Policy Directions for Community Music: Looking Back, Looking Forward

This article offers an overview of public policy and community music as presented by an international panel in a symposium held in Edinburgh at the XV Community Music Activity (CMA) Seminar in 2016. This article summarizes public policy in eight countries: Australia, Japan, Germany, Britain, Ireland, United States, Canada, and Brazil. As a first discussion of policy and community music, this article provides an initial gathering of preliminary information to engage the larger CM community in discussions on policy that affects how community music activities happen across the globe. This publication captures the key highlights from our XV Community Music Activity (CMA) Seminar. From 19-23 July 2016 we celebrated and explored the vibrant music-making practices, pedagogies, and cultural politics that are currently shaping community music throughout the world. The seminar brought together an amazing group of delegates from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa, UK, and the USA