Bucharest City Hall has launched strategiaculturala.pmb.ro, a platform where cultural organisations and professionals can send feedback on the city’s cultural strategy while it is still being drafted. Mayor General Ciprian Ciucu presented the process at a press conference on Thursday, 15 October. The strategy will set Bucharest’s cultural objectives, priorities and development directions for 2027–2036.

How the platform works

Professionals and organisations can submit general or specific observations and proposals. The team will evaluate them and publish the relevant ones. Authors can keep their contributions unpublished or have them published anonymously or under their name, after moderation. The site also gathers the consultations, reports and preliminary conclusions produced so far. The city will use it to centralise all public and private cultural institutions active in the capital. The aim is to see what is missing, where investment is needed and how new institutions can be promoted. A cultural calendar and a funding plan could be added later.

Who is preparing it and who was consulted

The strategy is being prepared by Arte și Evenimente Urbane București (AEUB) in collaboration with Insula 42. Specialists Corina Șuteu and Elvira Lupșa are handling the whole process. The research so far includes:

  • more than 500 cultural professionals in interviews, consultations and focus groups;
  • 800 respondents in a quantitative survey of residents;
  • more than 80 residents in 10 focus groups;
  • 761 high school pupils, plus about 2,000 university students in a survey still under way.

The process will also draw on international expertise and good practice from other European capitals.

Bigger events, multi-year funding

Ciucu said the strategy gives a clear direction for developing culture over the next 10 years. He said Bucharest’s potential in creative industries has not been properly used. He wants the city to have big events rather than many, with large festivals but also programmes for micro-communities, from fine arts to performing arts. He said the city has not reached the regional or international map because action has not been clear and unified. Linked to the Destination Management Organisation, which includes culture, there will be significant multi-year funding. Some programmes will be run by AEUB itself and others through funding programmes.

Next steps

Consultation with key people in the cultural sector runs until the end of October. A first version of the strategy is due by the end of November. Drafting will be followed by public consultation and preparation of the final strategy, which will be ready next year. After adoption, its directions are to be turned into actions and monitored over time.