Towards Greater Citizen Participation in Financing Public Cultural Institutions—Legal Barriers and Proposed Solutions

Abstract

The paper contains a conceptual proposal that aims at indicating new models of participatory financing of cultural institutions as well as actions towards supporting culture. It presents results of a qualitative study in the form of action research, on identifying legal barriers of financing of cultural institutions in Poland. Additionally, it presents practical suggestions to the encountered problems that were worked out after discussions with cultural managers, taxpayers, and government administration decision-makers. The unique value of the study is a multidimensional and complex analysis of participatory financing of culture, citing varied sources and bearing a structured research procedure. We suggest a new discussion on establishing legal solutions for increasing of the funding or making the financing of cultural institutions more flexible, which appears to be particularly important in crisis times. All is presented as an original concept of participatory citizen-enterprise fiscal mechanism of supporting cultural institutions. We present a pragmatic solution to a problem of additional public support of culture, which can be put into practice parallel to state mechanisms, considering culture as a part of sustainable development.

Eco-Initiatives in Municipal Cultural Institutions as Examples of Activities for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Poznan

“…The functioning of an institution depends on many factors. These include, for example, the location that may be of interest to the public, the size of the institution, the number of staff, the question of resource intensity, or even the amount of annual subsidy related to the financing of the units [44]. If they are at a high level compared to other cultural institutions, the cultural institution should be able to carry out pro-environmental activities in a much more simple and accessible way.…”

Działania antykryzysowe w obszarze kultury w trakcie pandemii SARS-CoV-2. Stan obecny i wnioski de lege ferenda w zakresie zwiększenia partycypacji obywatelskiej oraz instytucjonalnej

“…Jeśli udział w kulturze wynika z wcześniej wypracowanych, długotrwałych i stabilnych relacji obywatela z instytucją kultury, ma to korzystny wpływ na budowanie tożsamości narodowej. Wyniki przeprowadzonych badań jakościowych 20 , "Przegląd Sejmowy" nr 4(165)/2021 opartych m.in. na wywiadach z przedstawicielami ministerstw, osobami zarządzającymi instytucjami kultury oraz korzystającymi z oferty placówek kulturalnych, wskazują na zainteresowanie każdej z grup interesariuszy partycypacyjnymi oraz bardziej elastycznymi formami finansowania instytucji kultury.…”

The Use of Activities and Resources in Archaeological Museums for the Teaching of History in Formal Education

“…Recent studies have echoed the use of museums in line with the Sustainable Development Goals [2]. Other studies are aimed at the creation of participatory financing models for museums [3].…”