ENGLISH

Arts and Culture at school in Norway

The Cultural Rucksack (Den kulturelle skolesekken) is a national programme for art and culture provided by professionals in Norwegian schools. 
The programme helps school pupils to become acquainted with all kinds of professional art and cultural expressions 

The objectives of the programme are:

  • To enable children and young people in primary and secondary school to enjoy artistic and cultural productions provided by professionals.
  • To facilitate the pupils’ access to a wide range of cultural expressions, so that they can become acquainted with and develop an understanding of culture in all its forms.
  • To assist schools in integrating different forms of cultural expression with their own efforts to attain learning goals.

Specific goals
The Cultural Rucksack has been part of the Government’s cultural policy for primary and lower secondary schools since 2001, and has recently been extended to upper secondary school. This means that all pupils from the ages of 6 to 19 will be able to benefit from the programme. The Cultural Rucksack will offer cultural opportunities representing a wide variety of cultural expressions, such as the performing arts, visual arts, film, music, literature and cultural heritage. The Cultural Rucksack is a joint venture between the educational and cultural sectors at the national and local level. 

The Cultural Rucksack involves all the counties and municipalities in Norway
The county cultural and education departments are responsible for coordinating the programme in their own regions, and individual programmes are also designed by the municipalities. This assignment of responsibility to local authorities promotes enthusiasm and a sense of ownership among all parties and provides room for local variation.

Funding by profits from the state-owned gaming company

The Cultural Rucksack is mainly funded by the surplus from Norsk Tipping, the state-owned gaming company. The programme receives NOK 160–180 million (EUR 20–23 million) annually, which is allocated to and distributed by the regional and local authorities. The great majority of cultural institutions and a number of related institutions are involved in the programme content. These institutions, the regional authorities and many local authorities contribute substantial sums from their own budgets

The Cultural Rucksack is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research
The secretariat for the scheme is the Arts Council Norway.

The Cultural Rucksack was evaluated during 2006,  read the evaluation here [pdf]

For more information:
The Cultural Rucksack/Den kulturelle skolesekken
Arts Council Norway
Box 8052 Dep
NO-0031 Oslo

Phone: +47 21045800

E-mail: info(at)denkulturelleskolesekken.no