The discussions about the importance of culture have been dominating the zeitgeist. After all, Ukrainian culture and national identity are what thousands of our fellow citizens are defending today at the front lines.
“Culture is the soft power that strengthens the capacity of our country in these trying times. In addition to their professional competence, our cultural institutions are a resilient unifying force that contributes to the common goal of the Ukrainian people — our victory,” said Olena Tertyshna, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
A cultural product does not just spring into life; a whole network of institutions that belong to municipalities at the local level put efforts into its creation and preservation. The specific aspects and problems of reforming this network were discussed at the info session “Organisation of Innovative Activities of Cultural Service Centres” organised by U-LEAD.
Municipal Culture Service Centres as a new format with modern content
Amendments to the Law on Culture, which were adopted in 2021 and 2023, provide for a new format for cultural institutions. A Culture Service Centre is an update of both the format and the content.
“This is our current context. Innovation, renewal, upgrades, as our youth say, are necessary. After all, if we keep doing as we used to (which goes back almost to the Soviet times), the results would predictably be the same as before. We want something different though. We want to have a communication platform, modern means of culture and arts, communication, building cohesion, open spaces. These form a language that will allow us to communicate without restrictions, both internally and with other municipalities around the world,” said Inna Rudkevych, Cultural Development Expert at U-LEAD.
According to the Guidelines of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, a Culture Service Centre in a municipality can have different organisational and legal forms such as a municipal organisation (institution, facility), a communal municipal enterprise or a joint municipal enterprise.
However, according to Inna Rudkevych, its contents are determined by the municipalities at their own discretion based on the public demand. The Centre might include already established music, singing, dance, drama groups and classes, libraries, as well as sports clubs, film lectures, foreign language classes, creative studios and workshops. Importantly, a Culture Service Centre itself differs from the standard post-Soviet “house of culture” in its mission. In addition to high-quality cultural services, it offers a multifunctional space, accessibility, a sense of comfort and happiness, a communication hub, building cohesion, a creative economy.
Rocky starts or how to deal with red tape as quickly as possible
The first municipal Cultural Service Centres have already been created. Their experiences have shown that the reform process has many pitfalls, starting with the inclusion/exclusion of cultural institutions in the basic network of cultural institutions at the local level. Kateryna Orliuk of the Ministry of Culture shared the cases of cooperation with municipalities to create a Cultural Service Centre:
“We have moved from the stage of legislative changes and amending by-laws to practical concerns. A legal framework was developed to modernise the institutional capacity to provide cultural services and the cultural services themselves. Analysis of the practices of creating Cultural Service Centres in Ukraine has revealed a number of issues”.
She emphasised that the termination of a legal entity as a result of reorganisation or liquidation of a branch or a structural subdivision of a legal entity might lead to the exclusion of the institution from the basic network at the local level. The reorganisation or liquidation must be agreed with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the competent central executive authority in charge of the state policy in the sectors in which the relevant institution is active (the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc.) a month in advance. As for cultural institutions in the film industry, this approval is given by the Ukrainian State Film Agency a month in advance.
Note that until approved by the competent central executive authority, local self-government bodies do not have legal grounds for making a decision on the liquidation, reorganisation and exclusion from the basic network of cultural institutions or educational institutions in the field of culture.
To obtain this approval, local self-government bodies should submit an appeal with justification of the need to exclude a cultural institution or an educational institution in the field of culture from the basic network to the Ministry of Education and Culture and other bodies the institution is subordinate to. These appeals may be filed simultaneously.
Kateryna Orliuk also focused on the content of the appeal to exclude a cultural institution or an educational institution in the field of culture from the basic network. The document must contain the following information:
- Number of employees that are freed up/laid off;
- Profiles of students and educators of the educational institution in the field of culture;
- Activities aimed at observing the rights of art students to continue their education at the appropriate level and in the appropriate specialisation;
- Information on the transfer of property to a cultural institution or educational institution in the field of culture, including library and museum collections;
- Number of amateur collectives active in a cultural institution (clubs, cultural service centres) and information about which cultural institution will host them;
- A cultural institution or an educational institution in the field of culture where relevant cultural services will be provided to the population of the settlement;
- Compliance with the state social standards on services of cultural institutions as per the Law of Ukraine “On State Social Standards and State Social Guarantees”.
As the official of the Ministry of Culture stressed when speaking on state social standards and guarantees, for different types of institutions (libraries, clubs and film theatres), these indicators vary in terms of population size and distance between settlements.