ENCATC Academy on Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy

Tokyo, Japan

The ENCATC Academy on Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy is part of the ENCATC Study Trip to Tokyo that also includes the ENCATC International Study Tour.

ENCATC is organising, in partnership with the Goldsmiths, University of London, its 2018 Academy on Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy, as well as its  International Study Tour offering the opportunity to learn, from inside, the cultural management and policy in Japan. For a group of maximum 25 professionals from the cultural and academic sector, the two initiatives are designed to foster international mobility of people and ideas, to allow the flourishment of joint projects between universities and/or  cultural organisations based Japan and Europe, to discover the current research trends in Japan, as well as to expand participants’ personal and professional networks.

They are perfectly timely with the recent European policy development in the field of culture and education. On 6 July 2018, Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, and Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), met in Budapest to officially launch the EU-Japan Policy dialogue on Education, Culture and Sport.

In the field of education, both leaders confirmed the importance of promoting international cooperation in higher education. Erasmus+ was highlighted as a flagship programme, offering an excellent tool to promote international mobility and allow students to develop essential transveral skills, while contributing to enhancing the relevance and quality of education. Modernisation of education, skills development and the role of teachers in the transition towards its "Society 5.0" were presented by Minister Hayashi, leading to a discussion on the role that education should play, including in ensuring social inclusion.

With regard to culture, Commissioner Navracsics and Minister Hayashi recognised the possibility of pursuing cooperation between the EU and Japan in this field and looked forward to further discussions.

The meeting was the occasion for Commissioner Navracsics and Minister Hayashi to launch two new Japan-EU joint initiatives: 

  • a joint call for proposals to co-finance consortia of excellent European and Japanese universities to develop highly integrated master programmes and provide scholarships for talented students from Europe and Japan to study abroad. The joint call will be published in the framework of the EU Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree action and the Japan Inter-University Exchange Project (IUEP).
  • short-term staff-exchange programme for EU and MEXT officials to promote peer-learning and boost cooperation.

Both initiatives emphasize the importance of people to people contacts within the EU-Japan relations, especially within the framework of the Japan-EU Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) which is expected to be signed in the near future.

In the past, ENCATC has organised other successful Academies in Brussels, New York and Taipei.

 

The Academy is an educational activity that will bring together educators, researchers, creators, young and senior cultural professionals, and decision makers. It is aimed to foster international exchanges of ideas projects and best practice among academics, scholars, cultural entrepreneurs and administrators from Europe, Japan and beyond. It will also promote cooperation among European and Japanese educational and cultural institutions. 

ENCATC Academy on Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy