In 2023 the European House for Culture (EHfC), a large network of individual artists, cultural workers and journalists from all over Europe, has become part of FMCC. EHfC aims to strengthen synergies within the European cultural sector, improve the quality of cultural activities in educational and research projects, and increase the sector’s political influence in Europe.
EHfC was originally established in 2008 by our cooperation partner EFA. EHfC now operates together with the Society Felix Meritis. Please click for the full statutory object of Society Felix Meritis and the objective of EHfC.
Mission
Culture and Art are fundamental to society and play a central role in the process of European integration. Their contribution needs to be given greater visibility and the sector should have more weight in the European decision-making process.
EHfC, like FMCC, develops ideas and takes action to improve the position of the Artist, Culture and Education as the main pillar of sustainable development and in particular to strengthen European Identity through Education and Culture, as proposed by the European Commission in 2017 in Gothenburg.
Education and Culture can and should be part of the solution to tackle many of the challenges the EU is facing
European Commission, Gothenburg, 17 November 2017
We also refer to the European Parliament resolution of 6 April 2022 on the implementation of citizenship education actions which highlights the importance of active citizenship in protecting our democracies. It stresses the need for a lifelong learning and community perspective in citizenship education, involving the informal and non-formal sectors, as well as businesses and NGOs. The resolution states a gap between EU strategy documents on the importance of citizenship education and EU practice, and points to the need for a European dimension in national citizenship education.
The Artist as Citizen
Following the success of the conference on cultural, political and citizenship education Connecting Cultures: Empowering Citizens, organised in 2023 by FMCC, EHfC and the European Academy Berlin, in the autumn of 2024 a next joint conference will take place at the premises of EAB.
The aim of the conference was to ‘ponder the instructive role of artists in shaping the lives of citizens’. How does the artist, the cultural institution, through the interaction with the academic world contribute to citizenship education, the building of communities, the formation of social spaces and the promotion of European Values? The report of the conference can be found here