Last week, the AEC-SMS Diversity, Identity, Inclusiveness Working Group presented its final publication titled Artistic Plurality and Inclusive Institutional Culture in HME, an interactive eBook meant to identify good practices, promote increased access and encourage Higher Music Education institutions (HMEIs) to evaluate their educational programmes and policies through the lens of inclusivity and pluralism.

In the past months, the group has published a series of case studies on the SMS project website, as part of its first publication How are diverse cultures integrated in the education of musicians across Europe? These case studies are meant to stimulate discussion and provide new ideas and possible pathways for institutions to undertake. Furthermore, a second publication titled Decentering curricula: questions for re-evaluating diversity and inclusiveness in HMEIs was launched in April 2021, including a compendium of self-reflective questions that aim to challenge approaches to curricula from a diversity perspective within HMEIs.

These publications, having evolved from the group’s personal experiences and reflections, consultations, continuous discussions and insights gained through a vast body of scholarly literature, were enriched in myriad ways by reaching out to different HMEIs in search of existing practices and reflective actions on challenges posed by the wide area covered by the AEC-SMS Diversity, Identity, Inclusiveness project strand. Together, they served as backbones of this final publication, showing how concepts of quality and success become more inclusive when different genres and musical traditions coexist and influence each other through artistic and social interaction.

All in all, Artistic Plurality and Inclusive Institutional Culture in HME includes a holistic framework for reflecting upon and evaluating diversity, identity and inclusiveness in HMEIs today, supported by a wealth of examples of inspiring practices across Europe and beyond. The full document is available in PDF, ePub and kindle formats, and can be downloaded on the AEC website:

This final publication was presented in a workshop under the same title, delivered on Thursday 4th November from 9:30 to 13:00 CET as part of the 2021 AEC Pre-Congress programme. The workshop presented questions in a world cafe setting and encouraged participants to reflect upon and share experiences on how to build healthy and diverse learning environments all across Europe and beyond. The abstract of the session can be found on the AEC Annual Congress and General Assembly 2021 webpage on the AEC website.