cS Brief #15: Africa-Europe cultural and creative partnerships: a draft joint strategy
cS Brief #15 presents the blue-print for a new Africa-Europe cultural strategy. The draft strategy proposes concrete pathways for the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) institutions and member states to jointly address common challenges and opportunities and to design a smart, resilient, AI-proof and impact-driven framework for cooperation that fully embeds and strengthens cultural relations and creative partnerships. It builds on an eight-month research project conducted jointly by culture Solutions and the South African Cultural Observatory with the support of the Africa-Europe Foundation under the AEF Research Facility, exploring the creative economy and the untapped potential of cultural cooperation between African and European youth.
Drawing on an extensive literature review and numerous qualitative interviews with stakeholders, policymakers, and experts from Africa–Europe cultural ecosystems, the research captures a pivotal moment for the Africa–Europe Partnership and AU–EU cooperation, just ahead of the 7th AU–EU Summit.
Both the AU and the EU have highlighted cultural diversity and cultural exchange as key dimensions of intra- and intercontinental relations. New initiatives have been launched under the Africa–Europe Partnership for Culture programmes. However, the journey towards fully integrating and prioritising culture within policy and cooperation frameworks remains a long one.
Advocates for culture within institutions must be prepared to defend the value of cultural cooperation amid increasingly tense geopolitical and economic contexts. To remain relevant, like-minded institutions should also be ready to confront —and strengthen themselves against— the pressing challenges facing civil societies and their cultural and creative sectors in the age of artificial intelligence and information manipulation.
The perspectives expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any affiliated institutions.
