The MEP Group is organising a joint roundtable with the ISME Commission on Policy: Culture, Education and Media during the its Pre-Conference Seminar in Toronto Canada, 20-24 July 2026. This event will take place in hybrid form.

Topic: Bridging Research and Policy: Rethinking How We Shape Music Education for All

Despite decades of compelling evidence demonstrating music’s profound impact on learning, wellbeing and inclusion, music education remains marginalised in policy priorities around the world.

This 90-minute panel discussion, jointly organised by the Music Education Policy Group (MEP Group) and the ISME Policy Commission, seeks to address this gap by bringing together policy-makers and researchers to explore how research can more effectively inform and strengthen music education policy that supports every child and every person. The session provides a structured forum for dialogue and collaboration, recognising that effective policy emerges where evidence, professional practice and the realities of governance intersect.

The panel will include two music education policy researchers from the ISME Policy Commission (named within the submission) and two policy-makers from the MEP Group — an international network established to connect policy-makers, funders and music educators through policy dialogue on the value and impact of music education. The chair (named within the submission) will guide the conversation. The format includes 15 minutes of participant introductions, 60 minutes of moderated discussion, and a 15-minute Q&A with the audience. The symposium will be held in hybrid form, allowing both speakers and participants to join in person or online.

The discussion will draw on the MEP Group's Global Compact on Music Education, which outlines six universally shared guiding principles promoting music education as a human right and as a foundation for wellbeing, diversity and inclusion. These principles underpin the symposium by offering a shared framework for examining how research can better respond to the needs and challenges of policy-makers in real-world contexts. Key discussion questions include:

• What do policy-makers most need from researchers to address current challenges in music education?

• How can existing research be communicated more effectively to inform policy?

• What forms of evidence—quantitative data, case studies, or lived experiences—are most meaningful to decision-makers?

• How can researchers and policy-makers co-design practical, sustainable approaches to support music education for all?

Speakers:

Patrick Schmidt

Tuulikki Laes

Bridget Whyte

Further speakers tbc.