The National Council of Culture and the Arts (Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes, CNCA) of Chile and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) today each launched a research report arising from a collaborative process undertaken in 2013 to inform delegates about the Summit theme Creative Times: new models for cultural development.

The objective of this collaboration was to investigate the role of the cultural sector and government arts funding agencies in addressing current global issues and to understand the conceptual frameworks related to the new models of cultural management and development. The research is available in two reports:

Discussion Paper (CNCA)
The Discussion Paper for the 6th World Summit on Arts and Culture is a seminal document that aims to provoke and stimulate thinking on the theme of the Summit in the lead up to the gathering in January 2014. It was prepared Dr Cristobal Bianchi Geisse, Editor of the 6th World Summit Discussion Paper and Coordinator of the Cultural Observatory Section, Research Department at CNCA.

The discussion paper has been developed entirely with the Summit programme in mind to ensure that what is presented within will provide a level of insight into the presentations you will hear in Santiago, Chile. In line with the design of each day’s sessions, key ideas that have emerged from the research are presented for reflection. Firstly, it was evident that significant changes, both global and local, had occurred at a moment of crisis or a critical point, and that the impact of the ripple effect was still unfolding. How do the arts and culture harness the opportunities created by such changes? This research is complemented by a set of case studies from around the world that demonstrate innovative approaches to cultural management.

Arts Panorama: International Overview of Issues for Public Arts Administration (IFACCA)
This report focusses on the perceptions of cultural policy operators from around the world of the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats currently facing the cultural sector and public sector agencies and was prepared by Annamari Laaksonen, IFACCA's Research Manager.

While the respondents represented many different policy and cultural environments there was substantial consistency around the key issues. The global cultural sector shares a vision of the cultural sector as a fundamental structure of society with important social and economic impacts. There is a strongly shared view that art and culture are crucial in critical times and need to be encouraged, protected and supported.

World Summit registration has been extended!
To assist with handling the last minute registrations for the World Summit coming in over the holiday period, we have extended the deadline for registration to Friday 3 January – please register as soon as possible to ensure you don’t miss out!