Culture and citizen participation

Integration across the Sound is of great political interest, and the committee has, therefore, established three working parties; each concentrates on one of the three themes. The working parties consist of politicians who themselves sit on the Öresund Committee, and who can co-opt experts and others to help in the work as it progresses. The working parties will be disbanded when their work has been completed.

Dialogue with representatives from different areas
In 2008 the Öresund Committee set in motion a process enabling a dialogue to be conducted with representatives from trade and industry, the cultural sector and research together with officials in regional and municipal government responsible for cultural services, and cultural politicians in Skåne and Zealand. The aim is to formulate the opportunities and challenges connected with adopting a regional approach to culture in Skåne and Zealand.

As part of this process the Öresund Committee is also examining the opportunities to improve regional residents’ access to and use of the region’s programme of cultural events and leisure activities. We are also investigating initiatives that can present and market the Öresund Region as a culturally dynamic and attractive region in order, in part, to support its development with regard to business and tourism.
 

The Öresund Committee’s annual Öresund Forum
“Turn the Öresund Region into an artistic free zone!” That was just one of the creative suggestions that was put forward when the Ministers for Culture in Denmark and Sweden met regional politicians, representatives for trade and industry, culture workers and opinion formers at the 2008 Öresund Forum in Roskilde.

Sweden’s Minister for Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, pointed out in her speech that culture accounts for a greater portion of Swedish GDP than the nation’s entire food or automotive industries – a clear indication of the importance of culture for national and regional development.

The Danish Minister for Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, drew attention to how important a role culture plays for identity and global competition. He also spoke of the importance of the synergies between culture and trade and industry. Both ministers were clearly impressed by the pace in the Öresund Region and reacted positively to the prospect of a dialogue with the region’s representatives on the subject of cross-border cultural cooperation.

Culture as a regional development factor
How important is culture as a factor in regional development? What should a successful regional cultural strategy look like? These are just two of the questions that the Öresund Committee’s politicians in the working group for culture as a regional development factor are seeking to answer as part of their work in establishing a common approach to cultural activities in the Öresund Region. A cohesive cultural policy for the Öresund Region can be a contributory factor in strengthening regional integration and marketing Öresund as a region of culture.

Reference group for a cultural vision and strategy in the Öresund Region
The Öresund Committee’s political working party for culture as a regional development factor has, together with the Executive Committee of the Öresund Committee, decided to set up a reference group for culture in the region. This reference group has until the end of October 2009 to work with formulating concrete proposals for visions and strategies for culture in the Öresund Region.

As starting points for its work, the reference group has both the Öresund Committee’s underlying proposal for a vision for cultural activities in the region and the points of view raised in connection with the so-called “Cultural Parliament” conference, KulturParlament Öresund.

How can cross-border cultural cooperation in the Öresund Region support development and make the region more attractive?
- Should there be closer links between culture, tourism and trade and industry on both sides of the Sound? How can municipal and regional government contribute to this?
- What examples of leading-edge competence within the cultural sphere on Zealand and in Skåne stand to benefit from regional cooperation?
- What is needed to strengthen innovative relationships between the cultural sector and creative businesses? Can cross-border cooperation across the Sound play a role in this process?

A regional working group comprising politicians from Skåne and Zealand – set up under the umbrella of the Öresund Committee to examine cultural issues – has embarked upon a process that will lead to a common vision and strategy for regional collaboration in the cultural sphere within the Öresund Region.

Øresund regional media coverage
Media coverage of events “on the other side” of the Sound clearly reflects the fact that the Öresund Region is made up of two parts of two different nations.

At the same time, “crossing the Sound” to work or even to set up home is becoming part of everyday life for more and more people. It is increasingly commonplace for Swedes to have Danes as their neighbours and for Danes to work alongside colleagues from Sweden. As it becomes gradually more natural to regard the Öresund Region as a single, common housing and labour market, the need to be well informed about what is happening on both sides of the Sound will acquire ever greater importance.

As more and more commuters cross the Sound and more people set up home “on the other side”, maybe we will see a new type of media consumer develop, a group that is interested in news and politics from both Denmark and Sweden.

In this connection it may be of interest to investigate which are the most important questions for a future Öresund media to focus on and what the potential for political action is in this sphere.
 

The working group will help to analyse the media market in the Öresund Region with the intention of looking at needs and opportunities for regional media coverage within the Öresund Region as a whole.
 

Öresund as a cultural metropolis
What significance does culture have as a factor behind regional development? How do culture and the industries related to culture contribute to stimulating economic growth and employment and attracting international attentions? What should a successful regional cultural strategy look like?

All of these are questions that have come into ever sharper focus in recent years. Today these matters are on the political agenda at municipal, regional and national level, as well as in EU cooperation.

I
ntegration across the Sound is of great political interest, and the committee has, therefore, established three working parties; each concentrates on one of the three themes. The working parties consist of politicians who themselves sit on the Öresund Committee, and who can co-opt experts and others to help in the work as it progresses. The working parties will be disbanded when their work has been completed.