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The ECoC evidence base

The Archive

Forty years of European Capitals of Culture in their own words: what cities promised, what they did, and what the evaluations found.

documents
472

documents

cities
190

cities

evaluations
53

evaluations

bid books
182

bid books

1985–2031

title years covered

All shelvesEvaluations 53Monitoring and progress reports 1Bid books 182Selection and monitoring reports 111EU framework and official documents 27Strategies and action plans 5Research, guides and frameworks 33Shared by cities 1Sent in by members 59Published by cities 12
TypeBid book (pre-selection) 7Bid book (final selection) 12Ex-post evaluation 9Monitoring or progress report 1Strategy 2Action plan 1Research 3Other

9 documents of type ex-post evaluation for “Capacity building of cultural sector”

Clear
Ask Encore: “Capacity building of cultural sector”An answer from across the Archive, every claim cited to its document.

Found inside the documents

4
Any type
What the document types mean
Bid book (pre-selection)
A city's first application for the title, judged by the selection panel to make the shortlist.
Evidence of intent: what a city promised, not what it delivered.
Bid book (final selection)
A shortlisted city's full, final application for the title, with its programme, budget and plans.
Evidence of intent: what a city promised, not what it delivered.
Selection panel report
The EU expert panel's assessment of the bids in one competition, with its reasons and its recommendation.
Context: useful background, not a city's own evidence of what happened.
Monitoring panel report
The EU expert panel's report on a designated city's preparations before its title year, with its advice.
Context: useful background, not a city's own evidence of what happened.
Ex-post evaluation
An assessment, written after the title year or a programme, of what it actually achieved, usually by independent evaluators.
Evidence of outcome: what actually happened.
Monitoring or progress report
A city's own report on how its programme is going, written while it runs, with the figures it has tracked.
Evidence of outcome: what actually happened.
Strategy
A city's long-term plan or policy for culture, including legacy strategies and council decisions.
A plan: how a city meant to deliver and keep going.
Action plan
A concrete plan of what a city or organisation will do, by when and with what resources.
A plan: how a city meant to deliver and keep going.
Guide or toolkit
Practical how-to material that others can reuse: guides, toolkits, handbooks and templates.
Context: useful background, not a city's own evidence of what happened.
Research
Studies, frameworks and papers across one or more cities, written by researchers rather than by a city.
Context: useful background, not a city's own evidence of what happened.
Other
Anything else: news, memos, programme brochures and documents that fit no type above.
Context: useful background, not a city's own evidence of what happened.
GarciaEtAl(2025)FINAL-Monitor2024_Assessing-Bodo2024-European-Capital-of-Culture_small.pdf

Increased skills and professionalism within the cultural sector. 2. Enhanced collaboration between amateurs and professionals. 3. Expanded international partnerships and cultural exchanges. 4.

  • EC Ex-Post Evaluation — 2015 (Mons & Plzeň)
    Mons & Plzeň · 2015

    building their capacity is essential to developing a cultural programme that is authentic to the city and which involves local citizens. One important form of support is creating opportunities to widen contacts and networks, particularly…

  • Rijeka 2020 — Evaluation Report
    Rijeka · 2020

    For the implementation of the Rijeka 2020 - European Capital of Culture project, it was crucially important to develop capacities within the cultural sector in order to enable the implementation of a rather comprehensive project, but also…

  • Leeuwarden 2018 — European Commission evaluation
    Leeuwarden · 2018

    Nonetheless, there were instances of very high quality and overall the cultural programme offered a diversity of activities of many different artistic disciplines.

  • Timișoara 2023 — Evaluation report (2025)
    Timișoara · 2023

    …in: ● Managing collaborations: facilitating discussions, mediating conflicts, and ensuring inclusive participation in co-production. ● Intercultural skills: adapting communication and navigating diverse perspectives in co-production.

  • Galway 2020 — Monitoring Report
    Galway · 2020

    ECoC objective: Develop the skills, capacity and governance of the cultural sector ECoC objective: Stimulate partnership and co-operation with other sectors ECoC objective: Improve cultural infrastructure Galway 2020 aimed to build the…

  • Bodø 2024
    Bodø · 2024

    Move beyond consumption-oriented cultural policies (ie. ‘We See-culture events’) to include active participation and co-creation by youth (ie. See Me-culture events).

  • San Sebastián 2016 — Evaluation Report
    San Sebastián · 2016

    Some projects also included a specific capacity-building dimension. In particular, the MikroGRANTY programme has helped built capacity of many NGOs and individual operators.

  • Also matching the title, city or themes

    EC Ex-Post Evaluation — 2019 (Matera & Plovdiv)

    Matera & Plovdiv · 2019