This is a translation of an article from 2020-12-17

What is happening during the autumn within your centre?

During the autumn, our collaboration with the Centre for Welfare Studies deepened. We have participated in a joint research application to Formas and collaborated to strengthen the multidisciplinary and cross-faculty research environment in the welfare sector at the university.

We are also involved in the EU-funded project Acting on the Margins - Art as Social Sculpture (AMASS), where we have in recent months worked intensively to map existing research on the role of culture and art in society in a number of European countries.

Last but not least, we have begun work on arranging the tenth Nordic conference for cultural policy research in Borås in August 2021.

What is the long-term vision of this centre?

We want to deepen collaborations with other centres and become a natural collaboration partner for regions, municipalities, and other stakeholders in both an overall welfare policy area and the more specific cultural policy area. We are also working to strengthen our position as Sweden's leading cultural policy research environment by increasing our share of external research funding, continuing to publish the Nordic Cultural Policy Journal (NKT), and continuing to be a hub in both the Nordic and international research environment in the area.

What is the major societal challenge you are working on right now?

The centre’s activities concern several of the major societal challenges of the day, such as regarding the role of culture and reading in creating social sustainability and community, both today and historically. The challenges of digitalisation for cultural policy and cultural institutions is another example. A third example concerns the place of culture in a democratic society. The centre works to contribute to increased knowledge about the impact of societal challenges on culture and art while we critically examine how culture and art are seen as solutions to societal challenges and what these solutions say about the view of art and culture in society.

Are there any special projects underway that you would like to tell us about?

In August 2021, the centre and the Swedish School of Library and Information Science will host the tenth Nordic conference for cultural policy research. The conference usually brings together 120-160 researchers and other interested parties from the Nordic countries as well as from other European nations. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest research in the field. The centre has also received funding from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond to conduct a conference where the role and importance of research for Nordic cultural policy is in focus.

Previous news items in the series about the university's centres:

Part IV: They gather together expertise in digitalisation 

Part III: New doctoral student projects within PreHospen

Part II: They build bridges for a sustainable society

Part I: Aims at a sustainable welfare society

Facts

There are five centres at the University of Borås. The purpose of these centres is to strengthen networks which aim to contribute to quality development of the university's education and research. See more about the university's centres