Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer is the Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg.

He has a long-standing reputation in the cultural field as an international cultural advisor, with a focus on cultural policy and development, international cultural projects and festivals, arts management and European cultural cooperation.   International specialist in European Capitals of Culture, as the Director of both Glasgow (1990) and Brussels (2000) as  Capitals of Culture, advisor to many other European Capitals of Culture, and author of a detailed evaluation study of Cultural Capitals for the European Commission.

Among the awards he has received is the Order of Leopold for distinguished service to Belgium, given for his outstanding contribution to cultural life and the UK Award for Arts Regeneration in Cities. He has acted as consultant and advisor to major cultural projects and events in over 20 countries across the world. Recent projects have included extensive cultural mapping projects in Scandanavia, work on issues of cultural rights in Barcelona, developing programmes and approaches to the arts and heritage of First Nations in Canada, work on Creativity and the Creative Economy of Singapore, and advice to independent festivals, including a major review of 11 festivals in Edinburgh (Scotland).

He has been the advisor on cultural matters to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (UK), Canadian Heritage, the European Union, the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), The European Federation of Arts and Heritage (EFAH), many different National Cultural Institutes and international cultural networks and agencies. He is currently writing a book called "Eventful Cities" to be published by Heineman, Butterworth, Elsivier in 2007.