www.ecflabs.org social-media sharing platform for culture)
- inform platform members and followers about goals of Nataša and recruit/attract new actors, networks, initiatives to the platform
- gradually develop an online experience and knowledge-sharing tool which pools information, learning resources, best-practices, contacts, etc. in the field of Eastern Partnership cultural collaboration and development
2) Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum – Subgroup Culture
(responsible: Ihor Savchak, Coordinator EaP CSF Subgroup Culture 2013/14, Centre for Cultural Management (CCM) Lviv, Ukraine – isavchak@kultura.org.ua)
- sharing and promoting policy proposals and resolutions made by the platform in the framework of the recent EaP CSF in Chisinau
- representation of platform in/towards all relevant cultural policy related entities and processes (EaP Civil Society Forum, EaP ministries + governments, European Commission, EU programmes, EU Parliament, etc.)
- coordination of all existing and new cultural policy reform initiatives proposed by the platform
3) Conceptualization Draft Framework – Independent Eastern Partnership Cultural Foundation
(responsible – in collaboration with the entire platform: Philipp Dietachmair & Tsveta Andreeva, European Cultural Foundation (ECF) Amsterdam, The Netherlands – philipp@culturalfoundation.eu – tsveta@culturalfoundation.eu) + Natasa Bodrozic, Slobodne Veze, Zagreb, Croatia – abodrozi@gmail.com)
- drafting a brief concept on the idea of establishing an independent Eastern Partnership Cultural Foundation as discussed by the recent Culture for the Eastern Partnership Congress in Lublin in collaboration with all interested/active platform members
- sharing draft concept and platform ideas on this matter with other stakeholders and initiatives which support the establishment of such a foundation before the upcoming summit of EU and EaP heads of state in Vilnius (Nov 28 – 29, 2013)
4) ‘Local Ambassadors’ of ‘Nataša’ – The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform for Culture
(responsible – all local founding/key members of the platform, especially in the EaP countries: Sophia Lapiashvili, GeoAir, Tbilisi, Georgia – sophialapiashvili@gmail.com; Vladimir Us, Oberliht, Chisinau, Moldova – vladimir@oberliht.org.md; and anybody else locally concerned/interested!)
- sharing, promoting, supporting platform goals and ideas on local working levels
- recruit/attract new platform members and likeminded local initiative groups
