Articles
Long-form articles from the Cultural Diplomacy and Development Foundation on cultural exchange, heritage, the arts and development, each with its sources listed.
Latest articles
Can an orchestra change a child’s life? What El Sistema’s evidence shows
What rigorous evaluations of El Sistema and Sistema-inspired youth music programs found, what critics argue, and how to design programs that keep promises.
Living together by design: multicultural policy in Singapore and Canada
How Singapore and Canada approach religious harmony and multiculturalism, what surveys show about each model, the critiques, and lessons for interfaith groups.
Murals, stages and peace money: the arts in Northern Ireland
How murals, theatre, a City of Culture year and EU PEACE funding shaped arts and peacebuilding in Northern Ireland after 1998, and what stayed the same.
When the visitors come: heritage tourism in Silk Road cities
How heritage tourism is changing Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, what UNESCO reports say about the pressure, and what Venice, Dubrovnik and Barcelona tried.
Felt, silk and a fair wage: crafts and development in Central Asia
How Kyrgyz felt, Margilan silk and Tajik women’s craft groups show what crafts and development need in Central Asia: fair pay, markets and apprenticeship.
The quiet embassies: how cultural institutes work
How national cultural institutes such as the British Council and Goethe-Institut work, what the evidence says, and what a small foundation can learn.
Why people-to-people exchange still works
What Fulbright, Erasmus, the Franco-German Youth Office and Cold War exchanges show about people-to-people exchange, its limits, and how to run one well.
Women and youth in peacebuilding: who gets a seat at the table
Women were 9.6% of negotiators in 2023 peace processes. What the evidence says about women and youth in peacebuilding, and how to give them a real role.
Culture is development: the case for the creative economy
Why culture and sustainable development belong together: what UNESCO and UNCTAD figures show about the creative economy, its weak points and a practical agenda.
