In order to make culture and art more accessible to young people who have turned 18, the Government made a decision on Thursday at a session to introduce the Cultural Card, which will allow young people to use a voucher of 100 euros for cultural needs of their own choice.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Koržinek emphasized that this is a very important step aimed at sensitizing the younger generation to culture as much as possible.
– The goal is to promote a more universal and diverse approach to culture for the young audience, creating cultural habits and strengthening existing cultural needs – the minister highlighted.
Through this model, those who create cultural content – those who print books, organize concerts, theater performances, publish newspapers, and manage museums and heritage sites – will be brought closer to our citizens who are transitioning from formal education into adulthood and are starting to make decisions on their own, she explained.
Based on the decision, all young people who turn 18 at the beginning of next year will receive a voucher of 100 euros, which they can use to buy books, subscribe to daily newspapers, purchase tickets for cinema shows, theater performances, exhibitions, publications, and concerts of classical or jazz music. The system has been developed in collaboration with Fina, communication will be entirely digital, and young people will receive the first notification through the e-register.
– We expect to achieve the goal of greater support and encouragement for young people to consume cultural content. At the same time, we will obtain high-quality data about their habits and interests for the first time, so in the coming years, after the implementation of this first pilot phase, we may be able to more precisely encourage certain segments of cultural production or participation in culture – emphasized Obuljen Koržinek.
