European Arts and Disability Cluster
ADICLUS
The European Arts and Disability Cluster (ADICLUS) is a European membership network of artists, cultural workers, arts organisations and cultural institutions.
ID: 303451298251-74
Lobbying Activity
Response to A Culture Compass for Europe
23 May 2025
The Cultural Compass for Europe must assert the cultural rights of people with disabilities as artists, as cultural workers, and as audiences. As 20-25% of the European population live with a disability, it is vital that the current marginalisation from cultural life of people with disabilities is addressed. Generic commitments to inclusion or greater accessibility have not been effective. Specific reference to the promotion of cultural rights to people with disabilities must be included. In this the Cultural Compass should learn from the successes re Gender Equity which was a clear priority in the 2018 New European Agenda for Culture. A prioritisation which led to advances in this area across the European cultural sector. In addition to stating a commitment to cultural rights of people with disabilities (PwDs) as artists, cultural workers and as audiences, the Cultural Compass must also instruct the Commission to learn from positive cases in the current programme to deliver: 1) An OMC Working Group on Disability Access to Culture as artists and cultural workers with disabilities are largely absent from key European cultural stakeholder networks 2) A pilot research action to establish the extent of lack of access to culture for people with disabilities across the Union (there are no statistics on this, and Eurobarometer and Eurostat do not measure this). 3) Learning from good practices on accessibility within Culture Moves Europe and Perform Europe and to implement these across Cooperation Projects, Networks and Platforms within the Culture strand, including: a) Featuring Accessibility cost budget lines, and top-ups for accessibility costs, and b) Measurement of numbers of beneficiaries with disability 4) Implementing dedicated actions on a) knowledge exchange and b) on development of audiences with disabilities within the Culture Programme 5) Implementing a Requirement for Accessible outputs in the MEDIA programme 6) Commitment to work in partnership with the Education sector with the aim of raising awareness of, and rectifying, lack of access to cultural education for students with disabilities something which is predominant across the EU. 5) Articulating that without disability representation in the cultural workforce, people with disabilities will continue to be under-represented across the EU in cultural outputs like film, television, radio, stage and museum resulting in an absence of PwDs from social discourse and democratic processes. We draw you attention to the following: 1. Our Position Paper: How the European Union can and must act to reduce discrimination against artists, cultural workers and audiences with disabilities https://tinyurl.com/ycx7b4zt 2. Time to Act: How Lack of Knowledge in the Cultural Sector Creates Barriers for Disabled Artists and Audiences by On The Move https://tinyurl.com/yzmmk9hd 3. Time to Act: Two Years On, Data-led Insights on Performing Arts and Disability in Europe by On The Move https://tinyurl.com/4te3vtvk
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