The inaugural Experts’ Meeting on Cultural Policy brought together 20 policymakers, researchers and commentators from nine ASEM countries to provide a bi-regional perspective on national priority areas in arts and culture.
The meeting was organised in the framework of WorldCP-Asia, a major new initiative to document the arts and cultural policies of Asia, with specific focus on member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) between 2011-14. WorldCP-Asia is a central component of WorldCP-International Database of Cultural Policies, supported by ASEF.
The gathering served as the ‘first action meeting’ of the project and marked the launch of a series of Experts’ Meetings on Cultural Policy, being co-organised by ASEF.
Participating experts agreed that articulated or implied priorities do exist for national governments, even as the understanding of culture remains complex in various countries and regions. Common priorities in Asia include the protection and promotion of cultural heritage; the development of independent infrastructure for the arts; and, capacity building for arts management. The promotion of multiculturalism, diversity and social cohesion at the regional level were enumerated as key policy priorities for Europe.
The report of the meeting is available in the Documents section of this page.
The second meeting in the series was held in October 2011 in Melbourne, Australia alongside the 5th World Summit on Arts and Culture.
