DCCC and partners launch the development of Dnipro's cultural strategy
Work has begun on the creation of a cultural development strategy for Dnipro. The initiative is designed to foster the sustainable growth of the city’s cultural landscape and adapt the operations of cultural institutions to contemporary needs and challenges.
The project is a collaborative effort between the Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture (DCCC), the Department of Culture of the Dnipro City Council, and the Menorah Cultural and Business Center. It emerged from the need to rethink approaches within the city’s cultural sector and to formulate systemic responses to the challenges faced by the community since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
The initiators emphasize that while institutions have learned to survive in crisis conditions over the past four years of war, the time has come for long-term planning. The new strategy will address urgent issues: from strengthening the resilience of cultural institutions and reflecting on the current Ukrainian experience to presenting local cultural projects on international platforms as a tool for cultural diplomacy, supporting decolonization processes, and engaging with communities through art.
The strategy will be based on an analysis of the current state of culture in Dnipro, as well as local and global challenges and trends. According to the project organizers, the development process will be guided by EU cultural practices and the successful experiences of other Ukrainian cities that have already implemented cultural strategies. It is also planned to align the local initiative with the recently approved National Cultural Development Strategy of Ukraine for the period until 2030.
In preparation for the strategy’s development, research on the city’s cultural heritage sites and institutions has already been conducted, alongside pilot workshops and a survey of residents involving over 1,000 participants. The next step is a facilitated session titled "The Future of Dnipro's Culture: What Strategy Does the City Need?", involving professional communities, which will take place at the end of March.
During the meeting, cultural practitioners, representatives of cultural institutions and initiatives, the municipality, and business communities will discuss the strengths and key problems of Dnipro's cultural field, envisioning what it should look like by 2030 and identifying what needs to change and how.
The event will bring together national and local experts, including Yevhen Khoroshylov (Head of the Department of Culture of the Dnipro City Council), Olha Sahaidak (Chair of the Board of the Coalition of Cultural Practitioners), Andrii Palash (Director of DCCC), and Svitlana Yermakova (Director of the Menorah Cultural and Business Center). Ivan Verbytskyi, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, will also share insights on the creation of the National Cultural Development Strategy 2030.
Session participants will seek answers to the question: what changes are necessary for the city's culture to thrive? The discussions will be facilitated by: Mariia Kravchenko (Cultural manager, strategic development consultant); Olha Sahaidak (Coalition of Cultural Practitioners, National Cultural Strategy); Dariya Moskalevych (Goethe-Institut, EU for Culture); Tetiana Oliinyk (Partnership for a Resilient Ukraine Program); Bozhena Pelenska (Insha Osvita); Kateryna Kulai (Odesa Fine Arts Museum).
The strategic sessions within the development of Dnipro's cultural strategy are part of the capacity-building and networking program for local cultural practitioners "Room for Heritage." This program is supported by the The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.
