Samenvatting

The Creative Europe programme promotes and supports cultural, creative and audio-visual sectors. Funding at EU level for cultural programmes is crucial in supporting creative and cultural industries to grow, build international networks, generate jobs and skills, grow audiences and markets, up-skill, and meet meaningful social objectives. This study provides an answer to whether the goals and objectives of the current mandate, Regulation (EU) No 1295/2013 establishing the Creative Europe Programme (2014 to 2020), have been achieved by one of its subsidized projects: TodaysArt. The central research question of this study is as follows: ‘’How does the festival TodaysArt in The Hague contribute to the goals and objectives of the European Union’s Creative Europe programme?’’. The research design of this study is predominantly qualitative, as most of the data is conducted through interviews. The interviews have been done in the interest of this research as well as for the evaluation report of the We Are Europe programme that has been sent to the European Commission. For secondary data, EU publications, literature, and evaluation reports were gathered. For primary data, six interviews have been conducted with experts in the field of the Creative Europe programme, TodaysArt and in the creative and cultural sectors. The results reveal that the impact on the artists and cultural and creative professionals has been substantial, and the approach of TodaysArt has made a positive contribution to the goals and objectives of the overall programme. The festival has done this by promoting international mobility, internationalising careers and contributing to the content of the work of the artists and professionals. Although the EU is not their main subsidizer, TodaysArt has indirectly contributed to creating more social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, intercultural diversity, personal and career development of its employers, sustainable partnerships and the promotion of transnational circulation of creative and cultural works, thus contributing to a better democracy, one of the main goals of Creative Europe. To conclude, TodaysArt festival has positively contributed to the objectives and goals of the Creative Europe programme, whereas the expectations of the programme have mostly been met, which was that it will encourage the audio-visual, cultural and creative players to operate across Europe, to reach new audiences and to develop the skills needed in the digital age. Since qualitative data such as the impact on artists and creative and cultural professionals is of great importance, this study recommends that the European Union should focus more on improving and researching this impact. Furthermore, TodaysArt should focus more on children, young people, people with disabilities and underrepresented groups. Both recommendations shall contribute to more social cohesion, which is essential in times of European social, economic and political crises.