Culture in school - Lottery or guarantee?

There are major gaps in equality when it comes to children's right to culture in school. This conference highlights children's right to culture and wants to create increased conditions for culture for children to become a guarantee and not a lottery.

The school's policy document contains stated goals that demonstrate the value of culture and knowledge of different cultural expressions. At the same time, there are cultural policy goals at the state, regional and municipal levels with the same objectives. Despite these goals, equality is lacking and access to culture looks very different for the country's children and young people.

The conference was first organized in 2024 by the City of Mölndal and the Västra Götaland Region. The dialogue and cooperation that took place there clearly demonstrated the need to bring together education and culture to jointly create long-term and sustainable structures — something we want to build on with this conference in Norrbotten.

The conference is aimed at:

• Politicians, decision-makers and officials within culture and school/education at state, regional and municipal levels. Those with influence over how culture is integrated into preschool and school and the opportunities for children and young people to participate in and practice culture.

The conference is arranged by Luleå Municipality and Region Norrbotten. Participants include the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Arts Council. Researchers, universities and cultural institutions will also participate in the program.

Save the date

The conference will be held at Kulturens hus in Luleå on October 1-2, 2025. It will start with lunch on October 1 and end with lunch on October 2.

We recommend that you participate together with a colleague from your organization – one from the school world and one from culture – to ensure broader support and consensus.