The Government has opened the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, the first stage of a new approach to cultural sector funding designed to support strategic, sector-led initiatives, that will have lasting benefits for arts, culture, and heritage in New Zealand.

'The opening on Wednesday of the Te Tahua Whakamarohi i te Rāngai Ahurea - Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund represents a significant step forward on the path to recovery for the arts, culture and heritage sectors,” says Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni.

'The Regeneration Fund is the next phase for Aotearoa New Zealand's arts and culture recovery, looking beyond COVID-19 and building on lessons learned during the pandemic to support the arts and culture sector equip itself with the tools to thrive.

Sepuloni says the government has designed the fund to use remaining money from the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme to support projects and initiatives that have the best chance of achieving enduring and sustainable benefits for the arts, culture and heritage sectors.

'The Fund responds to a clear message from the cultural sectors in the way we approach funding. Some of the things we've heard is to keep it simple, keep it human, involve the cultural sectors and respect what they know, focus on the outcomes, and work with sector collaboration," says Sepuloni.

'This is particularly important for many in the cultural sector, who collaborate to create but are confronted by competitive funding models. We want to do what we can to support collaborative relationships between artists and organisations, and the Government.”

Sepuloni says the funding approach will push the conventional boundaries on design, decisions and transparency of cultural funding, providing genuine opportunities for people from the arts, culture and heritage sectors to directly inform decision-making, and also providing opportunities for collaboration within the sector and, potentially, with other funders.

'The Government has made significant investments in Aotearoa's cultural sectors in recent years as part of our COVID-19 response, including $374 million in Budget 2020 and a further $121 million of funding in response to Omicron," says Sepuloni.

'At nearly a half billion dollars in support, this is the largest investment in the arts, culture and heritage sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand's history. Our Government's continuous investment over the course of the pandemic has helped to protect jobs and peoples livelihoods as well as sustain the important contribution the sector makes to the economy,” says Sepuloni.

In summary:
• Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage is administering the Fund, which makes available $28 million to invest into the arts, culture and heritage sectors between now and June 2023.
• The Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund replaces several planned funding rounds with a single outcome-focused fund, meaning all applicants will only need to apply for the one fund through a single application process. The combining of these funds provides the best chance to identify and support initiatives that will have a lasting impact.
• The Regeneration Fund opens for Expressions of Interest on 27 July 2022, which must be submitted by 7 September in order to be considered for the Fund.
• The Fund is strongly focused on outcomes. Applicants will be helped by relationship managers to clarify their proposals and there will be an opportunity for people in the cultural sectors and the wider public to get involved and provide feedback on summaries of submitted proposals.
• There will be four evaluation and decision-making rounds between September 2022 and June 2023. There is the opportunity for proposals that are unsuccessful in early rounds to receive feedback, be refined, and then reconsidered in any future rounds until the final round in June 2023.
• Relationship managers from Manatu Taonga will work with applicants to help them to effectively meet the Fund's outcomes, identify potential opportunities to collaborate and strengthen their applications where necessary.
• Summaries of all proposals under consideration will be available online for public feedback for at least two weeks.
• The Fund outcomes are:
1. Improve sustainability and resilience of the arts, culture and heritage sectors
2. Increase employment and skill development opportunities
3. Improve safeguarding of Mātauranga Māori and support of Toi Māori
4. Improve access and participation in arts, culture and heritage sectors
5. Increase the use of arts, culture and heritage as a tool to improve wellbeing.

More information can be found at the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund webpage