The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has been out and around the country like never before as a result of a new key initiative, the Cultural Well-being programme.
With changes to the Local Government Act in 2002, local authorities are now charged with supporting cultural well-being in their community. Local government has always been involved in different aspects of culture, through the likes of museum services, libraries and performance spaces. However, the changes to the Act have forced local authorities to think explicitly about culture – an area that may not be as straightforward as the environment, economic or social well-being which local authorities are more used to considering.
Central government recognised that local government organisations would need support and some expert input to enable them to take up this new challenge. In consultation with Local Government New Zealand, the Ministry developed a programme of meetings, workshops and presentations which bring the idea of cultural well-being into focus.
Ministry Chief Executive Martin Matthews has visited almost every local, regional and district council to discuss the concept of cultural well-being with mayors and chief executives. People who had not been involved with the Ministry before had the opportunity to talk about the challenges of contributing to cultural well-being with a government agency which has culture at its heart.
Regional workshops extended the discussions out to help councillors and staff gain a broad understanding of what cultural well-being could mean in their communities.
The workshops aimed to get people thinking about how aspects of cultural well-being could be incorporated in new and innovative initiatives in their districts or regions. Information can also be found on our website, www.mch.govt.nz/cwb/.
Simply offering a definition of cultural well-being proved to be a challenge for the Ministry, as culture means a myriad of different things to different people. We believe cultural well-being encompasses arts, culture, history, heritage, language, broadcasting, and sport and recreation. It is about reflecting our values, beliefs and identities, the way we express ourselves and communicate with one another.
The notion of culture and the cultural needs of a community will vary around the country. A community with a large number of ethnic minorities will have different priorities to an area with an elderly population. The work ahead for local authorities is to come up with initiatives which are right for their communities.
The year ahead will see a continuation of the Cultural Well-being programme, with additional focus on building stronger connections between central government and the agencies involved in promoting cultural well-being.
The Cultural Well-being programme supports the Ministry’s Outcome 3, culture and heritage contribute to the achievement of other government outcomes.
