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 “Cultural programme”

Clear

Ask Encore: “Cultural programme”An answer from across the Archive, every claim cited to its document.

Found inside the documents

Programme Book of the Cultural Programme (2024, Bilingual) (Bad Ischl 2024)

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.

GREEN The cultural landscape is an attraction, but the effects of tourism can still be felt today and the advancing cli- mate change poses a hard challenge to the alleged ab- undance of forests and water in the Salzkammergut re- gion.

European Cities of Culture. Oct 1994

Cross-city (Network of Cultural Cities of Europe) · 1994

The literature programme included international literary meetings on the theme of nationalism and internationalism (with east/wost participationl and a symposium on body language and the process of translation which included a scene from…

Strategy in Practice in Brno: Grants Powering Cultural and Creative Fields

Brno

Plan

Strategy in Practice in Brno: Grants Powering Cultural and Creative Fields

BrnoBrno

The latest survey wrapped up in 2025 – but engagement from cultural stakeholders was remarkably low (just 3 responses), making the results too limited to take further. The next survey is on track for 2027.

The Archive

Found inside the documents

Also matching the title, city or themes