International Heritage Cooperation Visitors programme

DutchCulture and a number of Dutch cultural institutions have an International Visitors Programme. This programme is an excellent means of inviting people from key cultural organizations abroad to come to the Netherlands, meet Dutch cultural counterparts and see Dutch cultural activities. Experience has shown that these visits are very fruitful for the visiting party and for the Dutch cultural field. All visits should clearly benefit the Dutch cultural field as well as the cultural field of the country of origin of the visitor.

International heritage professionals are given the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the working methods of the Dutch heritage sector. The most important aims of the programme are to deepen and improve international cultural collaboration in the heritage field. In addition, the programme contributes to professionalization, capacity building, market enlargement and the establishment of a sustainable network.

Customized programme

The programme is devised using the background and interests of the visitor as well as the interests of the Dutch cultural field as a starting point and is composed in close cooperation with the visitor. Usually the programme is made up of a compact schedule of three to five working days.

Before any visit is confirmed, DutchCulture asks the Dutch Embassy or Consulate of the visitors' country for advice. The Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs provides DutchCulture with a budget to cover some of the costs of visits. This is not always sufficient to cover all costs, so visitors are sometimes asked to commit to the visit by making a small financial contribution as well. It is essential that visitors speak and understand English quite well.

The programme is primarily intended for visitors from the International Heritage Cooperation partner countries, but can also be used for visitors from Europe.