Cultural Development Strategy for Ukraine 2025-2030

The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications (MCSC) has unveiled a new strategy for cultural development for the period 2025-2030, focusing on the autonomy of its subordinate institutions. This initiative aims to enhance the resilience of culture as a vital societal system.

First Deputy Minister of Culture Halyna Hryhorenko shared insights about the strategy during a broadcast on Radio Culture.

"One of our strategic aims is to bolster the resilience of culture as a system. Our cultural infrastructure, inherited from the Soviet Union, consists of over 30,000 institutions. We must modernize it, as it remains heavily regulated and significant reforms haven't occurred since independence", Hryhorenko noted.

She emphasized that cultural institutions face numerous constraints:

"Most innovations or attempts to change something within a cultural institution encounter responses from regulatory bodies that may impose penalties... Thus, there is no incentive for change".

Consequently, one of the ministry’s primary objectives is to "liberalize the activities of the cultural sector", which involves reforming government management and support systems to promote autonomy among diverse cultural institutions.

To implement the strategy, funding from private sources is also necessary, and simultaneously, legislation on cultural patronage will be developed.

About the Strategy Document

The document titled "Cultural Development Strategy 2025-2030", adopted on March 28, is regarded as the first comprehensive governmental document that considers culture as a component of national security and sustainable development of Ukraine.

Halyna Hryhorenko mentioned that during the strategy's development, the MCSC organized several conferences in various cities of Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv, as well as meetings with representatives from the public sector and independent organizations.

The new strategy outlines four main objectives:

• strengthening human capital through cultural practices;
• protection and preservation of cultural heritage;
• enhancing the resilience of culture as a societal system;
• integrating Ukrainian culture into global cultural processes.

The first point of the strategy emphasizes strengthening human capital, indicating that cultural institutions should become more accessible:

"This means our cultural institutions need to transform from mere libraries into spaces for social interaction and community engagement. Museums, for instance, should actively work on local identity and history while collaboratively planning for the future based on our past".

Additionally, efforts are underway to establish mechanisms for evacuating cultural assets from frontline areas and fostering international connections.