5 July 2022

Special Edition: Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund 

Toi tipu, toi aweawe!  
Grow the world of arts, so we may be inspired by the world of arts! 
 

Kia ora koutou,  

We have an important update this week about the next steps for our remaining COVID-19 recovery funding. 

We originally planned to run second rounds of our Capability and CARE funds in late 2021 and then early 2022. However, these funding rounds were postponed as we all dealt with the COVID-19 ‘Delta’ outbreak in late 2021, and then the ‘Omicron’ outbreak from January 2022. 

During this period, many people and organisations in the arts, culture and heritage sectors were under considerable stress, and our focus was on providing immediate relief funding to help the sector get through a challenging time. This work involved Manatū Taonga directly funding people and organisations through grant schemes, securing funding for other organisations to distribute (e.g. Creative New Zealand and the Music Commission), and getting funding to where it was needed via third parties (like event organisers). 

We had a lot of constructive feedback from people and organisations in the sector during this period – and we also heard a lot about funding during the first round of our Long-Term Insights Briefing consultation.  

As a result of this feedback, and the limited time that we have left to allocate COVID-19 Recovery Funding, we will be simplifying our funding approach and consolidating round two of our remaining Funds into a single Culture Sector Regeneration Fund. To be clear, this Fund will replace the second rounds of the Capability and CARE funds (and any further rounds of our Innovation Fund). 

We have included more detail below on the rationale for the new Fund, and the open and transparent approach that we will be using to consider funding proposals. However, if I had to sum up what we are trying to do in a sentence, I would say: We want to work with people and organisations in the arts, culture, and heritage sectors to find and fund initiatives that will have a lasting, positive impact – things that will help the sector thrive in the future. 

This focus on more strategic initiatives that have a lasting, positive impact means that the Culture Sector Regeneration Fund will, by design, be better suited to projects that benefit multiple organisations and people over a sustained period of time. 

I look forward to discussing the new Fund with you over the coming weeks. 

Ngā mihi,    

Joe Fowler
Deputy Chief Executive Te Aka Tūhono Investment & Outcomes   

The Culture Sector Regeneration Fund 

What have we heard from the arts, culture, and heritage sectors?

People across the arts, culture, and heritage sectors have given us a lot of feedback on how we have allocated funding to projects and initiatives over the last year or so. This has been collected at the strategic level through our Long-Term Insights Briefing process; as part of targeted engagement with sector representatives on specific funds over the last year; in the course of meetings with sector lead bodies, advocates and representatives; and, at a detailed operational level during literally hundreds of phone calls discussing applications with individuals and organisations.  

We have also run a series of successful Innovation Events (Te Urungi) where our team have supported hundreds of people to put project proposals together and discuss their ideas with each other. 

What have we learned? 

To put it simply, what we consistently hear is: keep it simple, keep it human, involve us and respect what we know, focus on the outcomes, and support collaboration (and don’t undermine it!) 

How has this shaped our approach to the new Fund? 

The design of the Culture Sector Regeneration Fund responds directly to this feedback: 

• We have rolled our remaining three funds together so that we can simplify things and focus on outcomes 

• Initiatives that have been identified as a priority by collectives, groups or communities within the arts, culture and heritage sectors will be well-placed to secure funding 

• We will provide clear information and use an expression of interest process so that people can test whether the fund is a good fit for their initiative. We don’t want people to waste precious time on detailed proposals if they have little chance of securing funding 

• Relationship managers will ‘keep it human’ and talk to people and organisations that are considering developing full proposals 

• We will create opportunities for the sector to provide feedback on proposals and will proactively seek feedback as needed 

• We will allocate funding across four evaluation rounds that will stretch into 2023 – ensuring, as far as we can, that there is some time for collectives and groups within a part of the sector (or a town or region) to discuss priorities and strengthen proposals 

What are the Fund Outcomes? 

We are keeping the requirements for the Fund high level – with a relentless focus on the core outcomes of the Regeneration Fund:  

• Improve sustainability and resilience of the arts, culture and heritage sectors 

• Increase employment and skill development opportunities  

• Improve safeguarding of Mātauranga Māori and support of Toi Māori  

• Improve access and participation in arts, culture and heritage sectors 

• Increase the use of arts, culture and heritage as a tool to improve wellbeing.  

When will it open? 

The Regeneration Fund will open for expressions of interest between 27 July and 7 September 2022.  

How can I find out more about the Fund? 

Information can be found on the Regeneration Fund webpage, with further detail available once the Fund opens on 27 July.

We will also be running a series of Regeneration Fund Information Sessions on the dates below. These online sessions are an opportunity to find out more about the fund and ask questions. We’ll have more sessions available once the Fund opens. 

• Thursday 7 July 2022, 2pm 

• Friday 8 July 2022, 10am. This session is NZSL interpreted. It will be recorded and posted on this webpage 

• Monday 11 July 2022, 10am 

• Tuesday 12 July, 2pm  

You can RSVP via the Regeneration Fund webpage. 

Contact us

If you have any questions about any of our funding opportunities, please email us at Support.Culture@mch.govt.nz   

More information

• For the latest information on other initiatives in the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme, see the Manatū Taonga website
• If you have specific questions, email us at Support.Culture@mch.govt.nz
• ​Received this email via a colleague? Why not subscribe to receive the next update directly.