Valuing the cultural richness and access to culture by initiating thematic years

One of the measures to introduce various cultural landscapes is to organise so called thematic years. That is a sector leaded initiative with an aim to place one field of culture under the spot light and use that focus throughout one calendar year. For instance, in 2006 Estonia celebrated 100 years of professional theatre so the idea was to extend the event and introduce local drama in a long-term programme. Using the same model 2007 was introduced as a Year of Design, 2009 a Year of Museums and 2010 a Year of Reading. Currently Estonia is celebrating the 100 years of film-making so 2012 is nominated as a Year of Film. Since the concept is well accepted and popular there are already a number of ideas in the waiting list e.g. 2013 as a Year of Cultural Heritage and 2015 as a Year of Music. In 2008 Estonia also celebrated the European year of intercultural dialogue.