What's New?
CDN's response to National Cultural Policy consultation
Introducing the new Fourth Pillar blog
by CDN's cultural analyst Jon Hawkes - discussing the ways cultural action can support communities.
Australia Council's Arts Funding Guide 2010. Please email with your name and address for a free copy.
Brunswick Womens' Theatre present Just Around the Corner at the Just Cultures Symposium, October 2005
HOT LINKS
Australia Council's Arts Funding Guide 2010. Please email with your name and address for a free copy.
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Call for Papers
'Culture and Sustainable Communities'
for a special issue of the 'Culture and Local Governance' journal, Canada
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LEAP (Localities Enhancing Arts Participation) Project
VicHealth, CDN and eight Victorian councils
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a network of Victorian arts organisations, artists and government agencies working with Arts Victoria to strengthen community-based arts practice
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ReGenerating Community: Arts, Community & Governance National Conference
Proceedings available
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Developing & Revitalizing Rural Communities
Through Arts & Creativity: International research report
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UNESCO e-journal:
Multi-Disciplinary Research in the Arts
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Agenda 21 for Culture is the first document with worldwide mission that advocates establishing the groundwork of an undertaking by cities and local governments for cultural development.
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CDN Events & Papers
Coming Events | Past Events & Papers
Major Conferences
ReGenerating Community: Arts Community and Governance' National Conference
Sept 2 - 4, 2009. RMIT University, Melbourne
This conference addressed ways in which global issues are being addressed locally through collaborations between artists, communities and local government. Issues of community identity in an environment of globalised culture; issues of energy production in the context of climate change; issues of indigenous sovereignty on leasehold land; issues of country becoming city and changing identity; issues of aging; issues of schooling; issues of imaging futures, issues of having a future...
Visit conference website
Conference proceedings
Expanding Culture: arts, culture and local government conference
July 25-27 2007, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
This two day conference was held at Chapel Off Chapel Arts and Leisure Complex in late July 2007. 'Expanding Cultures' was hosted by the City of Stonnington and supported by the Cities of Yarra, Melbourne, Moreland, Maribyrnong, Moonee Valley, Boroondara and Port Phillip and the Cultural Development Network. The conference focussed on the contribution of arts and cultural development to the strength and well-being of local communities.
Conference themes explored included:
- the changing shape of community cultures and their impact on local government in Victoria, Australia and overseas
- arts as a vehicle for strengthening communities and facilitating social inclusion
- the impact of arts activities on health, education and economic development
- local government’s engagement with Indigenous art and culture
- improving evaluation of arts activities and cultural development programs
- innovative partnerships
The conference audience was diverse, with attendees coming mostly from local government, especially from the arts and culture sector. Others included artists and artsworkers from non-government organisations, cultural facility workers, academics and federal and state government workers from a variety of sectors, from all levels, officers, managers, CEOs and elected representatives. Over the three days, almost 300 people from all around Australia and New Zealand attended the conference and associated activities, including tours and visits to host councils and the conference dinner. A further forty, including local government CEOs, senior managers and councillors, state politicians and state government staff were addressed by keynote speaker Jordi Pascual about Agenda 21 for Culture in Local Government, at VIP sponsor function hosted by Stonnington Council.
Conference delegates listened to keynote speakers and panel presentations, participated in debates and discussions and enjoyed networking through formal and informal activities. The three international keynote speakers were well received; independent researcher from the UK Jude Bloomfield on Intercultural Dialogue - creating the new, Jordi Pascual, Coordinator of the Working Group on Culture, of United Cities for Local Governments on Global Community and Local Government: Agenda 21 for Culture and the Hon Nanaia Mahuta from New Zealand on Cultural Well-Being: Linking local and central government to promote cultural well-being.
The conference rated highly with delegates, with more than 80% of respondents commenting in the evaluation survey that the overall event quality was ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’, and that presentations were ‘Extremely useful’ or ‘Very useful’ in prompting new thinking about delegates' own work. Overall, our sense was the conference was well-received and valuable for those that participated. Possible areas of improvement, ideas and positive and critical feedback will be noted in planning of future activities.
Conference proceedings available for download
The Sustainability Conference
The First International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability
25-28 February 2005, East West Centre, Honolulu.
Convened by Common Ground Conferences with the Cultural Development Network as a keen partner, the conference took a longer, broader and deeper views about the four fundamentals of sustainability in the 21st century. Judy Spokes was a member of the advisory panel and facilitated discussions at this conference. Jon Hawkes presented a paper entitled: ‘Culture and Art: distinguishing between meaning production and imagination engagement’. Proceedings have been published as the journal, International Journal of Sustainability.
The Fourth Pillar Conference
hosted by Cultural Development Network with Common Ground Conferences and RMIT’s Globalism Institute, November 2004
Delegates from around Australia and overseas explored conference themes of the links between cultural vitality and community sustainability. Topics included:
• A question of values – culture, inclusion, diversity and democracy
• Creative approaches to nurturing community health and wellbeing
• Creativity and community engagement
• Indigenous culture – land, culture and community
• Cultural policy and the ‘triple bottom line’ – the challenge of integration
• Interrogating the Arts/Culture split
• Place management, urban design and neighbourhood renewal
• Festivals and events – balancing cultural and economic imperatives
• Yesterday’s news: animating heritage today
Conference website
Conference Report available here (this includes all papers presented at the event, summaries of workshops and feedback from delegates)
Evaluation
Briefly, overall the feeling was that the conference was stimulating and useful for participants. 260 people attended, with representation from local government (the majority), state government, community sector, arts, academia and health; from all levels, officers, managers, CEOs and elected representatives. Evaluation response rate was 38% of the 260 attendees, the highest ever for a CDN event! 77% of respondents rated the conference between excellent and good, and 81% of respondents rated the speakers between excellent and good. Aspects of the conference most valued were networking opportunities, quality of discussion, workshops and engaged atmosphere.
Beyond Cultural Policy: Conference 2003
at the Gasworks Arts Park
Presented by the City of Port Phillip and the Cultural Development Network
Governments and organisations today are adjusting the way they determine the success of their communities. No longer is the economic bottom line considered the sole indicator. Social, environmental and, increasingly, cultural factors are acknowledged as having equal weight in determining policy and evaluating programs. The challenges and potential rewards for organisations, from global corporations to local governments, that integrate the cultural dimension as a core policy driver, are enormous. This symposium investigated cultural vitality as an indicator of community and organisational sustainability and well-being. It also considered avenues available to those wishing to incorporate cultural considerations within the policy frameworks of their organisations.
Conference Papers
A selection of papers was published in the Cultural Vitality supplement to the Autumn 2004 edition of the journal Overland.
Remaining papers are available for download as pdf format documents from this page on the City of Port Philip website.
Donald Horne: Repertoires for Being Human
Jon Hawkes: Governance and Engagement
John Montgomery: Cultural Quarters, Examples And Success Factors
Barbara Norman: Cultural Vitality - Can it be Planned For?
Peter Browning: This is not an Arts Policy.!! Putting Culture and Creativity First
Dr Chris Dew: Material Culture/Migration Landscape/Merri Creek
Dr Lisanne Gibson: Cultural policy and the built environment- Cultural Vitality for Who?
Dr Michael Kennedy: Culture and the Sustainable Peninsula
Jenny Macaffer: The Hope Chest - In Search of the Human Spirit
Dr Chris McAuliffe: Acknowledging Subcultures
June Moorhouse: From Property to People to KPI's: Fremantle's Experience Managing Culture
Irene Verins: Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Bronny Burger: Tranceplant - Synthesising Cultural and Environmental Aspirations
James Nagy, Fair Go For Rock Music: Rock and Roll Aint Noise Pollution
Stacey Anderson: The Newcastle Experience
Art of Dissent Conference
Held in Adelaide in March 2002 as part of the Adelaide Festival and in Melbourne in October 2002 as part of the Melbourne Festival.
Conference website
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