Ulco Mes

DaUlco Mes is senior policy developer for culture and media at the municipality of Tilburg. In this role, he developed the local media policy with the aim of creating a vital and future-proof journalistic infrastructure that matches Tilburg's pluralistic media landscape. To this end, he works with various partners, such as Omroep Tilburg, neighbourhood newspapers, the Tilburg Media Fund and Fontys Journalism/Mindlabs. To position Tilburg as an innovative media city with national and international significance, he encourages the development of groundbreaking media projects. One example is YoCoJoin, a European project focused on youth journalism. He also devotes considerable attention to the relationship between independent journalism and democracy.

In addition to his work for the municipality, Ulco is active as an independent organisational consultant. For example, he acts as an external expert for Media Advies Nederland in designation procedures for local public media institutions.

Ulco studied art history and Dutch law. After a career in the cultural sector, he made the switch to government in 2008. Since then, he has been working for the municipality of Tilburg: first as a culture programme manager, then as a civil society strategist, and since 2017 as a senior policy officer for culture and media. In the cultural sphere, he is particularly involved in culture with social impact and the national Arts & Health movement.