Goin g f ur ther : r each in g ou t/ a u di en c e dev el o pmen t Experience shows that, even when there are no physical or financial barriers to cultural fruition, it may be very difficult to attract an audience with a different profile (socio-economic background or age, e.g. young people) from the usual. The issue of access and participation seems to be much more on the demand than on the supply side. Efforts around ‘audience development’ are, therefore, above all about the creation of a demand by raising interest for the current cultural offer, mainly through education activities, but also by adapting the supply so as to take into better account the possible needs of the envisaged audience. As argued in chapter 2, developing audiences is in some cases key to the very survival of arts and cultural institutions. While in the past funding authorities and arts and cultural institutions focused most of their efforts, attention and resources on the supply of artistic and cultural production, it is now evident that supporting the demand should be regarded as a vital task for cultural management.
6.1. Creating an interest and understanding through education Educational activities, addressed to school-aged children and young people or to adults, are the most obvious ways through which to allow contact with and raise interest in culture. This is why cultural education should be regarded as one of the core activities of the cultural field. Cultivating demand means first of all giving people the skills and the knowledge to allow them to appreciate the arts and to develop a desire to come back for more 18. Thus, cultural education is also closely related to the sustainability of cultural institutions. It should be noted, however, that education, together with family background, is the most important demographic predictor of cultural participation. Arts and cultural education has a very limited place in primary and secondary education curricula across Member States. Therefore, it is important to analyse how the education system as a whole influences cultural participation. This is a point that should be tackled in more depth in the OMC group that will deal with the key competence of cultural awareness and expression (2013-14). Cultural education starts at an early age, already before children go into formal education. Children are open to culture and via children it is possible to reach different ethnicities, social classes, gender, learning abilities, religions and special needs.
18 L.Zakaras, J. Lowell, Cultivating Demand for the arts, RAND, 2008. Open method of coordination (OMC) Working group of EU Member States’ experts on better access to and wider participation in culture
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