01-01-2025
Since 2014, Pearle has collaborated with the European Festivals Association (EFA) to improve knowledge on the legal and managerial aspects of cross-border cultural cooperation for festivals and performing arts organisations, as part of EFA's Creative Europe Network funding.
Care for and Share the Alliance is the Creative Europe Network programme 2025-2028 of the European Festivals Association (EFA). It will explore the guiding question: “How do the arts, arts festivals, cities and regions specifically contribute to better living conditions of people and of the planet?” The project focuses on two priorities: to increase accessibility to and of the festival sector for participation and interaction in the Alliance; to deepen Alliance stakeholders’ capacities and expand their impact.
EFA aims to develop and improve the awareness, responsibility and critical thinking of festivals and festival cities and regions to play an active role within our societies. Besides networking and capacity building, EFA's activities contribute to the social and cultural development of localities, nations, and international communities within the EU and beyond, equipping festivals and their stakeholders with new models of trans-sectoral work.
Initiatives focusing on the arts and the communities at the core of EFA's work, developing a language tailored to their needs while engaging colleague networks and audiences in activities and policy dialogue to share this language and create a meaningful impact. For that, EFA teams up with The Festival Academy, Pearle* and A Soul for Europe.
The Ultimate Cookbooks for Cultural Managers
A fruit of this collaboration is the Ultimate Cookbooks for Cultural Managers series, which supports better understanding of the legal, administrative, and managerial aspects of working across borders in Europe—and the impact of EU regulations on the live performance sector.
Over time, the Cookbooks have become a trusted reference. Some editions have been updated and translated into other languages such as Czech and French. To increase accessibility, the Cookbooks have also been adapted into a more visual format through a series of infographics.
In the new phase of the EFA/Pearle* collaboration, the publication of new Cookbooks continues, alongside updates to existing ones to reflect recent developments in EU regulations and policy:
- The Ultimate Cookbook for Cultural Managers: The Artistic Freedom Regulatory Framework in the EU. December 2025
Workshops
To further strengthen knowledge-sharing, the project also includes a series of workshops organised each year at Pearle* conferences and the EFA Summit, accessible to their respective members. These workshops aim to provide hands-on guidance and foster exchange on key topics such as artistic freedom and censorship, sustainability, inclusion and diversity, digitalisation, and more.
