On May 12, 2023, an agreement was signed in Mâlain between the Drac, the rector of the Dijon academy, the departmental council of Côte-d'Or and the community of commune Ouche et Montagne, with the aim of developing culture in the Ouche valley and the Sombernonnais, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

A future engage

The agreement is a continuation of the Local Arts Education Contract (CLEA) established from 2020 to 2022. This contract has enabled nearly half of the students in the schools of the territory and the Sombernon College to participate in arts and cultural education (EAC) projects.

Within the framework of this new convention, two axes will be privileged. First of all, public reading, with the mobilization of network actors and the further harmonization of practices. The objective will also be to support libraries in setting up new practices to diversify audiences and to continue and develop activities and promotional activities around public reading.

The second axis of this convention will concern the EAC, whether around books, heritage or creation. The EAC allows the students of the territory to develop their curiosity and artistic sense. In the field of live entertainment, the territory benefits from the significant presence of the community of commune Ouche et Montagne, and the Dijon metropolis and its facilities such as the Steam.

 

A dynamic territorymic

The territory occupied by the community of commune Ouche et Montagne extends from the Ouche valley to the Sombernonnais. This group of 32 municipalities has an already established cultural landscape. Its cultural policy is based on two main axes:

  • the implementation of an inter-communal cultural project;
  • the organization, monitoring and facilitation of the networking of libraries.

The community of commune has ten libraries in municipal or associative management. Many activities are offered in these places of culture and sharing with the aim of making them live, but also to enhance public reading.

Public reading, a national commitment

The objective of the Ministry of Culture is to promote the development of reading and more specifically to reflect on the place of the public in libraries, and the relationship they may have with books and reading.

In order to fulfil this mission, the Office of Public Reading intervenes by promoting a policy based on contractual relations with partners from the public or private sectors. This policy is reflected in particular by the implementation of the Territory-Reading Contracts (CTL), whose objective is to establish multiannual agreements between the State, local authorities and associative actors for the development of public reading. CTL thus promotes the emergence of local synergies between actors in cultural, educational and social policies, in favour of the development of reading, especially in the most deficit or sensitive territories.

Besides the network of libraries, the cultural life of the territory is animated by a varied programming with the establishment of events and animations throughout the year. The territory of the Ouche and Sombernonnais valley is also rich in landscapes and built heritage, such as the Burgundy Canal, the Mâlain Castle, the Mediolanum archaeological site, or the Barbirey-sur-Ouche gardens.