New research project at the Chair of Economic Policy and SME Research

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the new research project „Theater im Off? (ThOff) - Publikumsforschung des Theaterangebots in Südniedersachsen als Basis für Strategien des Audience Development in peripheren Räumen“ (Theatre offstage? (ThOff) - Audience research of the theatre offer in southern Lower Saxony as a basis for strategies of audience development in peripheral areas) at the Chair of Economic Policy and SME Research for two years with approximately 233,870 Euros (sub-project Göttingen). The funds come from the BMBF funding priority "Forschung zur kulturellen Bildung in ländlichen Räumen” (Research on cultural education in rural areas). Prof. Dr. Kilian Bizer (project coordinator) and his research assistant Dario Gödecke are carrying out the project together with Prof. Dr. Birgit Mandel and Ann-Kathrin Schmidt from the University of Hildesheim.

About the project:
Professional, publicly funded and privately owned theatres are mainly located in cities. The population of rural areas, on the other hand, has less access to these offers. At the same time, there seems to be interest in theatre among the rural population, because in Lower Saxony alone there are around 1,000 amateur theatres. ThOff identifies and analyses the interests and motivations of the demand for amateur and professional theatre offers in southern Lower Saxony. Furthermore, it examines which strategies are used and which conditions have to be met to generate and retain audiences from rural regions. A central question is whether and how new approaches to audience generation and retention can be developed from cooperations. The research project combines qualitative and quantitative methods from economic and cultural policy and involves local actors.