Call for Participants: World Summit on Arts and Culture

The 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture will take place in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 27–30 May 2025, and bring together key leaders and decisionmakers from around the world – from the arts and cultural ecosystem and beyond – to exchange, debate and harness the knowledge systems they need to futureproof the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) and the roadmap, with a focus on current and projected digital and technological realities. It will help co-create new pathways to advance arts and culture and affirm the collective position as they seek to positively influence the sustainable agenda for the global community, and communities within the local contexts.

The 10th World Summit aims to inspire delegates through lived experience examples, intersections and good practices from diverse voices across all corners of the globe; respond to different perspectives presented based on a dialogue of exchange and mutual learning; and reflect on the impact of diverse knowledge systems, technological advances, innovation and digitalisation on the cultural sectors in transforming, empowering, decolonising and building more sustainable communities. The Summit will provide a diversity of approaches to explore, provoke and seek answers to the questions raised throughout the Summit programme.

The Summit programme will use a range of session formats to encourage interaction between delegates and they seek participants for a range of roles: from panellists and provocateurs, to presenters and facilitators. They welcome submissions from policy makers, academics, government representatives, cultural and community leaders, practitioners, and professionals working in the fields of arts, culture, creative and cultural industries, as well as other related sectors.

The programme will draw on diverse contexts and systems to explore tools for futureproofing, based on three transversal clusters:

• knowledge systems and agency;
• participatory systems and connectedness; and
• digital systems and technology.

Sessions and Participant Roles 

• All sessions on the main stage – including in-conversations and plenaries – will be programmed with speakers and moderators identified directly by the co-hosts, in consultation with the IPAC. Considering the different session formats, the Call for Participants helps enrich the programme sessions. As a general guide, they anticipate the following responsibilities and profiles for the different types of participants:
  • Session chair (in-coversation session) Chairs should be established and highly regarded voices from the arts and culture sector who have sound understanding of the in-conversation speakers’ area of expertise. They will introduce the speakers, monitor the session timing, and conclude with a final (2 min) reflection.
  • Moderator (provocations, response panel, and presentation sessions) Moderators should be well-regarded voices from the sector who have strong understanding of the issues being addressed. Moderators for the provocation and response sessions should be able to respectfully question and challenge ideas, and spark productive debate between participants. Moderators for the presentation sessions should be attentive to the content presented and capable of identifying issues that can be teased out with delegates’ input. All moderators will be responsible for monitoring the timing of their session and mediating Q&A elements.
  • Panellist: plenary speakers / panel speakers / case studies Plenary speakers should be provocateurs and recognised authorities in their field of work, which may or may not be arts and culture. They should be capable of challenging received ideas and presenting thought-provoking perspectives on the issues being addressed in the session. They should be comfortable engaging in active debate with their fellow session participants and delegates.
  • Table host: world café response session The World Café response session will rely on table hosts to guide conversations around specific questions and create an inclusive environment that actively encourages delegates to participate. Table hosts must be able to generate conversation, negotiate a range of perspectives and maintain momentum. The role is less about leading discussion and more about facilitating conversation between delegates. Based on the language needs of registered delegates, they will allocate an appropriate number of table hosts who can work with delegates in Spanish and French. Moderators and facilitators will be invited to host a table in addition to other sessions.
  • Long table facilitator Facilitators should have strong understanding of the issues being addressed within a given session, as well as the ability to facilitate conversations between delegates. They should be adept at managing the event format: able to invite delegates to join/leave the table, balance competing voices, synthesise information, maintain the focus of discussion, and summarise key responses.
  • Workshop lead The Workshop Leads, like the Long Table Facilitators, should have strong understanding of the issues being addressed within the workshop and able to fully lead the session. However, in the case of the participatory workshop, they will also propose a participatory methodology that has a proven track record, which can be ideas based or grounded in creative practice.

Eligibility Criteria

• They welcome submissions from policy makers, academics, government representatives, cultural and community leaders, practitioners, and professionals working in the fields of arts, culture, creative and cultural industries, as well as other related sectors from around the Globe.

For more information, visit IFACCA.