The role of the cultural economy and the cultural and creative industries is at the fore this month. In late August, we had the privilege of partnering with our National Member theNational Arts Council of Namibia (NACN) to host the first ever Arts Summit of Southern Africa and a meeting of our Africa Chapter in Windhoek, Namibia.

Individual headlines cannot always do full justice to the depth and breadth of important international conversations about the issues being addressed by the arts and culture sector. So, rather than a thematic round up of reading, this month we to take you to the conversations directly, with a selection of the spaces that we have been watching closely.

We have witnessed active international cultural exchanges being made this month across regions and between different partners.

Since our last update the headlines have highlighted a series of appointments around the world that are significant for arts and culture, revealing new approaches and milestones, as well as new names.

This issue we share the latest despatches from the inaugural Americas Cultural Summit, which took place last week from 9-11 May in Ottawa, Canada hosted by the Canada Council for the Arts, in partnership with the Ministry for Culture of Argentina, and IFACCA.

This month, it is all about the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture! With just under one year until the Summit takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia we are seeking participants for the programme, which will explore the theme Mobile Minds: Culture, Knowledge and Change.