How to strategically use the EU support programmes, including Structural Funds, to foster the potential of culture for local, regional and national development and the spill-over effects on the wider economy? The objective of the Policy Handbook is to better sensitize local, regional and national authorities as well as the cultural community of the potential of cultural and creative industries in boosting regional and local development. The Handbook intends to help them in formulating local, regional and national strategies for cultural and creative industries. It also aims to serve as a tool for the planning and implementation of a strategic use of the EU support programmes, including the Structural Funds, to foster the potential of culture for local, regional, national development and the spill-over effects on the wider economy.

At this years European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) Ceremony, which took place at the Penafiel Municipal Museum in Portugal on 19 May, the EMYA Judging Panel was delighted to announce the Museo de Madinat al-Zahra in Cordoba in Spain as the European Museum of the Year 2012 for its outstanding achievements for public quality and excellence.

The Museum represents a visual memory of the mixed and diverse past of Andalucia aiming to build a bridge between different cultures in contemporary Europe. Together with the partially recovered and restored archaeological site it represents a magnificent, complex city, its supporting infrastructure, buildings and gardens, as well as the social organisation and everyday life of its 10,000 inhabitants.

KUHNYA has introduced the participants of the course Cultural Entrepreneurship' in Tomsk to several cultural entrepreneurs in Siberia. They offered their know-how to the younger generation with cultural initiatives in Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tomsk.

When you enter Tomsk the first thing that strikes you is an enormous billboard right opposite the building of the City Administration on Lenin Prospekt. No political slogans but Tom Waits. It is the street advertising of "Underground" a jazz café, restaurant and music store opened by Oleg Usenko in 2004. This nice piece of informal culture has of course provoked a new name for Tomsk : Tomsk Waitsk. Since inviting jazz musicians to Siberia is too expensive for one private night club, Oleg and his partners arrange Siberian tours of famous jazz bands to Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk. They have toured Mark Terner, Igor Bril, Daniel Kramer and Vladimir Chekassin.

The National Endowment for the Arts announces a new literature review, Audience Impact Study Literature Review.While there is ample qualitative and anecdotal data on how people and communities are transformed by the arts, there is little research that quantifies the emotional impact of the arts.It's a challenge to analyze this subtle topic. How do you define the way that art affects people? By the happiness they express? By the rewards they derive? By their physiological response?Furthermore, how do you measure this emotional impact? This review looks at dozens of existing studies that attempt to answer these elusive questions. Ultimately, this review will help inform the design of a survey that will capture reliable data on this seemingly indefinable subject.

Today one hears a great deal about the so-called knowledge- based economy. Yet in economic theory such an economy is a contradiction in terms - an oxymoron. Knowledge is a public good, a good for which a natural market does not and cannot exist. A contrast with a private good is in order.

A private good is excludable and rivalrous in consumption. If one owns a car one has lock and key to exclude others from using it. And when one drives the car no one else can drive it, that is, driving is rivalrous. A gross example is an apple. I buy it excluding you from that particular apple and you cannot eat it after I have - rivalrous.

In 2012, ENCATC celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation with a broad range of activities and events. Throughout the whole year 2012, ENCATC will join forces with its members and main partners to celebrate, debate and reflect on Creative Industries, Cultural diplomacy and networks.

The Centre for Cultural Management, with support from the European Cultural Foundation, launches Ukrainian Cultural Network to establish culture in a leadership role in the development of Ukraine and to increase the role of culture in the life of its citizens.

Ukrainian ultural Network is an association of cultural managers, artists, active consumers of culture and all who care.

We are deeply convinced that culture is a determining factor for the society and each of us in particular in order to build and develop a strong Ukrainian state. With the help of our innovative ideas and actions we seek to expand the scope of cultural activities and provoke changes that will enable culture to play an important role not only in moral terms but also in economic and social.

Looking through the pages of this latest IFPI Digital Music Report, you see a striking paradox: on one hand, there is the innovation and drive of a business that has led the way for creative industries in adapting to the digital age; on the other hand, the extraordinarily difficult environment in which these changes are taking place. This is the ninth report that we at IFPI have produced documenting the evolution of the digital music sector worldwide. It has been a challenging and often painful transition, but as we enter 2012, there are reasons for real optimism. The digital music business has now reached out to encompass the globe. The largest international legitimate digital music services are present today in no fewer than 58 countries this number has more than doubled in the last twelve months.

Amsterdam, March 12th. The epic opera, Aida, has been up for sale on eBay since yesterday, including all of its magnificent set pieces, stage props and hundreds of unique costumes, for a cast of 500 performers. Peter Kroone, who has produced countless large scale 360° opera productions and is the owner of Companions Opera Amsterdam, is retiring from the industry. Peter Kroone has produced a considerable number of large-scale operas around the world. A few examples include: Rotterdam (where it all started), Paris, Munich, Shanghai & Zurich. Many of these operas sold out, selling more than 1 million tickets. Peter Kroone was unable to find a successor for his productions within his own network. He is therefore offering all his unique productions for indoor arenas and stadiums for sale. "It pains me greatly to leave the industry, but productions like Aida cannot be produced in a year. Productions at this level require a 3 to 5 year commitment, which I am no longer able to give. The time has come for me to do other things in life. My successor must be an opera lover like I am, or an entertainment entrepreneur who sees this product as an opportunity to expand into new territories and markets. I have not yet found a successor, but the world out there is big and who knows.... Maybe there is someone out there like me, who wants to bring opera to a broader audience. This is why I have chosen to announce my retirement and the sale of my productions on eBay. It would be a shame if the productions disappeared."

AmbITion is an online toolkit that has been specifically designed for an arts organisation to develop themselves digitally. Through an easy to follow step-by-step approach, supported by a wide range of templates, tips and resources, your organisation can now approach digital development with confidence.

Traditionally, audits were mainly associated with gaining information about financial systems and the financial records of a company or a business. However, recent auditing has begun to include other information about the system, such as information about security risks, information systems performance. The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organisation, system, process, enterprise, project or product. Audits are performed to ascertain the validity and reliability of information, so right here at the beginning of the AmbITion process, be brutally honest with yourselves about where you are at now. By understanding the complete picture of your situation now, youll be able to see what your starting point is and so plan accordingly.

DOTS Digital Art Magazine is a wrap and off to the Apple App Store. March 1st 2012 the new digital iPad magazine Dots will be launched. After months of inspiration, creative ideas, interviewing, writing, designing, digitalizing and a lot of ambition and drive the finish line is within reach. Starting March 1st this brand new art magazine can be downloaded on iPads worldwide.

Dots puts contemporary art in the spotlight using an innovative and interactive approach. Art of the world, for the world.Dots magazine epitomizes innovation, surprise, enthusiasm and creativity. In searching for projects and artists from the farthest corners of the world, the makers have created a valuable resource. This makes Dots a unique magazine. Dots is written in English and will be published four times a year.

The artist and audience depend on one another to fulfill their roles, artist as creator and audience as recipient. Sometimes they act as co-creators. While the first part of these observations remain true, the roles of artist and audience have been evolving as technology affects the relationship between artist and audience. Historically, as different technological tools are incorporated into the mainstream, the audience has been provided with more options and possibilities. These new possibilities can offer the audience the opportunity to become more involved in the process of art creation. Generally, this has brought the artist and audience closer together, no longer positioning the audience as just the recipient.

This article is an initial step into interrogating the current and future relationship between the artist and audience. Understanding how different technological advances have affected the relationship between artist and audience is also key to getting an idea of how the relationship has changed and what factors have contributed to the ways in which artists and audiences currently relate. The new methods and approaches that have followed these technological advances have shaped both the manner in which art is being created as well as the way in which art is being funded.

Sustainability has become a buzz word in all areas of life ranging from sustainable finance to sustainable tourism or sustainable consumption. But "sustainable arts and culture" ... ?!

How an idea can be transformed into a special cultural project? What are the basics of cultural marketing, funding and European arts management? Answers will be given during the Ulm Danube School for Arts Management from 24th June to 8th July 2012 in Ulm, Germany. It addresses young arts managers from Danube countries at the beginning of their working life.

The two- weeks Ulm Danube School for Arts Management offers young professionals the chance to develop their own ideas for a specific cultural project. They are guided by experienced lecturers and tutors. Tuition language is English.

VIP Art Fair builds new technologies for the world's most prominent contemporary art galleries to showcase available works by the artists they represent, for sophisticated collectors to connect with these galleries, and for the international art community to experience and engage with art.

VIP Art Fair translates the experience of a traditional bricks-and-mortar fair to an online environment, serving as a site for exploration and conversation while empowering the relationship between collector and dealer. VIP Art Fair is a filter to the most prominent contemporary art galleries in the world.

Les Rencontres - Association of European cities and regions for culture - will celebrate together with Maastricht, the Province of Limburg in the Netherlands and the Euroregion Meuse-Rhine, the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty which introduced a legal basis for culture for the first time at the European level. At this occasion we organise La Rencontre de Maastricht - Which Europe of culture twenty years after the Maastricht Treaty ? 22-25 March 2012

During this meeting we will explore the stakes and challenges regarding the European construction in the field of culture, especially in these times of crisis. We will discuss the issues of the next Culture Programme (2014-2020) and work on concrete and precise proposals for the future of this programme after 2020. Furthermore we will talk about the changes in art practices and about the issues of « Interdisciplinary Arts ». We will also explore the stakes of cultural redevelopment and urban rehabilitation throughout Europe. Finally we will hold the annual Committee meeting of our network, in order to approve the 2011 moral and financial reports of the association, the programme and budget for 2012 and the perspectives for 2012.

Museum of London, 8 March 2012, 10.00am to 4.45pmSponsored by Target Live / Media partner ArtsProfessionalwww.a-m-a.co.uk/summit

The AMA press and PR summit will provide an opportunity to hear from visionary keynote speakers about likely future directions for press and media and how the arts could benefit from emerging opportunities, trends and predictions.

This years event will also provide a rare opportunity to meet in small groups to review how the changes identified by our keynote speakers could impact on the arts. Joining delegates in these group discussions will be journalists and other practitioners from across a range of media newspapers, radio, TV, online etc.

On Monday 9th of January ENCATC has officially launched the first issue of the ENCATC Online Journal of Cultural Management and Policy.

The objective of the ENCATC Journal of Cultural Management and Policy is to stimulate the debate on the topics of cultural management and cultural policy among scholars, educators, policy makers and cultural managers. The Journal is based on a multidisciplinary perspective and aims to connect theory and practice in the realm of the cultural sector. The submitted papers regard different fields: culture and creativity, cultural management, cultural policies, marketing, local development, entrepreneurship, and education applied to the cultural sector. This new publication also aims to be a platform for multidisciplinary debate and new perspectives among researchers.

The Culture Report, which doubles as the 2011 EUNIC yearbook, looks for the "glue" that holds European alliances together

Stuttgart, 04 January 2012 - How can Europe make clear what it stands for? How can Europe show that it goes beyond words and takes action? What are the advantages of a common European foreign cultural policy? And how can Europe benefit from its specific capabilities? Thirty authors from twenty countries answer these questions in the new edition of Culture Report. For Chinese author Yang Lian the old continent remains the centre of the universe, Reem Kassem puts big hope in the European cultural institutes in Egypt, and Horia-Roman Patapievici is won over by the joint concert of European cultures.