Philosophy
CULTURE CONCEPTS was founded by Dr. Cornelia Dümcke in Berlin in 1991. CULTURE CONCEPTS works project-related with permanent and freelance employees as well as in working groups with other agencies and companies.
The office specialises in project development, organisational consulting and evaluation in the field of culture and creative industries and related policy areas (cultural policy, development policy, city and regional development) in regional, national and international contexts. In addition to empirical cultural research and methods of evaluation, many years of experience in the fields of moderation and mediation are applied.
Clients of CULTURE CONCEPTS in Germany are public institutions of the federal government (BKM, BMWI, BMZ, GIZ GmbH, Kulturstiftung des Bundes etc.), of the federal states (ministries of culture and the arts) and of municipalities and foundations (Stiftung Nord LB, Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz etc.). Clients outside Germany include the European Commission, the Council of Europe, UNESCO Paris, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Pro Helvetia and others.
On the basis of many years of experiences in project development and consulting in Germany and internationally, our self-image can be summarized as follows:
Project developments must start from the concrete questions and are not to be developed on a "meta-level". Standardized expert advice that does not know and take into account the specific local situation often misses the intentions of the client and the specific task as well as the need for transformation and development.
The more precisely the subject of the project development and consulting can be determined in advance in agreement with the client, the better the result of the programme and project support. This also includes the specification of the clearest possible framework conditions by the client as well as role clarification between client, contractor and project participants and the target groups in the project.
The prerequisite for every programme and project monitoring is a serious assessment of the initial situation, which, in addition to the specific location conditions of a city or region, also takes note of and takes into account the results of the concept development to date as well as regional and supraregional cooperation and communication.
Benchmarks for cultural institutions should only be set up where they make sense and are suitable as methodological instruments for generating further knowledge.
For sustainable implementation processes, longer-term horizons are usually required. There is often a need for moderation and mediation for decision-making and implementation processes. CULTURE CONCEPTS prefers participatory procedures in programme and project support and in advising cultural institutions and their supporters. A large number of successfully implemented reference projects can be referred to.
Dr. Cornelia Dümcke is a cultural economist and works as a project developer, arts consultant and moderator. She is the founder of CULTURE CONCEPTS - an independent institute based in Berlin, providing research services and moderation and mediation for actors in both the cultural and the development sector. Her thematic specialisation focuses particularly on issues of culture and development, cultural economy, cultural tourism, as well as on the museum, theatre, dance, opera and festival market.
In the past, she was commissioned by international development organisations and foundations for evaluation and curating Art and Culture Programmes in different world regions (Eastern Europe, Central-Asia, South African Region). From 2011 till 2015, she was nominated to the pool of experts in the field of cultural policies, set up by UNESCO Paris in the context of the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Since 2011, within her position as a member of the European Expert Network on Culture (EENC), she has conducted several reports on specific issues within the Cultural and Creative Sectors in EU Member States. 2015/2016 she was commissioned as a moderator within the project CulturalBase.eu which had a specific focus on Memory, Identity and Creativity in Europe.
Cornelia Dümcke is member of the board of the Institute for Cultural Policy (Bonn) and of the Austrian Kulturdokumentation – international archive for cultural analyses (Vienna). Since 2016, she is member of the advisory board of German UNESCO Commission in the context of the implementation of the 2005 Diversity Convention. She is one of the facilitators of the Foundation Dance - Transition Center Germany, established in 2012 as a public-private partnership. She further supports the foundation as deputy chairwomen of the board of trustees.
In 2016, Cornelia Dümcke was nominated for the International Theatre Institute (ITI) Worldwide as ITI representative at the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) meetings in Paris. In 2017, she was member of the editorial team of the first CSO Activity Report 2017 in the context of the implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Since 2015, on behalf of the European Commission, Directorate General for Research & Innovation she is assessing cultural heritage projects in Europe.
It's the interest in people that drives me.
Pictures from Cornelia Dümcke
