ENCC is an International network of arts and cultural centres, founded in Turnhout-Belgium in june 1994.
The network is functioning on the exchanges between its members. The secretariat is done on voluntary base, without support from European institutes.

One of the primary conditions for a better co-operation and an intense cultural exchange is a better knowledge of each other and of the way we operate. Not only national cultural institutes have a mission to fulfil in Europe's future. Also local actors in the cultural field do need a platform where they can meet, talk about their experiences, dream about projects in co-operation with partners all over Europe.

Europe is a beautiful mosaic of cultures; arts products and arts education can teach us, perhaps more than history itself, about daily life and global culture of a region. We live in a time where mass events, from stadium rock concerts to open-air opera performances, tour from continent to continent and attract then thousands of people, a time where television and mass media are key factors in the growing cocooning. Therefore we are convinced that local cultural institutes and their artistic programmes become more important than ever before.

Europe becomes smaller as mobility increases so fast and even new language technologies will lower barriers to co-operate with each other. This makes it possible that staff members of local cultural institutes by closer networking become strong intermediaries between the arts, artists and the public, not only on the local level but also on European level.

Multi-disciplinary cultural centres have their own way of acting, their own problems and fields of interest. Therefore the ENCC aims to reach as close as possible its criteria for membership. The ENCC wants to be their platform: networking on a global level for acting stronger in the local community.