IFACCA has teamed up with the Boekman Foundation of the Netherlands to develop ConnectCP, an online international database of cultural policy experts. Coordinated by Diane Dodd in Barcelona, Spain, ConnectCP will help anyone searching for experts on a particular topic in cultural policy or from a particular country. While ConnectCP is still in development, 63 experts from 22 countries are already featured on the site. We welcome your submissions, feedback and comments on ConnectCP. ConnectCP aims to put people in cultural policy in touch with each other internationally. It will help organisers find world class speakers for conferences and seminars, research partners or analysts and commentators on a diversity of issues. ConnectCP profiles outline each experts' experience, current interests, and other information relevant to their work in cultural policy. To be considered an 'expert' for ConnectCP, a person needs to be recognised in the field of arts and cultural policy as someone who holds a senior research, policy, teaching or management position and / or has demonstrated expertise, at national and international level, in research, analysis or commentary. Experts also need to be prepared to periodically provide and update information about themselves and their work for ConnectCP, and may be asked to provide referees. The full criteria are described here: http://www.connectcp.org/profiles/criteria.htm. For more details on making a submission, go to www.ConnectCP.org.

We received an enormous number of proposals in response to the call for speakers for the World Summit of Arts and Culture Summit and the program is really taking shape. Invitations to attend the Summit, including the latest details on the program and speakers, will be despatched shortly to key organisations in 175 countries. Lots more announcements will be made via ACORNS from now onwards. We are also pleased to announce that the Summit website is now available en español. La Cumbre Mundial de las Artes y Cultura, auspiciada por Arts Council England se celebrará en NewcastleGateshead, Inglaterra los días 14 a 18 de junio de 2006.

On 15 and 16 November, the IFACCA board met in Medellín, Colombia. Hosted by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the Network of Cultural Promoters of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedLat), with the assistance of the Mayor of Medellín, the meeting was held in the Museo de Antioquia, Medellín. As part of a busy agenda, the board advanced planning for the World Summit on Arts and Culture in NewcastleGateshead, England, in June 2006. After the meeting, board members travelled to Bogotá, where they met with Colombian officials at a breakfast hosted by the Vice Minister of Culture, and participated with Latin American colleagues in a roundtable session on comparative policies for the development of the arts.

Directly after the board meeting in Colombia, IFACCA's Executive Director, Sarah Gardner, travelled to Dakar, Senegal, to be an observer at the eighth annual ministerial meeting of the International Network of Cultural Policy from 21 to 23 November. IFACCA's Chair, Risto Ruohonen, also attended the meeting as the head of the Finnish delegation.

IFACCA's website contains a wealth of research information on arts policy topics as broad as: funding, dance, indicators, disability, artist mobility and copyright. And there are always new reports underway. For the full list, visit the IFACCA website: www.ifacca.org These topics are part of our D'Art program, which aims to consolidate our collective knowledge on contemporary issues in arts support, and to uncover information that would be difficult or impossible to find. If you have a topic you would like to suggest for D'Art, please contact us at [email protected] Topics for which we have completed reports: Defining artists for tax and benefit purposes International comparisons of arts participation data National Copyright Management Systems Conflict of Interest Policies in Arts and Culture Funding Agencies Musical Instrument Schemes Arts and Disability Policies Successful Dance Policies and Programs Artists’ International Mobility Programs Statistical Indicators for Arts Policy (and don't forget our paper for the Australia Council, Making Cross-country Comparisons of Cultural Statistics: Problems and Solutions) Assistance to Arts and Culture Festivals We have also done brief notes on the following topics with a view to developing information further: Encouraging Arts Philanthropy Inter-country comparisons of government arts expenditure Arts Advocacy Arguments Topics we are currently seeking information on: Independence of arts funding from government Associations of Arts Managers Indigenous arts contacts Cultural development in rural and remote regions Ethics in Cultural Policy Audience Development Initiatives Legal Services for the Creative Sector Status of the Artist legislation and policies If you have information on any of these topics - completed or in progress - please do not hesitate to contact us at: [email protected]

La FICAAC ofrece una ‘puerta’ a los consejos de las artes y agencias culturales de financiación culturales del mundo. La página web de la FICAAC es una fuente internacional de creciente importancia y centro de información para todos aquellos interesados en las políticas y estrategias para el fomento del desarrollo de las artes y la cultura.