Daniel Gad - Böcker

Culture is seen as a source for the development of society. Task of cultural policy is therefore to create and support structures that promote mobilization of creativity of the people and thus ensure welfare, innovation and pluralism. Such relationships have been discussed at the level of UNESCO for the past forty years. Within Germany and Europe as well as on the African continent experiences and initiatives are increasing in order to put discourse on cultural policies into practice. There is a need to provide a forum for the exchange of concepts and to identify the state of the art of theory and practice within the concepts of good governance and cultural policy. It is essential to clarify the role and the needed context of the arts, of art education and of individual artists in the development of society.

Arts Education institutions and programs create an excellent framework for personality development: learning knowledge, learning skills and learning life. Their attainment requires education to be a holistic concept of advancement that includes aesthetic practice and involvement with the arts. It challenges them to use their actions to think about the meaning of life, in as much as everyone can use artistic experiences to affirm and interrogate their self-image. The Research Program of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy for the Arts in Development at the University of Hildesheim in Germany brought together experts from the Universities in Dar Es Salam, Kampala, Nairobi, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Casablanca and Tunis and further independent researchers to exchange concepts in Cultural Policy for Arts Education.