• home |
• about |
• people |
• joining |
• history |
• contact us |  
• CDN events |
• publications |
• projects | 
• e-bulletin |
• resources | links

 

HOT LINKS

Forthcoming events: Networking the Diaspora and Homelessness and Cultural Democracy
•

Making the Case for Culture: Creative City Network of Canada
•

Poems about Community Spaces
& other papers from Connecting Schools & Communities conferences, June 2008
•

Meet, Meld, Merge Art Bringing a Community Together:
the Toil Art Project, in Yea, N.E. Victoria
•

Home Lands: Internet TV program which connects young refugees to their home lands
•

The 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.
•

 

Search the CDN site:

Projects

Current Projects | Past Projects

Read more below about these current projects:
Arts & Disability Research
Generations
Homelands

Arts and Disability Research Project: increasing participation in the arts

Cultural Development Network for the Office for Disability, Arts Victoria and Department of Human Services, May 2008

The Cultural Development Network has been commissioned by the Office for Disability and partners, Arts Victoria and Department of Human Services, to undertake a research project examining ways that the participation of people with a disability in the arts, as artists and as audience members, can be increased. The project commenced in May 2008 and will be completed by December 2008.

You can visit the Arts and Disability research project wiki to read more about the research project and take part in a survey.

Stage One

Literature Review: May to September 2008
A review of national and international literature and policy documents on arts and disability was undertaken to provide a reference point for the project. Specific topics examined included barriers to participation for people with a disability as audience members and artists broader arts and inclusion policies and specific arts and disability policies the role and impact of arts in social inclusion current investment and trends in community arts projects disability arts utilised as a form of cultural identity and social action access and inclusion strategies; educational and professional development opportunities; sustainable employment strategies for artists with a disability accessible arts grants processes; adaptive arts technology; and interactive online arts initiatives. This review is currently being completed.

Stage Two

Surveys for people with a disability: September to November 2008
The project will survey people with a disability throughout Victoria to find out more about their experiences attending arts events and participating in arts programs. If you have a disability and are involved in the arts, or would like to be, we seek your response to this survey. If you know someone who would be interested in responding to the survey, we encourage you to forward information about this project to them, by sending a link to this page.

Mapping Arts and Disability Activity Across Victoria: October-November 2008
The project will also involve a statewide mapping exercise to map arts and disability activity across Victoria. In October 2008, organisations throughout the state will be invited to contribute information about their arts and disability related events or programs for this 'map'. The final stage of this process will be a multimedia map of Victoria, showing the full range of arts and disability activities. This will make it possible for people with a disability to find out about accessible activities of interest to them in their area.
A questionnaire for organisations to complete will soon be available here.

Forums and Focus Groups: October 2008
Forums: A series of half day forums on the topic of arts and disability willl be held in Melbourne and regional Victoria in October. Keynote speaker will be Petra Kuppers, an internationally renowned disability activist and artist, with local speakers with expertise on the specific topic contributing at each event. These events are free, and members of the public are warmly invited to attend.

Focus groups
Each public forum will be followed by a smaller focus group, when people with particular expertise or interest on the topic will discuss their experiences. Because these event are necessarily small, they are limited in size, and attendance is by invitation only. We welcome people with particular expertise nominating themselves to participate in the focus groups. View venues and dates.

Stage Three

Policy Recommendations: November 2008
Workshops with government policy makers: November 10-21, 2008 (dates, time and locations to be confirmed) A series of workshops with key government policy experts from metro and regional areas will be held to introduce the findings from the literature review and consultation phase, and connect those with current and mooted policy initiatives. These will act as a starting point for discussion about best policy positions for the future for all areas of Victorian Government activity related to arts and disability. Workshop attendees are likely to include staff from Arts Victoria, DPCD, especially Office for Disability, but also Neighbourhood Renewal and others, DEET, Disability Services and other departments within Department of Human Services.

Policy and strategy position paper: To be completed by November 28, 2008
The project will conclude with the presentation of a final report that draws together all aspects of the project; including information collected in the literature review, findings from interviews, surveys, focus groups and workshops with government policy experts. The report will include recommendations for future directions for state government policy regarding arts and disability and help to identify further research needs.

Project team:
Project Team Chair: Dr Nick Hill, University of Melbourne
Project Manager: John Smithies, CDN, john.smithies@culturaldevelopment.net.au
Lead researcher: Kim Dunphy, CDN, kim.dunphy@culturaldevelopment.net.au
International Research Associate: Associate Professor Petra Kuppers, University of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Literature review research and editing: Chris Brophy
Research Advisor: Professor John Toumbourou, Deakin University
Research Assistant: Indrani Parker  research@culturaldevelopment.net.au

Generations

Building civic engagement through the arts in five communities across Australia

The Generations project has been developed to explore the links between engagement in community based arts activities and active civic engagement. There is a growing literature around the correlation between involvement in creative or ‘artistic’ activity and improved health and well-being, but the links between creative communities and civic engagement are less well documented. The Generations project will contribute to research data on this topic through a significant research component. Demonstration of this link could have significant effects on the development of public policy and the targeting of resources to community-based arts projects. The research project is being led by Dr Martin Mulligan from RMIT's Globalism Institute, with researcher Pia Smith engaged in data collection with communities and artists. The first stages of this research began at the end of 2006.

In preparation for the project, each of the five participating councils worked with the Cultural Development Network to identify issues of serious concern for their municipalities. Five community projects addressing these local issues got underway in 2006 in councils across Australia; Dalrymple Shire (Queensland); City of Liverpool (New South Wales); Rural City of Wangaratta (Victoria); City of Greater Geelong (Victoria); and Latrobe City (Victoria). The projects will run for three years between September 2006 and December 2009.

Generations is a test of the belief that truly sustainable communities need the addition of fourth dimension, or pillar, of cultural vitality to the accepted triple bottom line indicators of a viable economy, a healthy environment and good social policies. The Generations project will build on existing research data to explore the contribution of cultural vitality to the sustainability of local communities. Five councils are participating in the project.

More about the Generations project

Homelands

Home Lands is an internet television program made with entry-level technical resources that connects young refugees to their home lands and separated communities.

Home Lands is underpinned by the premise that refugee youth resettlement is more successful if identification, communication and engagement is maintained with home communities.

Low-cost digital media production tools and networks overcome the previous barrier of privilege usually associated with access to traditional media production facilities.

Evolving media technologies enable production storage, streaming, broadcast, mobile communication and therefore new forms of storytelling to give true global access to an audience.

The pilot being undertaken in Melbourne, Australia will work with young refugees from Karen and Sudanese refugee communities and the corresponding refugee camps and home communities.

More about the Homelands project