Report on the survey on the implementation of the road map for arts education

The Road Map for Arts Education is a reference document that aims to explore the role of arts education in meeting the need for creativity and cultural awareness in the 21st Century, while placing emphasis on the strategies required to introduce or promote arts education in the learning environment. Within this conceptual framework, all UNESCO Member States interested in initiating or developing arts education practices can mould their own national policy guidelines, adapted to their socio-cultural specificities. With the Road Map, UNESCO advocates the essential role of arts education within societies, to create a common ground of understanding for all stakeholders. The development of the Road Map for Arts Education was a lengthy and comprehensive consultation process. The document was first elaborated by a group of experts and UNESCO, then presented at the First World Conference on Arts Education (Lisbon, 2006) and later revised and updated, following recommendations from NGOs and Member States. The Road Map was finally distributed to the UNESCO Member States in November 2007 in English and French and then translated into Spanish and Russian following popular demand. More than a year after this distribution, UNESCO launched a wide-ranging survey in order to assess the implementation of the Road Map in its 193 Member States. Through its National Commissions, the Organization relayed this document to Ministries of both Education and Culture. The aim of this exercise was threefold: to learn whether the Road Map was being applied and to what extent it was influencing policy decisions at national level; to act as a reminder of the importance of the UNESCO reference document and encourage its use; finally, to assess the situation of arts education in the responding countries. Thus, this survey not only acted as a catalyst for the implementation of the Road Map, but also provided precious knowledge on arts education around the world. The Member States’ responses also contributed greatly to the Second World Conference on Arts Education (Seoul, May 2010), inspiring one of its main themes and the topics for a number of workshops. They also encouraged a more integral participation of these States in the conference through preparatory consultations.