Cultural Policy Dialogue

In the field of cultural policy, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) aims to stimulate analysis and engagement that reflect current political debates in Asia and Europe, as well as demonstrate verifiable alignment with priorities of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

ASEF closely follows the topics of discussion at the ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM CMM). The fifth ASEM CMM will focus on "Managing Heritage Cities for a Sustainable Future" and will be hosted by Indonesia in 2012. ASEF will co organise an Experts’ Meeting in July 2012 to channel civil society inputs to this Ministerial meeting.

Further, ASEF promotes research, dialogue and information exchange on relevant policy areas in arts and culture through programmes, online platforms and publications:

• The Asia-Europe Compendium of Cultural Policies supports the development of WorldCP-International Database of Cultural Policies, a central, web-based and continuously updated database of country-specific profiles of cultural policies. ASEF also co-organises a series of Experts’ Meetings on Cultural Policy to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue on issues of mutual relevance in arts and culture for Asia and Europe.

• The Connect2Culture programme explores the intersection between the arts, climate change and sustainable development through dialogue platforms and collaborative projects.

• Specially commissioned features and interviews on cultural policy issues and trends are featured on culture360.org

• ASEF’s most recent publication in the field of cultural policy is Mapping Cultural Diversity-Good Practices from around the Globe, which profiles 39 innovative projects that protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions in different parts of the world, including 17 from Asia and Europe.