Regions (regioner) are tax-levying authorities on the regional level headed by directly elected Regional Assemblies and Regional Councils appointed by these. Sweden has 21 such regions (including the island of Gotland, where Gotland Municipality also carries the responsibilities of a Region). Until 2020, regional authorities in Sweden were officially known as County Councils (landsting). The Regions are mainly responsible for health services, but also provide support for, among other things, regional theatres, orchestras, museums, and libraries (mainly regional library services and hospital libraries). Historically, this has meant that the role of regional authorities has been comparatively limited in cultural policy. This was changed following the 2009 Government Bill on Culture, and the subsequent introduction of the Culture Cooperation Model, under which each Regional Council submits a Culture Plan for the region to the Swedish Arts Council (see also chapter 1.2.6). In the making of their cultural policy plans, Regional Councils are obligated to consult with representatives of institutions, professionals, and civil society in arts and culture in their respective regions. After the plan has been approved, the Regional Council is granted government funding for the support of arts and culture in the region, including the regional cultural institutions. Their nationally funded work with cultural policy should support
- professional theatre, dance, and music,
- museums, and their work with the cultural environment,
- libraries, and activities supporting reading and literature,
- professional image and form art, and activities,
- private archives in the region,
- film cultural activities,
- support for crafts.
In 2011, this procedure was tested in five regions (West Sweden, Skåne, Norrbotten, Gotland, and Halland). Eleven more regions followed in 2012, leaving Stockholm Region, including the city of Stockholm, as the only region in which the model is yet to be implemented.
In July 2022, the government appointed an investigation to re-evaluate the Cultural Cooperation model. In the report published in September 2023, several changes to the model were proposed. A law on collaboration between state, region, and municipality in the cultural field should be introduced, simplifying the processes within the model, and guaranteeing artistic freedom in the regional and municipal activities funded through the model. The existing regional culture plans should be replaced with plans focusing on the state-funded parts of regional cultural policy. The Swedish Arts Council should be given full authority to represent the state in this area, and new artistic and cultural areas should be possible to include in the plans (SOU 2023:58).
Regional governments provide 14 percent of the total public expenditure on culture.
The County Administrative Boards (länsstyrelser) are 21 government agencies representing the national government on the regional level on issues for which there is no other body of the national government on that level. This includes responsibilities in the areas of natural environment and cultural heritage (since the National Heritage Board does not have regional branches). Each County Administrative Board is headed by a County Governor (landshövding) appointed by the national government.
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