Culture & creativity Global changes
The explosion in technology has made it easy to build more relationships, all over the globe. However, futurologists and sociologists talk of a superficiality in such relationships and a reduced link to neighbourhoods, leading to people feeling more lost, more alone even. More and more people live in cities where the distances are short but where, due to individualisation, growing segregation and the large number of single households, people may never have lived so far apart. We need roots to get a perspective on life, and we need to feel a sense of belonging to be active and citizens who make a contribution – whether we live in big cities, small towns or rural areas. Culture is one facilitator of understanding. Cultural participation opens up new ways of looking at society, at ourselves and our place in the world, and expressing things in a language we have made our own. Exercise of culture provides, in addition to pure pleasure, an important opportunity to identify new communities and create deeper relationships. It is an opportunity that people around the country are increasingly making use of. Cultural activities constitute a major part of people’s leisure activities. Study associations’ cultural activities alone bring together more than 18 million participants and visitors every year, and activities are expanding. Together, study associations and folk
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