The Council of Europe and its partners want to remain aware of processes affecting cultural democracy and how citizens participate in these. Our new and open HOTopics platform for orientation, debates and other forms of interaction is one of the instruments to further explore current developments such as the democratic potential of the 'digital age' and other 'hot' issues. We hope that it will inspire users, including experts from governments, international bodies and NGO's, to voice their own ideas.

New Media and Cultural Participation

Your Idea / SuggestionToday’s media and, in particular, the new digital information and communication technologies heavily impact the social and cultural life of our societies.

Can digital media enhance democracy, even lead to a democratisation of culture? Have these technologies actually made us more (inter-) active citizens as far as cultural creation and expression are concerned?

Related questions and concerns are taken up in a "Think Piece" by Dutch expert Joost Smiers, along with controversial issues such as copyright in the digital age. Recently this came up in the debates of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), whose EU-wide adoption was just rejected by the European Parliament. As well, the sudden success of "Pirate Parties" all over Europe can be attributed to their outspoken challenge of the current forms of exploitation of intellectual property rights.

We look forward to your views and comments!

Digitisation and cultural democracy, an (as yet) unfulfilled promise

ThinkPiece #1 by Joost Smiers

Joost SmiersWe are surrounded by, and increasingly dependent on, digital information and communication technologies and have been for the last two decades. As they have lost their novelty, this could be the right moment to discuss a question that has been burning in our minds for some time:
Have these once new digital information and communication technologies really made us more (inter)active citizens, as far as cultural expressions are concerned? Was this not the promise and expectation when we first confronted the endless possibilities the digital world offered us?

Most of us have become passive consumers of what the entertainment industry and advertising media try to sell us, but it was originally thought that digitisation would result in a radical change in this laid-back attitude. However, I am not so sure that this has actually happened.

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The Power of Arts

Topic 1 | Friday, 09 November, 2012 14:37 GMT+2, by Marisa Benson, Ewing, NJ, USA

When Arts and Technology collide and fuse, democracy can not only be enhanced but can give birth to a multiplier effect that can even go viral. Stakeholders from diverse backgrounds with a range of ta...

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Bring copyright back to its original purpose!

Topic 1 | Monday, 14 May, 2012 16:33 GMT+2, by Johannes Bouphos, Germany

Good idea to include copyright issues in such a reflection. However, on should not throw the baby out with the bath-water, as is now often the case when such debates are reduced mainly to a conflict be...

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