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The Estonian Constitution, adopted by the people of Estonia in the referendum held on June 28th 1992, states in the preamble: “With unwavering faith and a steadfast will to strengthen and develop the state – which embodies the inextinguishable right of the people of Estonia to national self-determination and which was proclaimed on February 24th 1918,which is founded on liberty, justice and the rule of law,which is created to protect the peace and defend the people against aggression from the outside, and which forms a pledge to present and future generations for their social progress and welfare,which must guarantee the... read more →

In February 2020, in its application for the next four-year state budget strategy, the Ministry of Culture is seeking extraordinary financing. In order to maintain the Song and Dance Celebration traditions, the Minister wants to implement a national wage subsidy program for folk dance teachers as well as choir and orchestra conductors, which will ensure that these professions are popular in the future.  Because the humanities as a field of research has not received adequate funding from the Ministry of Education and Research in recent years, the Ministry of Culture intends to establish a national support programme for the research... read more →

The General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 (see chapter 1.1) deals with digital policies in different chapters: Cultural heritage“The more valuable parts of cultural heritage will be digitalised by 2018, so that its long-term survival is ensured in compliance with international standards and quality requirements. The interoperability of culture-related information systems is ensured with harmonised descriptions and web services. Works digitalised by institutions funded and managed by the state are as a rule, if such rights are established, made freely available. The use of digitalised cultural heritage in e-learning and in the provision of e-services in the field... read more →

The Estonian Constitution § 12 states: “Everyone is equal before the law. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of nationality, race, colour, sex, language, origin, religion, political or other views, property or social status, or on other grounds.” In Estonia, there is an independent public official: the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner. The Commissioner provides advice and assistance to people that feel discriminated on the basis of their gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or other beliefs, age, disability, sexual orientation, domestic responsibilities, family-related duties, belonging to a trade union or duty to serve in defence. Moreover,... read more →

In 2005, the Parliament approved the development plan Sustainable Estonia 21, which contains guidelines regarding the social sphere as well. It points out the increase of the appreciation of local identity as a counter-reaction to globalisation; local and regional attempts to diverge from globally spreading trends; to value the local language and culture. It is also essential for the preservation of cultural memory and the sustainability of the Estonian cultural space that the most important cultural texts — i.e. Estonian music, classical literature, repository of visual arts, recordings of theatre performances, films, radio and TV archive, cultural history archive, folklore... read more →

The offering of media services is regulated in Estonia by the Media Services Act, the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EL. According to Media Services Act, a television or radio channel needs to apply for a activity license to offer its services. A license is not needed to offer on-demand audiovisual media services.  The state supervisory authority is the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority, which is operating in the administrative area of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. Its one goal is to regulate the market in the field... read more →

The only official language in Estonia is Estonian. The Language Act, which is in force now, was passed by the Parliament in 2011. The purpose of the act is to develop, preserve and protect the Estonian language and ensure the use of the Estonian language as the main language for communication in all spheres of public life. It regulates the use of the Estonian language as well as foreign languages in oral and written administration, and public information and services. It also regulates the use of Estonian sign language, the requirements for and assessment of the proficiency in the Estonian... read more →

Representatives of about 194 nationalities live in Estonia. The population consist of 69% Estonians, 25% Russians, 2% Ukrainians, 1% Belarusians, 0.8% Finns and other are smaller national minority groups. In October 1993, the Parliament passed the National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act, which determines the following main objectives of the minority cultural self-government: organisation of mother language learning, establishment of national cultural institutions, organisation of cultural events, establishment and awarding of funds, scholarships and awards for the promotion of national culture and education, etc. After reindependency, in 1992 the Citizenship Act defined Soviet-time settlers into Estonia as immigrants. Soviet-time immigrants and... read more →

In Estonian cultural policy, the creative economy is defined as an economic field that is based on individual and collective creativity, skills and talent. The creative economy can provide well-being and jobs by creating intellectual property and using this as the primary sales argument. Creative people are at the centre of these processes. Nevertheless, there are artistic areas where the creative economy has remained more synonymous for commercial culture. The creative economy discourse continues to be a politically popular argument to justify funding decisions directed at it. Creative industries are an integral part of the creative economy. They include the... read more →

In the field of heritage conservation, the General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 (see chapter 1.1) state that:  appreciation of cultural heritage as a whole is a national priority — tangible and intangible heritage are not separate from each other and protection of cultural monuments has expanded to the appreciation of the environment and context; other important aspects include specifying the strategy and measures for protecting cultural heritage (what, why, and how is it protected), an inventory and analysis of the list of monuments, and on the basis of the results of the analysis, an update of the lists... read more →