The experience economy is a relatively new concept. The term covers all aspects of the economy that are connected - in the broadest sense — with the selling and buying of experiences. An essential part of this economy is directly linked to the development of artistic and cultural activities, and thereby directly connected with the work carried out in Europe’s many culture houses.
The emergence of the experience economy concept reflects a development in society where the economic aspect of artistic and cultural activity obtains increasingly greater importance. As such, the value of a well-developed cultural life is regarded at the local level as ever more meaningful for the local community’s total economic and welfare-based development. In this perspective, the development of locally-based culture houses, which both facilitate and disseminate artistic and cultural initiative, can be seen as essential and especially significant for the experience economy.

Social capital, cultural capital and the experience economy
The concepts of ‘social capital’ and ‘cultural capital’ are often linked with the experience economy, and together this entails a continually increasing focus on the economic aspect of artistic and cultural activities in society. This development may lead to a more market-based cultural policy and an increased instrumentalisation of art, such that artistic and cultural activities do not have value ‘in themselves’ but have value solely by virtue of the economy connected with them. One can therefore ask whether the activities in the European culture houses are already now under the pressure to compete for ‘shares of the market’, and the extent to which ‘return on investment’ or profitability becomes a decisive parameter in the development of new cultural policy, locally, nationally and internationally. It is clear that increasing numbers of politicians, officials and other decision-makers in the cultural area are invoking theories of experience economy when they are creating cultural policy strategies and formulating new cultural policy.

Problem or solution?
Theories of experience economy are continually being developed, and there is much to indicate that experience as a product can be a dominant factor in European cultural policy. This development presents several new opportunities for locally-based and participant-based cultural institutions, as culture houses are. This is because culture houses can be seen as experts when it comes to engaging and developing experiences on the basis of the citizens’ own activities and the citizens’ own engagement. In this light, one can say that the cultural houses are holding their own in the competition with private interests on the market. Shortcut Europe 07-Copenhagen seeks to investigate and to create the frameworks for debate about the significance of this development with the help of presentations from several experts in the area of cultural policy and cultural development. We therefore extend this invitation to all those interested in the developmental potentials of the culture house to spend three professionally challenging and experientially inspiring days in Copenhagen.

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