Robert Palmer

Expert consultant (former Director of Culture, Cultural and Natural Heritage, Council of Europe, Strasbourg)

Robert Palmer is a free-lance independent expert consultant in the cultural sector. Formerly, he was the Director of Culture and Cultural and National Heritage at the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France. The Council of Europe now has 47 member states, and the Culture and Heritage Directorate manages more than 60 different work programmes including the monitoring of cultural and heritage policies, capacity building projects and training seminars, and activities linked to cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue to major exhibitions. www.coe.int/culture

Robert Palmer has worked in the cultural sector for more than 30 years, and prior to joining the Council of Europe in 2006 was an expert independent adviser to governments, cities and regions in more than 20 countries on cultural development and regeneration, cultural tourism, festivals and arts policies, and a consultant to cultural foundations, cultural networks, arts organisations, and intergovernmental bodies such as the European Cultural Foundation, the European Commission and UNESCO.

He has been very involved in European Capitals of Culture and was the Director of two – Glasgow (1990) and Brussels (2000) and published a study for the European Commission, which evaluated 20 capitals of Culture. During this career, he has been the Director of Drama, Dance and Touring at the Scottish Arts Council, and the first Director of Arts for the City of Glasgow.
Robert Palmer is a Board member of various arts institutions and international festivals, the Chair of European arts juries, and is asked regularly to speak at international cultural conferences and workshops. He has been given various awards in recognition of his work n the UK, Belgium, Ukraine and France. He is currently working on projects in the Netherlands, Spain, UK, France, Norway, Estonia, Poland and Canada, and is living in the UK.