Revaluing Culture

Across Europe, policymakers regularly question the value of culture and, increasingly, seek the answer in culture’s social and economic impact. As a result of this the culture sector often is expected to meet new aims. In the essay Revaluing Culture the Netherlands’ Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) argues that cultural policy should be first and foremost directed towards the ‘culture’ part of cultural policy. Only a strong culture sector is of lasting value to Dutch society, and to achieve it, policymakers must see to strengthen the resilience of the culture sector, so that it can deal with rapidly changing consumer preferences, buffer the consequences of new funding models, and rethink the relation between creative education and the labour market.