A population survey on Cultural Participation in Braga reveals that the population residing in the municipality has “a considerable interest” in culture, but identifies “significant barriers” related to financial and informational accessibility.
These data were disclosed in the presentation of the new project ‘Empurrão Cultural’ launched by the Bracara Augusta Foundation and CERCI Braga, which has as a partner the entity Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, through the Museu dos Biscainhos and Museu D. Diogo de Sousa.
The study carried out at the end of 2023, with the scientific support of the Braga Regional Center of the Catholic University of Portugal, shows on the part of Braga residents “a strong inclination” towards activities that allow interaction with the city’s historical and artistic heritage, and identifies, however, “significant barriers” related to financial and informational accessibility.
The respondents’ suggestions point to the need for “a more inclusive and diversified cultural promotion strategy, which includes more accessible prices, better publicity and programming that covers a wider range of interests and availability”.
The study suggests that “there is potential to increase cultural participation in Braga and that this can be achieved through more inclusive cultural policies adapted to the needs and preferences of residents”.
In the presentation of ‘Cultural Push’, which has the motto ‘Everyone counts in culture! This is just how it goes!’, the president of the municipality considered this “scientific and rigorous” study “very important” to serve as a basis for “a justification of the strategies to be adopted”
“In the results presented, we quickly realized that there is still a huge amount of work to be done to make all of our cultural heritage and museums more accessible to citizens and certain segments of the population”, highlighted Ricardo Rio, highlighting that reconciling accessibility to culture with inclusion, “is a very virtuous strategy” and that this project “has a lot to gain from the involvement of cultural facilities and the business fabric”.
Miguel Bandeira, president of the Board of Directors of the Bracara Augusta Foundation, explained that this project aims at “a collective mobilization around Culture, and this implies a ‘push’ on the part of companies, institutions and schools, in strengthening and bringing together cultural dynamics”, launching the challenge to companies and institutions to mobilize around this project.
The presentation of the ‘Cultural Push’ was also attended by Cláudia Leite, representing the entity Museums and Monuments of Portugal, Carla Cardoso, from the Braga Regional Center of the Portuguese Catholic University, and Vera Vaz, president of CERCI Braga.
Fernando Gualtieri (CP 7889)
Tags: Braga Study reveals considerable interest culture identifies significant barriers access
