The professionals and companies of the culture and creative industries (CCIs) are important catalysts for development both for classical cultural institutions and for broad sections of the economy and society. A new study shows what the CCIs in Central and Northern European countries need to flourish.

Art and culture like to see themselves as representatives of social causes. But the pandemic has turned their solidarity towards themselves. Does this undermine their often proclaimed social relevance more than it helps them?

Before the pandemic, it did not occur to many arts and cultural institutions that they could - or even had to - generate revenue online. This has rapidly changed. What can organizations learn from the experiences of the last months?

In times of the pandemic, many arts and cultural institutions and professionals may find it difficult to think of others first. This issue of Arts Management Quarterly shows that it can be extraordinarily rewarding for them to commit themselves to serving local communities, now and in the long term.

Artistic places that distinguished themselves by their independence now do not only face precarity, but permanent closure. Nonetheless, independent places are essential for the artistic world and for developing new artistic expressions. Therefore, it is of highest interest to understand how these places are doing, in the face of the pandemic.

Gender stereotypes and only little diversity still shape the European Theatre Sector. These are the results of a study of the European Theatre Convention, which focused on diversity in staff and on stages across their network of 44 theatres around the continent.

Networks and open platforms for decision-making and discussion are highly important to build a (digital) community, especially in times of COVID-19. I became all the more aware of this because of the opportunity to volunteer as a co-organizer for the online Arts & Cultural Management Conference 2021 (ACMC) on the fitting topic "REvisiting Borders”.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt society, harnessing learning and creative problem-solving are integral to the survival of the cultural and creative sector. The 2021 gathering entitled ‘Cultural managers, their organisations, and their networks in times of crisis’ reflected the resilience of the sector to re-imagine ways of working and reaching current and post-pandemic audiences.

The cultural sector has so far been rather on the margins of the debates on CO2 emissions. But the reason is not that it does not contribute - because it does. And quite a few initiatives and projects worldwide are already successfully dedicated to climate-conscious and resource-saving arts and cultural management.

The pandemic has not only reaffirmed our ephemeral condition, teaching us to live in the moment. It has also underlined the importance of art and culture as a positive reinforcement in life and as a way to deal with its difficulties. And it has most of all emphasized the adaptability of artists.

In the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, artists and cultural organizations globally have been reinventing ways to present their offering on audience’s screens. But the streaming platform Twitch has so far been largely left out of the discussion among art professionals, even though it offers numerous potentials also for generating revenue for cultural offerings.

Cross-sector cooperation is becoming increasingly important for cultural professionals and creatives. Some Central and Northern European countries currently explore new ways to innovate society as well as their own work, and create new revenue streams.

When developing digital formats, it can be difficult for galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) to involve potential users and new groups instead of spinning in their own circles. In order to be successful, hackathons such as Retas Budaya ("Hack Your Culture”) are a great way to integrate new perspectives.

European cultural policy is a bricolage with an uncertain sense of scope, in a certain way directed towards European cohesion, but without focusing its own measures towards this goal and the particularities of the sector. The book "The Future of Cultural Policies” describes these contradictions and aims to identify possible solutions.

Coloniality - or colonial thinking - is still prevalent in most parts of the world and most aspects of life, even in arts and culture. Professionals in the sector may not think of themselves as biased, but postcolonial studies proof them wrong. This issue of Arts Management Quarterly presents first approaches to decolonize arts and cultural management.

In recent months, most European countries have highlighted the value of art and culture and taken measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the sector, albeit to very different degrees.

On 11 November, Dr. Rocío Nogales Muriel was announced as the winner of the 7th ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management for her PhD on "Social transformation and social innovation in the field of culture: The case of the SMart model and its adaptation across Europe" obtained from the Center for the Study of Culture, Politics and Society (CECUPS) at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

During the corona virus pandemic, the structures of the cultural sector we used to believe in seem to have fallen apart. So maybe it is time to take a deeper look at the more adaptable and flexible cultural management concepts from the Global South where institutions are more permeable to how they can serve their audiences, be flexible in terms of structures and accept that what really matters is always on the go.

Recently, India has been highly active in entering into various international partnerships and devising a set of new policies. However, the country still has no genuine and coherent arts and culture policy to adequately showcase the country’s cultural riches.

The United States of America has long been the land of opportunity for foreign artists of all levels and genres who could perform in all parts of the country, at venues, festivals, fairs, conferences and conventions. That opportunity has been cut off by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the borders of America are currently closed. Here are some information on what artists can do now.