A new regional edition of ConnectCP, ConnectCP-Pacific, which includes 114 experts in cultural policy from nine Pacific countries, was launched during the 24th meeting of the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture in Honiara, Solomon Islands, this week.
ConnectCP-Pacific was launched by the Secretary of Culture of the Ministry of Cultural Development of the Cook Islands, Sonny Williams.
ConnectCP-Pacific is a constantly evolving who's who of cultural policy, planning and research in Pacific countries. The online database contains profiles of experts in cultural policy which outline the experts' experience, current interests and other information relevant to their work in cultural policy.
As a result of a partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts in 2006 and 2007 a large number of Australian experts were added to the database. The focus now is to work with partners such as the Secretariat for the Pacific Community, Creative New Zealand and other IFACCA members in the Pacific to encourage more researchers and cultural policy experts from the Pacific Islands to submit their profiles to the database.
ConnectCP-Pacific is part of a worldwide project, ConnectCP International, a directory of over 1000 experts that aims to stimulate the interaction of people with knowledge in the cultural policy sector, mobilise human resources, and facilitate the flow of cultural policy information. Other dedicated regional pages include ConnectCP-Africa , ConnectCP-Canada and ConnectCP-Iberoamericano.
The main objective of the meeting of the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture, held on 27-29th March, was to review preparations for the 11th Festival of Pacific Arts (to be held on 1-14 July 2012 in Honiara, Solomon Islands). The Council also reviewed initiatives underway in the areas of cultural policy development, cultural heritage preservation and cultural industries development in Pacific countries.