lidia.varbanova@mcgill.ca

1. Presentation at McGill University Globalization Forum, 2016
by Dr. Lidia Varbanova
Website: www.lidiavarbanova.ca
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/LidiaVarbanovaCoachingMasterclass
es/

2. I. Defining the Creative Industries
13 categories (DCMS, UK): advertising, architecture, art
and antiques, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and
video, computer games, music, performing arts,
publishing, software and computer services, television
and radio.
Important: Shift from public support of not-for-profit
art forms (classical music, dance, drama theatre) to
commercial forms (media, design, architecture).
“The creative industries are those industries that have their
origin in individual creativity, skill and talent, and which have
a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation
and exploitation of intellectual property.” (DCMS, UK, 1996)

3. 1. Require some input of human creativity.
2. Contain some intellectual property that belongs to an individual or
a group
3. Vehicles for symbolic messages to those who consume them –
“carriers of meanings”: “symbolic goods”.
4. Experience goods: products/services where product characteristics,
such as quality or price, are difficult to observe in advance, but these
characteristics can be ascertained upon consumption.
Source: UNCTAD (2010) and Throsby (2012)
Important: CONNECTEDNESS!
Defining the Creative Industries: Features
Example:
Harry Potter: from a character in a book to films, computer games, action
figures, clothes, etc.

5. II. The Importance of Creative Industries
Globally
 Creative industries account
for as much as 7% of world
GDP
 Provide 29.5 million jobs
worldwide
 Exports of creative goods and
services were worth US$ 624
billion, showing 14% annual
growth over the 2000s (2011,
UN Creative Economy
Report)

6. The Importance of Creative Industries
Globally
 “Cultural and creative
industries are major
drivers of the economies
of developed as well as
developing countries.
Indeed, they are among
the most rapidly
growing sectors
worldwide. It influences
income generation, job
creation, and export
earnings. It can forge a
better future for many
countries around the globe”
Irina Bokova, UNESCO
Director General
 “Culture is both a driver
and an enabler of human
and sustainable
development. It empowers
people to take ownership
of their own
development, and
stimulates the
innovation and
creativity which can
drive inclusive and
sustainable growth.”
Helen Clark, UNDP

7. Impact of Globalization on Creative
Industries
Positive impact Negative impact
 Increased trade volume of
cultural products
 Access to more cultural
products and services
 Higher cross-border
collaboration: mobility of
artists and cultural products
 Creation of new tastes based
on exposure to different
cultures
 Greater understanding of
culture of other countries
 Increased economy of scale
lead to standardization of
tastes: the more people have
access to the same books,
music, movies, the more their
tastes tend to converge
 Threat on cultural identity
 Copyright legislation issues
 Traffic of cultural heritage
across the national borders
 Threatening the viability of
locally made products

8. III. Contribution of EU’s Creative Industries
NESTA, UK
 Nesta is an innovation charity with
a mission to help people and
organisations bring great idea
 Challenge in research of creative
industries: absence of comparable
statistics across the countries of the
EU
 Nesta’s report (December 2015)
helps address this by providing
consistent estimates of employment
in the creative industries of the EU’s
28 member states and, where data has
allowed, the wider ‘creative
economies’ of 20 member states www.nesta.org.uk

9. Contribution of EU’s Creative
Industries: NESTA research (2015)
 Creative industries create about 3% of
EU GDP - corresponding to an annual market
value of €500 billion
 Creative industries employed 11.4 million people in 2013,
accounting for 5% of the EU workforce.
 The three largest creative industry workforces:
 Germany: employing 3.1 million (5.8 per cent of its workforce)
 UK: employing 2.3 million (7.9 per cent)
 France: employing 1.4 million (5.5 per cent of the workforce)
 Note: ‘creative economy’ consists of jobs inside the creative
industries and creative jobs in other industries
Source: NESTA , Dec, 2015 (www.nesta.org.uk)

10. Creative Industries: Trends in Europe
1. Cultural fluidity: Increased mobility of artists,
arts managers, creative entrepreneurs: crossing
borders.
2. Digitalization of culture and arts.
3. Democratization of creativity has given
everyone the right to be a creative.
4. Creative jobs are less likely to be displaced by
future automation: uniqueness of the talents.
5. Increased levels of direct and indirect
competitors for CCI in Europe and globally.

11. IV. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Priorities
1. Coordinating with Member States to reform
regulatory environments.
2. Promoting innovation in education:
responding to changing skill needs
3. Supporting the mobility of artists.
4. Developing policies and initiatives to
promote market access for an investment
in CCIs.

12. 1. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Actions & Initiatives
 Green Paper “Unlocking the
Potential of CCIs”, 2010:
 Aims to spark a debate on the
requirements of a truly
stimulating creative
environment for the EU’s CCIs.
 Includes multiple perspectives,
from that of the business
environment to the need to
open up a common European
space for culture, from capacity
building to skills development
and promotion of European
creators on the world stage.

13. 2. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Actions & Initiatives
 Creative Europe Program (2014-2020): E1.46 billion
(9% increase over the previous budget)
 Aims to support the European audiovisual, cultural and
creative sector.
 Helping European cultural and audiovisual works to reach
audiences in other countries, the program will also contribute
to safeguarding cultural and linguistic diversity.

14. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Actions & Initiatives
 Creative Europe Program:
 56% of its budget: to the MEDIA sub-program for audiovisual
and the cinema
 at least 31%: to the Culture sub-program for performing and
visual arts.
 13%: to new cross-sectoral strand, which includes funding the
new Creative Europe Desks and supporting the financial
guarantee facility which is set to come into operation from 2016.
 + a new financial guarantee facility enabling small cultural
and creative businesses to access up to €750 million in bank
loans. This guarantee will operate from 2016 and specifically
target small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), will share the risk
on loans offered to them by banks.

15. 3. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Actions & Initiatives
 Economy of Cultural
Diversity @diversity
(pilot project, 2013)
 Aims:
 to test new approaches for
dealing with content for
innovation and digital
sharing and distribution;
 To contribute to easing
online access to culture,
cultural heritage, and
cultural literacy,
promoting cultural
diversity in the digital
environment.
 Open Idea Competition

16. Reasons:
 Improving career opportunities
 Accessing new markets
 Creating new jobs in the culture and creative sectors
 Promoting cultural diversity and intercultural
dialogue
 Increasing and broadening
audiences
 Building partnerships & contacts
 Creating professional networks
4. EU Support of Creative Industries:
Focus on Mobility of Artists and CCI
Professionals

17. EU Support of CCI: Cultural Networks
CCI networks are about:
 Inclusiveness and openness
 Having a “common voice” in the sector
 Cross-border experiences
 Sharing and learning, developing joined
projects
 “Laboratory/experimental” type of thinking
and actions
 Spontaneous innovation
 Motivating “intrapreneurial” climate
 FUN!

18. CINEW - ‘Creative Industries Network
European Window’
 European project in the frame
of the Atlantic Area
Transnational Programme,
devoted to Atlantic Small and
Medium Enterprises in the
Creative & Cultural
Industries.

19. Key Cultural Networks Supported
by EC
 Culture Action Europe
 European Festivals
Association
 European Jazz Network
 European Music Council
 European Dancehouse
Network
 European Network of
Cultural Centers
 European Network of
Cultural Administration
Training Centers
 Europa Nostra
 Culture Agora

20. 5. European Capital of Culture Program
 A city designated by the EU
for a period of one calendar
year during which it
organizes a series of cultural
events with a strong
European dimension.
 Started-1985 by Melina
Mercouri
 ECOC: catalyst for social and
economic development of a
city
 2016: San Sebastian, Spain
and Wrozlaw, Poland

21. 6. Capacity Building: support outside EU:
Eastern Partnership Culture Program
 Targeted countries: Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova,
Ukraine, Belarus
 First phase: Helps strengthen
policy-making, project and
resource generating capacities of
both the public sector and cultural
operators.
 Second phase: support of creative
industries:
 Activities: mapping, training,
online learning, study visits,
partnership fairs, cultural
leadership initiatives, working
groups, use of local and
international experts, toolkits,
an award scheme, networking
and sharing good practice
through the website, Facebook
page, newsletter etc.

22. V. Policy Recommendations: EU Level
The Road Ahead
1. Increase the usefulness of strategy documents through
the targeting companies of all sizes in the region as well as
other stakeholders.
2. Increase the availability of diverse financial mechanisms
and instruments for creative industries.
3. Increase availability of seed and venture capital for
creative companies, e.g. through venture capital schemes for
creative start-ups.
4. Enhance the physical and social creative environment by
developing creative spaces and further developing the
urban environment.
5. Increase the quality of cluster organisations through, for
example, the European Cluster Excellence Initiative.
 Source: European Cluster Observatory (2013)

23. Policy Recommendations: Road Ahead
6. Invest in creativity, innovation and sustainable
creative enterprise development across the value
chain.
7. Strengthen the evidence base through rigorous data
collection (improvement in statistics).
8. Investigate the connections between the informal
and formal sectors as crucial for informed creative
economy policy development.
9. Invest in local capacity-building between the 3
sectors to empower creators and cultural
entrepreneurs, government officials and private sector
companies.

24. Policy Recommendations: Specific
The Road Ahead
At Municipal Level Specialized Organizations
 Mapping local cultural
resources
 Culture-led urban
regeneration policy
 Strategy for creative cities
 Creative clusters
 Support of cultural and
innovation districts
 Creative placemaking
strategy
 Incubators
 Accelerators
 Artist-run centres and
cooperatives
 Low-cost arts spaces
 Support for startup arts
enterprises
 Networks of startup companies
 Coaching for startup companies
Source: New Book: International Entrepreneurship
in the Arts, Lidia Varbanova (Routledge, 2016):
https://www.routledge.com/International-Entrepreneurship-in-the-
Arts/Varbanova/p/book/9781138844353

25. Further Readings
 European Commission (2010). Green Paper: Unlocking the
Potential of the Cultural and Creative Industries. Brussels:
European Commission. Online access: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52010DC0183
 European Commission (2010). Study of the Entrepreneurial
Dimensions of the Cultural and Creative Industries. Utrecht
School of Arts. Online access : http://ec.europa.eu/culture/key-
documents/doc3124_en.htm
 European Union (2014). Good Practice Report on the Cultural
and Creative Sectors’ Export and Internationalization Support
Strategies. Working Group of EU Member States’ Experts on Cultural
and Creative Sectors.
 KEA European Affairs (2006). The Economy of Culture in Europe.
Study, prepared for the European Commission (Directorate-General for
Education and Culture. Brussels: EC
 Understanding Creative Industries. Cultural Statistics for Public-
policy Makers (2010). UNESCO. Online access:
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/files/30297/11942616973cultural_st
at_EN.pdf/cultural_stat_EN.pdf

26. Website: www.lidiavarbanova.ca
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/LidiaVarbanovaCo
achingMasterclasses/
Email: lidia.varbanova@mcgill.ca