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.

Welcome to your March ACORNS. This month, gender equality and sexual harassment in the arts and culture sector have again been brought to the fore, with arts councils and ministries of culture releasing policies and initiatives that seek to #PressForProgress.

February has kicked into high gear as arts councils and ministries of culture around the world release new policies and projects. In Chile the National Council of Culture and the Artslaunched the country’s National Culture Policy 2017-2022; in the USA the National Endowment for the Arts launched cross sector research projects and in Australia the Department of Communications and the Arts has announced plans for the national rollout of an arts and disability portal which maps disability-inclusive art programmes and experiences in regional and metropolitan Australia.

Happy 2018! We hope you enjoyed the break and are looking forward to another year full of arts and cultural policy news. Since our last edition the music sector has been busy dominating the headlines, from current day Chinese Opera, to Norwegian folk, to recommendations for policy renewal.

As the year draws to a close, we dedicate this ACORNS to arts and culture news past, present and yet to come. For our international community the year opened with new appointments and inspiring opportunities, as well as challenges that highlighted the need for advocacy for arts and culture in changing times.

All things data and digital are on our minds of late. We have started work on our forthcoming 2018 report on digitalisation and its impact on arts and culture support agencies; and data is proving a large part of our future thinking as we respond to member feedback and look at ways in which we can enhance our services.