The EAC, a multi-partner policy
The generalization of Arts and Cultural Education is anchored in the territories, privileged places of proximity and effectiveness of the action, thanks to the close collaboration between the services of the State, the local authorities and the multiple actors involved.
A multi-partner action
The government has had a constant ambition for arts and cultural education for many years: to reach 100% of young people. This ambitious goal leads to a plural and multi-partner portage. It makes it possible to irrigate all the territories of the Republic, to make culture accessible everywhere in our territories and close to our fellow citizens.
The institutional partnership aims at the implementation of a policy, a system or the design of an education or training. It provides the framework for implementing the BEC journey or developing a project within a territory.
Depending on its nature, it can involve multiple actors at different levels, national or territorial:
- the services of the State;
- local and regional authorities;
- cultural, educational or social actors;
- the artists...
Interdepartmental policies and partnership work with local and regional authorities have a dual objective:
- ensure the participation in the artistic and cultural life of all children and young people;
- to establish a continuity of the EAC offer over all times of life.
In this sense, the Ministry of Culture places its action in the interdepartmental policies of cultural democratization, with the ministries in charge of National Education, Youth, Agricultural Education, Interior, Social Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Tourism, Territorial Cohesion, Justice, Family, Solidarity, Disability or Health. National conventions and memoranda of understanding in favour of the EAC are generally the subject of framework agreements at territorial level (mainly regional) , mobilising decentralized services of the State (Rectorate and DAAC, DRAAF, DRJSCS, DDCS, PJJ, ARS) and local authorities around objectives adjusted to local specificities.
Generalizing without uniformity: the territorial issue
France is rich in an incredible geographical, social, cultural and heritage diversity and can count on the vitality of creation throughout the country. The success of a national public policy depends on the ability to take into account and value this diversity, in a permanent concern for national equity of which the State is the guarantor.
This requires working as closely as possible to each territory, in constant coordination with all the actors. This is the strategic role of the decentralized services of the State, that of the Regional Directorates of Cultural Affairs for the Ministry of Culture.
This necessary articulation was recalled by Article 103 of Law NOTRE no. 2015-991 of 7 August 2015: “Responsibility in cultural matters is exercised jointly by local authorities and the State with respect for cultural rights (…)”.
The Law of 7 July 2016 on Freedom of Creation, Architecture and Heritage (CASL) has made it possible to redefine the scope and articulation of this shared jurisdiction, in particular by highlighting in its articles 3 and 5 arts and cultural education, as enabling “the development of individual skills and promoting equal access to culture”.
To embody the permanence of this dialogue between the State and the communities, a Territorial Council for Culture (CTC), created in 2019, brings together under the presidency of the Minister of Culture the main associations and federations representing all types of local authorities. In order to move towards more adaptation to territorial issues and differentiation, territorialised CTCs were created in 2020, co-chaired by the prefects and presidents of regions, at the end of a preparatory work facilitated by the DRAC.
How do the drac carry the generalization of the EAC in the territories?
The Regional Cultural Affairs Directorates ( DAC/ DRAC) are the privileged agents of the essential dialogue of the State and local authorities. Indeed, if the State is the guarantor of equity and national cohesion, the communities carry a fine knowledge of the issues specific to their territories and a capacity of direct address to the inhabitants.
The DRAC are faced with three main challenges to concretely encourage the generalization of the EAC:
- Consider children and youth. At each age: school time, extra-curricular time (daycare, study and recreation centre) and extra-curricular time (with family and between peers); and throughout the course, from birth to adulthood.
- Take into account all the particular situations of children and young people: by identifying priority areas for targeted action (city policy, isolated peri-urban or rural areas, etc.) with a view to social and territorial cohesion; paying particular attention to the specificities related to health, disability, the diversity of family situations, situations of great precariousness, placement under the rule of law, etc.
- Offer to all quality projects that allow to mobilize the different artistic and cultural actors
How is the mobilization of partners?
In order to succeed in this fine work of articulation, the DRAC bring into coherence the different strategies and proposals existing in terms of EAC: the ministerial or interministerial arrangements, the proposals of the local authorities and the offer of cultural structures.
In this spirit, the DRAC/DAC favour a multi-stakeholder approach, targeting all the child’s time and encouraging actions ensuring continuity of action in school and extracurricular time, mobilizing multiple actors:
The decentralized services of the State
- National Education Services:
- academic delegations for cultural action (DAAC);
- the inspection body (AI/IPR and EMP);
- the Directorates of the Department of National Education.
- The other services and operators of the State concerned by this policy:
- regional food, agriculture and forestry directorates (DRAAF) for agricultural education;
- the regional and departmental directorates for youth, sports and social cohesion (DRJSCS - DDCS) to take into account extra-curricular, extra-curricular and territorial cohesion time;
- inter-regional and territorial directorates for the judicial protection of youth (PJJ) for young people covered by a judicial measure;
- universities (including INSPE schools) and colleges for higher education;
- Regional Health Agencies (RHA) for youth hospitalized or disabled.
The different levels of local authorities
- regional councils;
- departmental councils;
- intercommunalities;
- the cities.
Local authorities are major players in cultural policies. They invest more than €8.7 billion per year.
Half of their expenditure is devoted to support for artistic expression and cultural activities (performing arts, visual arts, arts education) of which 20% is for cultural action, the remainder being intended to support the conservation and enhancement of heritage (museums, archives, libraries, etc.).
Community engagement irrigates all the territories, making culture accessible throughout our territories and in close proximity to our fellow citizens.
Artistic and cultural structures in these partnerships:
All public structures or funded by the Ministry of Culture have among their priority objectives the development of EAC actions, notably through the establishment of partnerships.
Thus, both national operators, as well as labeled networks or private actors, especially associative, subsidized, are likely to bring partnerships contributing to the generalization of the EAC.
At national level, public establishments and operators of the department can deploy partnerships :
- of such a nature as to permit National deployment of a device : for example the DEMOS project piloted by the Philharmonie de Paris throughout the country, or the Creation scheme in progress led by Ateliers Medicis in Montfermeil.
- For a territorial contribution to priority national policy objectives For example, partnerships between national public institutions and neighbourhoods known as the “Priority Safety Zone” for the deployment of cultural development projects, including an EAC component.
- An example of this is the 100 national monuments, managed by the CMN, the cultural animation of the territories and the development of art and culture education for local audiences, especially in rural areas, by welcoming 550,000 students each year in the school setting.
Several associative networks are supported by the Ministry of Culture to deploy partnerships and actions to benefit the EAC.
Thus the Ministry supports the action of the solidarity associations and of popular education federations by agreements renewed every three years, by which the latter undertake to promote the discovery and appropriation of material and intangible heritage in all their fields, through a diversity of approaches, practices and explorations that can mix visual arts, living arts, literature, digital, science and technology…
Within the framework of the priorities currently defined, we can mention, in particular, under the emblematic partnerships of current actions:
- cultural, local actors (operators belonging to networks certified by the Ministry of Culture – conservatories, national stages, museums of France, …, territorial cultural facilities – libraries, municipal theatres…- or cultural actors outside networks – companies, collectives, associations…);
- school/library partnerships for the development of reading-pleasure;
- partnerships between schools/conservatories or agreed stages for the development of choral singing at school;
- Partnerships between schools/associations (Orchestra at School, VMR, JMF) and operators (Philharmonie in particular) promoting the development of collective musical practices at school, particularly in priority territories (City Policy Roadmap Action #39);
- partnerships developed within the framework of the city’s policy between a cultural equipment belonging to networks certified by the Ministry of Culture and a priority neighbourhood, which systematically include an EAC component. The development of “Educational Cities” also contributes to this.
Support for the creation and intervention of artists
Through collaborations with cultural structures and/or the establishment of territorial residencies of artists, the DRAC supports artistic interventions in cultural action or creations.
Working methods and steering bodies
To succeed in the generalization of the EAC, the first essential step is to put everyone around the table to carry out a common action, structured by forums of dialogue and steering.
At the regional level, the Regional Territorial Committee, chaired by the Regional Prefect (where appropriate represented by the DRAC) and the Rector, brings together the State services and local authorities. The steering committee thus makes it possible to make all stakeholders aware of the importance of committed policy and to invite each party to build on this assessment to promote progress on the common experience engaged.
At the departmental level, the DRAC promotes harmonization and cooperation between communities of communes, in dialogue with the department.
At the level of municipalities and especially inter-communal, the DRAC bear territorial/local arts and cultural education contracts that can take many forms (CTEAC: EAC territorial contract; CLEA: local arts education contract; CTL: Contract Territoire-Lecture...), whose animation is generally based on:
- a steering committee with a strategic aim (carrying out the diagnosis, defining the EAC policy articulated in the local cultural policy, evaluation of the action taken, etc.);
- a technical committee dedicated to the design and monitoring of the EAC journey.
Nearly 325 such agreements are currently active in France.
The DRAC also contribute to the territorial contracts carried out by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) - city contracts and rural contracts - by including a cultural component.
Valorization: the HCEAC and the «100% EAC» label
The High Council for Arts and Cultural Education brings together representatives of all EAC actors, under the co-chairmanship of the Ministers of National Education, Youth and Sports, and Culture. It is, in a way, the “parliament” of the EAC, where communities such as interdepartmental and association partners can fully contribute to the strategic directions of EAC’s public policy.
Between 2018 and 2020, the HCEAC led a working group dedicated to the territorial deployment of EAC’s generalization strategies, which contributed to the establishment of the 100% EAC label. This 100% EAC College, bringing together Bessancourt (Val d'Oise), Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), Carros (Alpes-Maritimes), Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Château-Thierry (Aisne), Guingamp (Côtes d'Armor), La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis), Metz (Moselle), Quimper (Finistère) and Saint-Brieuc (Côtes d'Armor) notably contributed its expertise for the development of methodological tools that accompany labelling.
The practical guide for the territorial inventory and the engagement file that have been developed allow the communities to self-assess, to draw up an inventory and to build a strategy for generalizing the EAC for their territory.
The 100% EAC label is aimed at municipalities, communities of municipalities, communities of agglomeration, urban communities, metropolises. It is awarded by the prefects of the region and the rectors of the academy, for a period of five years, after the opinion of the regional directorates of cultural affairs and the rectors, who will be able as necessary to mobilize the expertise of their partners. It will be renewable upon presentation of a balance sheet.
During the first labelling session (2022), 94 applications were submitted by local authorities and municipalities in all metropolitan areas. They report to 23 different academies, and are spread over 46 departments.
In 2022, 79 territories were certified 100% BEC for five years.
For the 2nd application session for the 100% EAC label, the application forms must be completed online from 15 March 2023 to 30 September 2023.
https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Demarches-en-ligne/Par-type-de-demarche/Demandes-de-labellisation/Label-100-EAC
Presentation of the labelling process, the practical guide for the territorial inventory and the engagement dossierent
Proceedings for attripurposeion:
- Online applications from March 15, 2023 to September 30, 2023.
- Co-instruction by the Rector and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, which may involve other experts: autumn 2023.
- Joint award of the 100% EAC label by mail co-signed by the prefect of region and the rector of academy on the advice of the services, for a period of 5 years, end 2023.
- Presentation of the territories labeled by the ministers in charge of national education and culture in plenary session of the HCEAC.
- Renewal of the label after five years on presentation of a balance sheet.