Market survey for the cultural engagement monitor

By conducting this market survey the ministry wants to gain an insight into which parties might be interested in participating. The aim is to give all the parties an equal opportunity to apply to be involved in the research. 

The research

The research will comprise field research on Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten and needs to be empirical, descriptive and independent. The aim is to achieve two goals. On the one hand the contractor will submit a suitable research method and recommendation for the purpose of future monitoring. On the other hand they will complete a baseline measurement that demonstrates how the residents of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius engage in cultural activities. The result will include a proposal and recommendations for indicators of cultural engagement on the islands in question, which can then be surveyed periodically. 

The term cultural engagement relates to six cultural domains, namely cultural education, amateur arts, cultural participation, intangible heritage, engaging with heritage/the Faro Convention and talent development.

• Cultural education means consciously learning about and through art, heritage and media by means of specific instruction, both in school and elsewhere. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) defines cultural education as also involving education provided by professionals to amateurs in all kinds of forms, weather in a group or individually. The activities have to fall within the scope of art and cultural education and may involve a visit to a cultural institution during school hours, in addition to engaging actively in practical activities.
• Amateur arts is the term which relates to people engaging in creative and artistic activities, for example painting, drawing, singing in a choir, making music, making jewellery, pottery, designing clothes, dancing, fanart on the Internet, etc. The term also covers attending lessons, taking a course, or participating in a workshop to learn about engaging in amateur arts or in order to improve existing skills. Amateur arts is all about something you actively engage in yourself.
• Cultural engagement means actively engaging in culture in the sense of the arts, heritage and media. It covers all forms of active engagement in, and the artistic development of, culture, as well as being involved in culture during leisure time, in other words after work or outside school hours. Active cultural engagement includes community arts, artistic activities during leisure time, extracurricular culture education and voluntary work in, for example, the heritage sector.
• Intangible heritage covers social customs, performances, rituals, traditions, crafts, expressions, special knowledge and/or skills that communities and groups recognise as a form of cultural heritage. It is a living and dynamic form of heritage that moves with the times by being passed on by communities to new generations.
• Heritage participation is, in our opinion, based on a dual perspective. First of all there is the top-down perspective which involves professionals in governments and institutions designing processes, such as voluntary work, public participation evenings, or a competition, in which members of the public (can) play some kind of active role. Participation in this sense means that people engage more passively as users or spectators without owning or helping to shape the activity. Secondly there is the bottom-up perspective by which members of the public form groups and become actively involved in caring for and protecting heritage. Participation in this sense means that people engage more actively, are committed and involved and help shape the activity in question.
• Talent development relates to activities which are intended to discover talented artists and guide them to a higher level. By ‘talented artists’ we mean amateur artists with the (potential) qualities and ambition to progress into art education or to make it their profession.  

These domains relate to cultural engagement during leisure time or when at school. In the context of ‘leisure time’ this means actively engaging in, or creating, art and heritage, rather than visiting or consuming them. ‘Active engagement’ also relates to people who use or engage in culture, rather than providing or creating it. This does not necessarily have to have a structured form and it can also be more informal and sporadic in nature. One example would be the ‘core paranda di dande’ tradition on Aruba at New Year, performances for family and friends at parties, or incidental performances such as playing an instrument outdoors (bou palo) or on the veranda (den veranda), or other spontaneous expressions of something personal or cultural.

This market survey

The purpose of this market survey is to identify parties based in one of the six island/ countries in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom that are interested in developing a cultural engagement monitor. 

The ministry has imposed the following requirements on research parties in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom:

• Knowledge of and expertise on research in the field of culture in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
• The research will be carried out in cooperation with one or more (knowledge/research) institutes in which at least 2 (island) countries are represented. 

Responses

Research parties (including research firms, institutes and educational institutions) are cordially invited to respond by no later than 27 January 2025 by sending an email to CultuurCaribischGebied@rijksdienstCN.com. In your email you should provide more details on: 

1. The experience you or your institution have which is relevant to the research assignment. 
2. The time frame which you consider to be achievable in terms of carrying out this assignment and the conditions under which you would like to be involved.

You can also use the same email address to obtain more information. 

Parties will contribute to this market consultation on a voluntary basis and no rights can be derived from participating.

Process following the market survey

Due to the fact that carnival will be taking place in the first quarter of 2025, we would hereby like to inform you of the intended process schedule after the market survey has been completed. Parties can respond to the market survey until 27 January 2025. Based on the outcomes of the survey, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will, by no later than 31 January 2025, ask (a maximum of 5) interested parties to submit a tender. The deadline for submitting tenders is 14 March 2025. The assignment will start in the first or second quarter of 2025, in agreement with the party that has been awarded the contract and taking account of any public holidays.  

It will be possible for several Caribbean research parties to work together, with one party acting as lead party and coordinating the research. 

Background 

Our aim is to facilitate a lifetime of cultural engagement by everyone in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Cultural engagement is a broad concept which covers many forms of culture, both traditional and innovative. People may engage in culture from an early age (through cultural education at school and/or cultural engagement during leisure time) and progress to becoming involved in amateur art or forms of cultural heritage later on in life.

Policy development in relation to this theme requires a sound basis of knowledge. For several years now the Amateur Art Monitor (Monitor Amateurkunst, MAK) and the Leisure Omnibus (Vrijetijdsomnibus, VTO) have given us a good insight into how people engage in art in their free time in the European Netherlands. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has also commissioned the Cultural Heritage Agency (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, RCE) RCE and the Dutch Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage (Kenniscentrum Immaterieel Erfgoed Nederland, KIEN) to implement the first edition of the Heritage Monitor with a specific focus on the European Netherlands. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has also commissioned monitoring surveys to research cultural engagement in primary and secondary education. The objective of these initiatives is primarily to provide policymakers and researchers with up-to-date data on scope and the applicable preconditions. 

Although these monitors do not yet cover the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, there is a desire to gain an insight into how people in that part of the Kingdom engage in culture as well. For this assignment it is important that the focus is on the Caribbean context and that the research is conducted by a party that is familiar with that context and that an appropriate research method is used. Our intention is for this assignment to generate a baseline measurement of cultural engagement by people in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, using methods which are appropriate for the regional context. The drawing up of a proposal and recommendations for future monitoring are also part of the assignment.