This professional knowledge transfer cultural debate, part of the “Beyond creation” project produced by Formare Culturala platform, explores the Cultural Deal for Europe initiative and EU cultural financing strategies.
The experts: Rocio Nogales Muriel (Executive Director, EMES International Research Network), Cristina Loglio (Vicepresidente, Europa Nostra), and host Oana Nasui (cultural researcher)
Breaking Down Silos: The Genesis of Collective Action
The Cultural Deal for Europe represents a groundbreaking collaboration between three major stakeholders: Culture Action Europe, Europa Nostra, and the European Cultural Foundation.
Cristina Loglio explains how this partnership marked a departure from traditional sectoral divisions that historically separated different cultural domains. Previously, the cultural sector was fragmented into competing silos—theater versus cinema, heritage versus contemporary arts, public versus private funding—creating an individualistic approach that weakened collective advocacy power. This fragmentation prevented the sector from achieving the “critical mass” that the European Parliament had been pushing for.
Oana contextualizes this initiative within the broader framework of advocacy strategy, noting how collective efforts must balance specific organizational directions with shared emergencies.
The three organizations’ decision to unite their strengths and visions represented exactly what the EU was seeking: a coordinated approach that could effectively advocate for cultural priorities at the European level.
The Social Economy and Artists’ Working Conditions
Rocio Nogales Muriel brings a unique perspective from her work with the social and solidarity economy, emphasizing the material conditions of artists and cultural workers. She advocates for cooperative models as practical solutions to address the precarious working conditions that plague the cultural sector. Her experience running social enterprises within nonprofit arts organizations in both Europe and the United States demonstrates how alternative economic models can provide dignified labor conditions and professional recognition for cultural workers. The discussion highlights the ongoing challenge of defining who qualifies as an artist and the complex web of national regulations surrounding social security and labor rights. This complexity makes cooperative structures particularly valuable as they offer flexible frameworks for organizing cultural workers while ensuring fair working conditions.
Mainstreaming Culture: The 2% Budget Goal
The conversation addresses the ambitious goal of allocating 2% of the EU budget to culture and the dedicated advocacy campaign, contextualizing this target within broader European priorities.
Oana mentions how cultural funding extends far beyond the Creative Europe program, spanning across 21 different EU funding programs. This cross-sectoral approach, exemplified by the online cultural guide tool, allows cultural organizations to access funding from agricultural, social, and citizen-oriented programs.
Cristina emphasizes that when counting all cultural activities across the 26 Directorate-Generals—including cities, cohesion policy, regional development, external trade, universities, and education—some countries already approach the 2% target. However, direct cultural funding remains significantly lower, highlighting the importance of both specific cultural budgets and mainstreaming culture across all policy areas.
Oana raises critical questions about prioritization within advocacy strategies, asking how organizations balance competing emergencies like heritage preservation, fair artist compensation, and AI Act protections for creative industries.
The Evidence Base and Measurement Challenges
Both experts address the persistent demand for data to justify cultural investment. Rocio expresses frustration with the “eternal request for data,” arguing that substantial evidence already exists, including studies measuring endorphin levels before and after cultural experiences and comprehensive reports like “Culture and Democracy: The Evidence.” She warns that constant demands for more data can become a trap that delays action. The conversation reveals how cultural professionals must learn to translate their work into the languages of other sectors—research criteria, economic impact assessments, and quantitative measurements. This translation process, while sometimes frustrating, ultimately strengthens the cultural sector by demonstrating its interconnectedness with broader societal goals.
Emergency Context and Political Urgency
The discussion takes place against a backdrop of urgent European challenges: war, migration, security concerns, and rising authoritarianism. The experts argue that these crises make cultural investment more crucial, not less. Culture serves as a fundamental defense of freedom of expression and democratic values, particularly as far-right movements increasingly target cultural institutions and policies as their first area of government control.
Rocio points to alarming trends where national culture budgets face cuts, particularly affecting organizations that don’t align with increasingly oppressive governmental directives. This political reality makes European-level funding more essential than ever, as it can provide crucial support when national funding becomes politically compromised.
Practical Implementation: From Theory to Practice
The conversation includes concrete examples of how cultural investment works in practice.
Cristina describes the complexities of heritage restoration projects, emphasizing how successful cultural investment requires combining specific expertise, feasible business plans, and community engagement. She warns against technically competent but culturally inappropriate restorations—like theaters with cement stages that destroy acoustics—that waste money while failing to serve cultural purposes.
Oana frames this discussion within the context of financing as a tool rather than an end goal, questioning how organizations demonstrate the smart approach of integrating culture across all sectors. This practical perspective reinforces the need for cultural professionals to be involved throughout the planning and implementation process, ensuring that investments truly serve cultural goals rather than merely occurring within cultural frameworks.
Decentralization and Community Connection
The experts discuss Culture Action Europe‘s development of regional hubs as intermediate instances that translate between Brussels-level policy making and territorial realities. This decentralization strategy addresses the disconnect between European policy development and local cultural communities, creating channels for both upward and downward communication.
The conversation concludes with a call for genuine cooperation over competition, emphasizing that cultural leadership requires moving beyond the competitive mindset that has historically limited the sector’s effectiveness. Instead, the experts advocate for alliances, cooperation, and care for others as essential elements of cultural advocacy in an era of ecological and political emergency.
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Rocío Nogales Muriel is Executive Director at EMES International Research Network asbl. With a PhD in sociology of culture, social innovation and social enterprise from Universitat de Barcelona, she specializes in social enterprises, social and solidarity economy, nonprofit sector and program evaluation.
Cristina Loglio is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the cultural sector and creative industries at an international level, currently serving as Vice President at Europa Nostra since May 2023, the prestigious European organization dedicated to cultural heritage. With a career spanning over 16 years at AGIS Associazione Generale Italiana Spettacolo (2007-2024), where she held roles as manager, consultant and advisor, she specialized in educational, promotional and regulatory policies in the field of performing arts.
With professional experience in the fields of cultural expertise: consultancy, management, evaluation, professional training, communication, Oana Nasui works as a developer of cultural and creative projects and programs, evaluator of cultural and publishing projects and consultant in cultural planning – programs, strategies, policies.
The discussion took place in one of the locations of Beyond Many 2025 conference, organised by Culture Action Europe.
The project “Beyond creation” is co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.
