LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photoOn 3 October this year, the Lithuanian Council for Culture (LCC) held its first conference People of the Organisation - Experts and Ambassadors? The conference hosted members of the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Regional Councils for Culture, experts, administrative staff and foreign guests - Director General of the Swedish Arts Council Kajsa Ravin, Director of the Slovak Arts Council 2015-2023 Jozef Kovalčik, and Director of the Arts Council of Ireland Maureen Kennelly.
The conference aimed to bring together all members of the LCC’s extended team and create a safe space to share the needs that come with being a member of this network. Participants tried to answer the questions: What is the LCC as an organisation? Who makes up its network of members? Why do people join this network? What do members expect from the organisation and what does the organisation expect from its members?
LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
The meeting took place in the context of the LCC’s 10th anniversary. It would not have been possible without the faith and efforts of its first members - the Chairperson of the Lithuanian Council for Culture Daina Urbanavičienė, the members of the previous Councils, experts, and former employees. Listen to our podcast Kultūros ritmas (The Rhythm of Culture) and read the interview to learn more about the beginning of the LCC.
Successful councils require trust and budget growth
The first part of the conference had representatives of three different institutions presenting the experiences of their national councils, discussing the concept of a public sector institution as an embassy of culture and cooperation, and analysing the importance of expertise in an organisation implementing cultural policy.
Director General of the Swedish Arts Council Kajsa Ravin stressed that arts councils are the guardians and ambassadors of the cultural ecosystem with the main goal of making quality art and culture accessible to everyone. She said arts councils can earn the trust of the cultural community by being open and transparent, providing a lot of information about the decision-making process when it comes to allocating funds.
Kajsa Ravin, LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
Ravin said that last year, the Swedish Arts Council introduced a new process for selecting experts where experts are no longer selected from a prelist. Instead, they are now selected via open calls where culture and art professionals fill in questionnaires and are selected based on their experience and competencies. Ravin stressed that the Swedish Arts Council places a strong emphasis on expert working groups that strive for diversity. These groups have field professionals with a wealth of experience and knowledge as well as recent graduates. The Council is also very interested in the application forms, which it has recently tried to make as simple as possible, easy to understand and responsive to the needs of the cultural community.
Jozef Kovalčik, LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
Jozef Kovalčik, who served as Director of the Slovak Arts Council for eight years, said the Council was established in the public interest and must have an independent decision-making process which requires discussion among experts. The Council also includes experts from abroad, mostly from Czechia. One of the challenges he saw was the framing of traditional art fields, where “trying to fit into a particular art form can lead to a loss of new projects and ideas.” He mentioned that the Slovak Arts Council has a statutory budget of at least €20 million, which can be increased annually. Some 65% of the funding goes to regions with a large number of artists and cultural organisations, which is why the Council does not have separate programmes for the regions, nor does it fund bodies under the Ministry of Culture.
Maureen Kennelly, LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
The Director of the Arts Council of Ireland said the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to a shift in the policymakers’ attitudes, which has already led to a 40% increase in the Council’s funding in 2021 (€130 million, up from €80 million in 2022), maintained over the whole period 2021-2023, and with a steady increase in the amount of funding (the Council’s budget is expected to reach €150 million by 2024). She mentioned that the Irish Minister for Culture and the Arts Catherine Martin, who approved the Council’s 2023 budget, discussed the record budget’s objectives, which have to do with the value and recognition of the creative community to society. Moreover, the Minister noted the link between the importance and mission of the arts and inspiring society to imagine and build a better future. Kennelly highlighted the Council’s long-term goals to increase investment in arts programming for children and youth, especially those most at risk of poverty; to invest more in diversity and inclusion initiatives to ensure they include a diverse range of people, with a particular focus on artists with disabilities; to fund as many festivals and arts centres as possible across the country, not just in the capital city; and to enable artists and arts organisations to acquire the essential skills they need to meet the climate change targets.
LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
Cultural community’s expectations for the LCC: Simpler and more frequent communication, qualification programmes for experts
The second part of the conference had roundtable discussions on various issues related to the LCC. Regional Councils of Culture Skills Development Programme Group discussed the challenges of writing a consolidated/joint commentary for an application. The participants presented the Irish Arts Council model as an example, as this model notes that it is important to comment on three commendable aspects and two that need to be fixed. Members of the group suggested that examples of good consolidated commentary could be provided to the members of the Regional Cultural Councils. The members of these Councils assess applications in a wide range of fields, which makes writing these comments difficult. They also discussed time management and finding ways to give experts enough time to assess applications as the whole process of administering applications also needs to run smoothly and applicants want to know the results as soon as possible.
LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
The internal LCC participants’ Communication Group noted that external communication has stepped up but it should also be improved within the extended team. The participants suggested that perhaps a dedicated communication tool, a newsletter or an internal communications person, could help. They also discussed working processes, suggesting that perhaps there could be quarterly LCC meetings and discussions with the members of the Regional Cultural Councils and weekly meetings of the administration to not only address various issues but also present work.
The Expert Skills Development Programme Group stressed that discussions between experts are one way to develop skills and would therefore expect more meetings to discuss applications. They noted that awareness is another important aspect of expert development, suggesting that cooperation between experts and the Division of Monitoring and Analysis should be stepped up, they should also be made aware of how the applicants did with previous projects. The participants suggested that the LCC should initiate an “expert passport,” which would allow experts to participate in LCC-sponsored events or other activities and thus carry out additional monitoring. They also stressed the need for more specialised seminars and training attended by current or former experts from foreign councils, more active communication with the curators of the fields when it comes to changes in the criteria, administrative changes, and meetings with the LCC members’ assembly with a broader vision.
LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
The Expert Work Model groups also suggested holding more discussions before the individual evaluation of applications begins and having experts discuss what is to be expected. They also encouraged meetings with experts no longer in office so they could share their experiences and discuss the challenges they faced. Another proposal was to consider depersonalising the applications, uniforming evaluation standards, rethinking the scoring system and possibly introducing changes to the criteria based on the experience of foreign organisations: “I propose financing,” “I do not propose financing,” “Perhaps.” This group proposed considering the issue of an expert under a contract where at least one member of the working group is a long-term expert. The participants stressed the need for closer ties with the Meeting of the Members of the LCC. They also debated what is more important, quality or a greater number of happy applicants. Would more projects receive funding but at lower amounts, or fewer projects but at a higher intensity? The participants decided it would be important to fund projects with at least 60% intensity.
LCC Conference 2023. Vytenis Budrys photo
The LCC Ambassadors Programme Group saw the LCC Ambassadors as a community made up of a wide range of members: Applicants, culture workers, experts, and others. The participants in the discussion decided that a successful ambassadorship needs clearer communication and simplified language. This would help potential LCC ambassadors to overcome the fear stemming from not knowing specific information. The group participant highlighted the link between the LCC, its team, and the applicants, and said more discussions and lively meetings would help build a horizontal relationship. They also highlighted the involvement of previous experts as a kind of prototype of an alumni community. Summarising the discussions, they said the expanded LCC team sees ambassadorship as part of its field of activity and is committed to networking.
The LCC Staff Skill Development group agreed that team members need to develop their competencies and that training in time management, quality management, professional needs, and communication with applicants is currently essential. The discussion participants mentioned that qualification does not end with training; they noted the importance of the internal field of the Lithuanian Council for Culture where the extended team could turn to each other for advice, interact, and cooperate.
The Lithuanian Council for Culture hopes to start implementing the ideas discussed in the discussion groups in the near future, to transpose some of them to the working groups, and to continue improving the work of the LCC.
It is important to note that the discussion groups were moderated by volunteers - representatives of the Meeting of the Members of the LCC, experts, members of the Regional Cultural Councils, and administrative staff who attended the event. We are grateful for their additional efforts.
