At the invitation of the IFACCA board and the Canada Council for the Arts, research coordinators from ten IFACCA members will gather in Montreal on 24 August to discuss research and provide feedback on IFACCA'S research activities and priorities. Afterwards, participants will join a workshop on the social effects of culture, as part of the 'Initiative to Study the Social Effects of Culture' (ISSEC), a joint project of the Canadian Department of Heritage and the University of Ottawa. The workshops are timed to coincide with the Third International Conference on Cultural Policy Research, being held in Montreal from 25 to 28 August. The purpose of the ISSEC workshop is to explore what we know and what we need to know about the social effects of by culture. Cultural policy makers, practitioners and programmers have long been aware that cultural participation makes important contributions to empowerment of citizens, identity formation, social cohesion, behaviour change, and community development. But the nature and scope of these effects, and the mechanisms by which they are produced, are not well understood or easily measured. The workshop will address general background issues, such as: 1) What do we know about the social effects of culture and how does participation produce such effects? 2) What don't we know about the social effects? 3) What do we need to know about the social effects? The workshop aims to begin to build a solid conceptual framework around the social effects of culture. It is the first step in what is hoped to be a long term research program that will produce a conceptual framework, and will eventually lead to the collection of indicators to test hypotheses empirically.

The report and recommendations of a ASEF seminar on cultural policy, held in Bangkok last June and attended by 45 senior culture ministry delegates from 18 ASEM countries, are now online. The report will be conveyed to the Ministry of Culture and Information, Vietnam in the lead up to the ASEM5. The next seminar, in Hanoi in September 2004, will be about cultural diversity.

Arts practitioners, academics and policy workers (including IFACCA's research analyst Chris Madden) spoke at a forum last week on measuring the cultural, social and economic impacts of arts activities. A bibliography (covering major research in Australia and a short selection of international references) was prepared for the forum and provides a good introduction to the subject. IFACCA is working on a longer list of international references, which we expect to release later this year. The one day forum, developed by Regional Arts New South Wales in collaboration with the Australia Council for the Arts and the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre, gathered experts from Australia and beyond to showcase and discuss current research and thinking on the impacts of the arts. The presentations and debates were lively and informative, but could touch only briefly on the many complex issues surrounding arts impacts. The event aims to generate ongoing network activity to further share information and resource, including updating the bibliography of Australian research. Chris has also been invited to participate as a expert panellist for the fuel4arts online forum on research and measuring the impact of the arts for ten days from September 20, 2004.

As a contribution to the global effort to develop more robust statistical indicators for arts policy monitoring and evaluation, IFACCA today released a discussion paper on the subject. With so many cultural policy researchers and policy makers around the world wrestling to meet the accountability demands of governments and the scrutiny of the general public, we are keen to encourage greater information sharing about this important topic. Statistical Indicators for Arts Policy: Discussion Paper identifies current work and global resources on cultural indicators, explores a number of analytical and coordination issues and makes suggestions for future directions. It also summarises IFACCA's work on the issue to date and provides a brief overview of the cultural indicators literature. We encourage you to send in your comments and feedback on the discussion paper, as well as ideas for advancing the cultural indicators research agenda.

The Festival of Pacific Arts will be held in the Republic of Palau from 22 July to 1 August 2004. This year's Festival theme is 'Oltobed a Malt: Nurture, Regenerate and Celebrate'. Along with displays of contemporary and traditional arts, attendees will take part in a series of symposiums, debates and workshops. The Festival, which involves twenty-seven Pacific Island countries and territories, has been held every four years since 1972. Click here for more information on the Festival and on Palau.

Thomas Tresser, Lead Organiser of the Creative America Project, has asked the IFACCA network for information on programs that encourage artists to engage in the political process. The Creative America Project is such a program. It aims to encourage artists and creative professionals to vote, to run for political office, and to engage more in 'the conversation about the place of creativity in the life of the nation'. For a description of the Creative America Project and its activities, Click here. Mr Tresser asks: 'I would like to know of similar efforts in other countries, as well as learn about and contact any artists who hold elective office.' If you can help in any way, please email him at [email protected].