Strengthening capacities of ASEAN cultural policy officials and enhancing regional cooperation opportunities
Since the adoption of the 2005 Convention, the international community is increasingly acknowledging the contribution of the culture sector to sustainable development, situating the cultural and creative industries (CCI) as an essential means to achieving inclusive economic growth and social cohesion. Out of 10 member states of ASEAN, however, only Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Vietnam have ratified the 2005 Convention, and a general lack of understanding of the advantages of ratification is present in the region. Several countries also lack the human and institutional capacities to foster vibrant cultural and creative sectors.
Interest in the CCI is clearly surging, however, and at the Special Meeting of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts in 2019, the participating ministers reiterated their wish for joint trainings and initiatives to elevate the level of creative industry management and cultural governance in the region. At the meeting, the Republic of Korea also announced the plan to host a UNESCO ASEAN-ROK Cultural policymakers Workshop in 2020 and encouraged the ASEAN member states’ participation in enhancing cooperation opportunities on policy areas related to creativity and the diversity of cultural expressions.
This training will address the need for a regional cultural policy network, a need that was revealed during a Capacity Development Programme on UNESCO’s 2005 Convention for mid-career cultural professionals from Asia-Pacific that was held on 10-15 June 2018.
General Aim:
The aim of this project is to train a group of policymakers and cultural actors from the Asia and Pacific regions in designing and implementing cultural policies in a participatory manner, and to raise their awareness of the 2005 Convention.
The year 2021 was declared the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development at the 74th United Nations General Assembly. This international year provides a unique momentum to highlight the value of the creative economy and to support States in reviewing their cultural policies to ensure a more resilient and sustainable creative sector.
In this context, UNESCO launched an online training module specifically focused on the creative economy catered to specific need of early to mid-career professionals from ASEAN countries including policymakers, representatives of civil society organizations, professionals from the creative and cultural sector. This course offered an introduction and review of key issues facing both the creative economy. The training also provided opportunities for online networking and exchanging with peers. In order to produce a relevant and cross-cutting training course, UNESCO partnered with City, University of London, to make use of faculty members', Andy Pratt and Jenny Mbaye, expertise in the area of creative and cultural industries.
30 participants from the ASEAN member states and candidate/observer states were selected after the open call for application. Starting in October 2021, the training had 8 sessions, comprising of a course curriculum covering the main aspects of the creative economy, including the creative eco-system, the status of artists, Intellectual Property Rights, the use of UNESCO instruments, and the transformation of the creative value-chain in the digital environment. The course included the study of various practical case studies and invited guest speakers, experts in the field from the ASEAN region, to engage with the participants on specific aspects of the modules. Every week, the participants give a 5 min group presentation to illustrate the issue under discussion that week.
Connecting cultural policymakers and practitioners to the global creative economy is at the heart of this online training which overarching objectives are to: 1) Introduce main creative economy themes; 2) Build a regional, integrated and supportive network of peers for resource sharing about the creative economy; 3) Bring international academic and practical expertise to local and regional policymakers.