معرفی
Johan Kolsteeg is a researcher at the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Arts, affiliated with the Research Centre for the Study of Democratic Cultures and Politics (DemCP) and the Research Centre Arts in Society (AiS). He holds the academic rank of Researcher and focuses on cultural policy, cultural democracy, and entrepreneurship in Africa. His work explores organizational theory in the arts, participatory democracy, and sustainability in cultural practices.
Key research interests include cultural leadership, strategies for attracting new audiences (e.g., the Proeftuin Nieuw Publiek project in the Netherlands), and the intersection of cultural participation with local democracy. He has led projects in Sub-Saharan Africa on cultural entrepreneurship and co-authored Arts in Health in the Netherlands: A national agenda (2024), emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration in health and well-being.
His recent work analyzes participatory projects’ long-term impacts on democratic structures, as seen in Luisteren: Een experiment met culturele democratie (2023). He has also explored economic frameworks in cultural strategy, such as Transfer of economic concepts to cultural strategy (2017), bridging creative industries and business models.
Recipient of the Starting Grant Winter School Cultural Leadership (2019), Kolsteeg actively supervises PhD students and collaborates internationally, including visits to the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research spans cultural sustainability, policy innovation, and global-local leadership dynamics.
Notable projects include Leeuwarden Oost: Een participatieproject (2023–2026) and Mijn Thuis Mijn Verhaal (2023–2025), focusing on community engagement. He also contributes to public discourse through media appearances and academic conferences on cultural democracy and populism.
