The European Commission coordinates cooperation with and between national authorities throughout the EU on cultural matters connected to the Agenda – through the EU’s open method of coordination. Three Open Method of Coordination Working Groups launched in 2011 under the Council Work Plan for Culture 2011-2014 presented the results of their work. The expert group on Priority A "Better access to and wider participation in culture" examined how arts and cultural institutions receiving public funding may broaden their audiences and reach out to people at risk of social exclusion. It highlighted the importance of clarifying the specific objectives for access strategies, and the need to build upon an analysis of users and non-users. Allowing access means first of all identifying and removing obstacles. However, the experts argued that removing obstacles is often not enough to draw audiences. A pivotal issue is how to create and support a demand. Cultural education is the most obvious way to raise interest in culture, and it should be regarded as a core activity for cultural institutions. A more radical and challenging approach may involve engaging a dialogue with envisaged audiences so to ensure that their needs and interests are taken into account. Read more... For priority C "Skills and Mobility" the expert group's mandate was to screen and assess mobility support programmes and schemes for artists and cultural professionals in the European Union, in order to identify barriers and problems and propose solutions through the identification of relevant examples. In their June 2012 final report, the experts propose five "key principles" for building a strong framework to support, maintain and further encourage the mobility of artists' and cultural professionals and increase its benefits not only for the artists and cultural professionals, but also for the public, the Member States and for the EU as a whole. Read more... In September 2012 the expert group working on the priority D "Cultural Heritage including mobility of collections" presented a report and a toolkit on practical ways of reducing the cost of lending and borrowing of cultural objects between Member States of the European Union, containing recommendations and practical advice for national authorities and museum professionals. The report and the toolkit focus on four key issues: improving and expanding indemnity schemes and shared liability agreements at EU Member State level; improving valuation processes for works of art and cultural goods and the systems/mechanisms of valuation for the purposes of indemnity (and shared liability); simplifying and improving the process of risk assessment when lending and borrowing; and making transport procedures more reliable and less expensive. Read more... (Source: DG EAC website)