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
cities: 190
evaluations: 53
bid books: 182; 1985–2031

4 documents of type strategy or research for “Capacity building of cultural sector”

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

Found inside the documents

Culture and Creative Industries Strategy 2026–2035
Brno. Contributed by Brno and published to everyone.Brno · 2026
…in Brno At the same time, Brno boasts strong participation and an effective dialogue between the city, its residents, municipal districts and cultural or creative actors, which is suppor- ted, among other things, by the Brno Cultural Forum…

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.

European Capitals of Culture: success strategies and long-term effects (Garcia and Cox, European Parliament, 2013)

2013

For organisations involved in Pécs 2010, capacity-building through the undertaking of “more and bigger projects than in previous years” was felt to have been beneficial for the sector (ECORYS, 2011c: v), as was the sense that these…