Dr. Daniel Gad

Dr. Daniel Gad is a researcher in cultural policy and arts mediation. He is Co-Creator of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy at University of Hildesheim in Germany and since 2012 its Managing Director (www.uni-hildesheim.de/unescochair). At the Institute of Cultural Policy, he teaches and conducts research on topics such as urban and rural transformation processes in the context of artistic practice and arts mediation, artistic freedom, artistic literacy, networking in the arts sector, formats of international cooperation, the transformative power of the arts, sustainability.

He heads the Arts Rights Justice Online-Library (www.arj-library.de), which was established in collaboration with the International Cities of Refuge Network and Safe Havens / Freedom Talks. He was a member of the advisory board of the Martin Roth-Initiative from 2018 to 2022. From 2017 to 2020, he represented the University of Hildesheim on the Steering Committee of Hildesheim’s bid for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025. In 2014, he served as head of management of the 8th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR2014).

From 2014 to 2020, he was a reviewer for The International Journal of Cultural Policy. He has also been a member of the Cultural Policy Task Group of the pan-African Arterial Network and collaborated for several years with the pan-Arabic organization Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy), the Working Group of German International Residency Programmes (ADIR), based at Goethe-Institut, the SH/FT Safe Havens Conference and the Landscapes of Hope Network. He has been a member of the U40 Network “Cultural Diversity 2030,” coordinated by the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD) and the German Commission for UNESCO.

In 2013, he completed his PhD titled “The Art of Development Cooperation: Concepts and Programs of a Foreign Cultural Policy of the Nordic Countries,” supervised by Wolfgang Schneider.

Between 2004 and 2010, he collaborated with the Academic Council on Culture and Foreign Policy (WIKA) and the research programme “Culture and Foreign Policy,” based at ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations). Prior to this, he worked as a freelance consultant for organizations such as the German Development Service (DED, now part of GIZ), the German Commission for UNESCO, the Goethe-Institut, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and ifa. He is also active as a musician and photographer.

Since 2011: Research Associate at the Institute for Cultural Policy 

Since 2012: Co-founder and Managing Director of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy 

Since 2013: Academic Coordinator of the International PhD Track Programme “Transcultural Dynamics: German-French Approaches to Cultural Policy and the Mediation of Artistic Practices” 

Since 2015: Academic Advisor for the Bachelor Plus programme Cultural Studies and Artistic Practice – Cultural Policy in International Comparison (B.A.) 

Since 2020: Academic Advisor for the German–French Double Master’s Programme Cultural Mediation / Médiation culturelle de l’art (M.A.) 

Since 2023: Academic Coordinator of the UNITWIN Network “Cultural Policies, Diversity and Transformation”

Gad, Daniel (2007) Kultur und Entwicklung: eine Übersichtsstudie zu Schnittfeldern deutscher Akteure der Auswärtigen Kultur- und Bildungspolitik und der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Stuttgart

Gad, Daniel, Gadow, Tina, Schönhuth, Michael (2009) Fair Culture. Schutz und Förderung der Vielfalt kultureller Ausdrucksformen in der internationalen Zusammenarbeit In: Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission: Kulturelle Vielfalt gestalten. Handlungsempfehlungen aus der Zivilgesellschaft zur Umsetzung des UNESCO-Übereinkommens zur Vielfalt kultureller Ausdrucksformen (2005) in und durch Deutschland. Weißbuch Version 1.0. Ein Projekt der Bundesweiten Koalition Kulturelle Vielfalt.

Gad, Daniel (2010) Mit kultureller Vielfalt gestalten. Ein Plädoyer für eine kulturpolitisch durchdachte Entwicklungstheorie. In: Wilhelm, Jürgen (2010) Kultur und globale Entwicklung. Die Bedeutung von Kultur für die politische, wirtschaftliche und soziale Entwicklung. Bonn

Gad, Daniel (2010) Nurturing the Next Generation of Southern African Musicians. Music Crossroads. In: Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission: Mapping Cultural Diversity. Good Practices from Around the Globe. A Contribution to the Debate on the Implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. A Project of the U40-Programme "Cultural Diversity 2030". Bonn

Gad, Daniel (2011) Kultur und Entwicklung: Kulturpolitisches Handeln in der Entwicklungspolitik - Entwicklungszusammenarbeit als Interventionsfeld von Kulturpolitik. In: Bundesvereinigung Kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung  

Gad, Daniel (2011) „Change Agents“ – Die Rolle von Kunst- und Kulturschaffenden in Krisen- und Konfliktregionen. Ein Sammelband mit Beiträgen von zehn Autorinnen und Autoren aus verschiedenen Entwicklungs-, Schwellen- und Geberländern. Stuttgart  

Dr Gad is currently a member of the Doctoral Committee and the Finance Committee at the Cultural Campus Domäne Marienburg. He previously served as a member of the Faculty Council for over ten years. In 2025, he contributed to the HRK audit on the internationalisation of the University of Hildesheim.