From Action Plan to Reality: Reflections on the CPI Program from a Partner Country’s Viewpoint

It was in September 2022 when I received a message from a friend working in a national government agency asking if I would be interested in applying for a workshop on cultural administration. Despite the short notice and preparation, I hopefully submitted my application and immediately grabbed the opportunity when I was accepted as one of the four participants from the Philippines to attend the Cultural Administrator Training Program under the Cultural Partnership Initiative (CPI) of the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Aside from its usefulness in my present work as the Tourism Officer and Designated Culture and Arts Officer in the Local Government Unit of Infanta, Province of Quezon, culture and arts is something that is close to my heart and is one of my advocacies, hence my eagerness to be part of this training. Of course, the biggest bonus was that I was able to travel to Seoul, South Korea for free for the week-long workshop from November 14 to 18, 2022 where I met all the equally-capable cultural worker program beneficiaries from other Asian countries namely Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Vietnam.

The training on Cultural Administration was quite intensive given that we had to produce and present a detailed proposal for any culture and arts related project in our respective home countries as part of our output for the 3-day workshop. The best presenter award, which I eventually received, added a healthy pressure to all participants as well as the mentors from different private organizations to ensure that all presentations on the fourth day were of excellent quality. I was able to gain a lot of insights and new learnings from our mentor, Ms. Hyun Jung Kim, a consultant at Korea Overseas Development and Consulting (KODAC), who helped me as well as my colleagues from the Philippines to enhance our presentations by ensuring we had a clear and logical sequence of actions in our respective proposed plans. Likewise, engaging with my co-participants who had the same passion and advocacy for culture and arts allowed me to learn from their rich experiences and to check on programs, projects and activities that may also be relevant and may be adopted in my hometown, Infanta.

Experience in Korea

Visiting South Korea because of the CPI program was an eye opening, inspiring and emulous experience for me. As the saying goes, learning does not only occur within the four corners of a classroom, which I can certainly attest to during my week long stay in Seoul. There, I observed the practical application of both the government and the private sector’s programs related to culture, arts and heritage, which were shared to us participants through the online lectures and discussions prior to the immersion. I witnessed how South Korea grounded its development on the nation's rich cultural capital and utilized this to advance their economy through the promotion of their diverse creative industries not only in the country but also to the world with the use of technology, its strong human resources, and complemented with good governance.

Visiting South Korea because of the CPI program was an eye opening, inspiring and emulous experience for me. As the saying goes, learning does not only occur within the four corners of a classroom, which I can certainly attest to during my week long stay in Seoul. There, I observed the practical application of both the government and the private sector’s programs related to culture, arts and heritage, which were shared to us participants through the online lectures and discussions prior to the immersion. I witnessed how South Korea grounded its development on the nation's rich cultural capital and utilized this to advance their economy through the promotion of their diverse creative industries not only in the country but also to the world with the use of technology, its strong human resources, and complemented with good governance.

Impacts of CPI

As an alumnae of the Cultural Partnership Initiative (CPI), I am grateful that the Republic of Korea, through KOFICE, continues to fund this kind of program where participants from other countries are given the opportunity to learn and apply their newfound knowledge and insights in their respective fields and areas after undergoing training from esteemed experts particularly in Korean culture and arts. The follow-up support program is another highly helpful one especially for beneficiaries overseas who have long overdue projects that cannot be implemented by respective cultural offices or institutions due to lack or limited funding. Coming to South Korea to learn from their rich culture is a one of a kind experience for the participants that is also reinforced by the networks and new relationships forged during the stay in the country whether for only a week or as long as one or six months.

In this regard, the CPI definitely benefits not only the program participants but more importantly the community where they belong to when they, the participants, are able to apply and eventually to turn their ideas and visions during the program training into a reality. In the future, I think it would also be a worthwhile activity or project for the CPI management and personnel to check on success stories of those whose action plans came into fruition as this may also serve as a testament to the many positive impacts of the CPI program that extends even to other countries and communities outside of the Republic of South Korea.