RES-POL: Strategy for the development of culture of Ukraine until 2027
Funding: European Union
Partners: Centre for Regional Development (CRD), PPV Economic Development Agency, Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine
Duration: January 2024 – June 2025
Key experts: Alona Karavai, Olga Diatel, Iryna Chuzhynova
Project management: Roman Dyma, Yuliia Alenina
Contact: office@insha-osvita.org
The RES-POL project aims to enhance the functional capacity of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications and its agencies (the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, the State Agency of Ukraine for Arts and Art Education, and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory). The focus is on four sectors (Arts and Culture, Cultural Heritage, Creative Industries, and Media) and more than 20 sub-sectors (industries and types of artistic activities). Additionally, RES-POL examines 10 critical cultural development issues, including competitive wages, the effectiveness of state-owned cultural enterprises, funding for creative industries, models for financing cultural services, community and cultural heritage, EU integration, and cultural policy.
In February 2024, the co-founders of Insha Osvita — Alona Karavai and Olga Diatel — along with deputy director for strategic development and international cooperation at the Frankivsk Drama Theater, Iryna Chuzhynova, joined the Rapid Expert Support for Culture and Media Policies in Ukraine (RES-POL) project as key experts in the “Culture and Arts” sector. They joined with the understanding that working on strategies during a full-scale war is not about dreaming but about honest analysis, identifying problems, and making (not always) popular decisions. They also maintained their critical stance toward certain state policies and institutions, including the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications. Within the RES-POL project, a cultural development strategy for Ukraine until 2027 will be developed.
In the spring, six focus groups were conducted in the “Culture and Arts” sector, gathering artists and cultural managers to discuss and identify key needs and critical pain points. During the summer, five analytical reports were developed in collaboration with five sectoral experts. This work, along with a review of previous strategic and analytical documents, resulted in a list of over a hundred significant cultural issues, which were later condensed into 50 key points. In September, a survey was conducted among artists and cultural managers, who evaluated the priority and urgency of these issues on a 10-point scale.
In October, the team joined a meeting with the new leadership of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine to synchronize efforts in policy development. Over two days in Kyiv, they worked on a high-level strategic framework, defining strategic goals, tasks, and cross-cutting critical issues.
In December, the project’s first public presentation took place, where Alona Karavai, Olga Diatel and Iryna Chuzhynova highlighted 16 major cultural policy issues identified during their work. These included:
- Outdated and irrelevant arts education and the lack of educational materials in Ukrainian;
- Insufficient funding for cultural institutions, with a focus on efficiency, quality cultural production, and institutional sustainability;
- Lack of systematic investment in culture and mechanisms to support individual artistic work, as well as non-competitive wages;
- Staffing issues, including a lack of managerial competencies and the problem of professionals leaving for safer regions or abroad;
- Problems in the interaction between state institutions and the independent cultural sector.
A recording of the presentation is available on YouTube via the provided link, and the full list of issues can also be found in the project presentation.
In March 2025, a series of Policy Lab meetings was held to discuss three key cultural sector issues identified by experts: Museification of contemporary art – What should a Museum(s) of Contemporary Art look like?; Commissioning of commemorative and memorial artistic works; Textbooks and educational materials for arts education.
Currently, all analytical reports are being prepared for publication. At this stage, you can already review the following reports:
The project and our work within it continues. Updates will be shared on the Insha Osvita Facebook page.
The RES-POL project “Rapid Expert Support to Cultural and Media Policy in Ukraine” is implemented by the PPV Economic Development Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine with the support of the European Union and will last until March 2025.
