On the 22nd of September, culture Solutions hosted the webinar EU’s International Cultural Relations: Reality Check, welcoming Mafalda Dâmaso, coordinator of the recently published and important handbook The EU as a Global Cultural Power, along with four contributors: Avril Joffe, Matina Magkou, Alessandro Lamonica, and Andrew Murray.

The webinar offered a timely opportunity to assess where the EU currently stands in international cultural relations (ICR), the gaps that persist between ambition and implementation, and how culture can act as a strategic tool in today’s rapidly evolving global landscape. It also provided a necessary reflection on the nine years since the 2016 Joint Communication towards an EU ICR. 

The handbook discussed during the event is a must-read for anyone curious about, committed to, or passionate about international cultural relations. Its foreword provides a valuable historical context for European cultural policy — shaped by the rise of global cultural exchanges. It also highlights the EU’s internal and external ambivalences in its cultural approach — shifting from a focus on promoting cultural values to seeking economic justification, from soft power to what some now call “enabling power,” and dealing with the challenge of making its own cultural sector more competitive.

In this podcast, we selected key moments from the webinar where panellists and the audience explored several critical themes:

• EU–Africa cultural relations

• Cultural relations in the Mediterranean region

• The absence of theory in international cultural relations

• The rise of digital cultural movements

• The call for a strong community of practice
  

Enjoy the podcast — and we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Let’s continue to engage and grow this community of practice together.