The KEA Blog

« A la mode à la mode » - From Paris Fashion Week to Beijing "Chic" - «时髦的模式»-从巴黎时装周到北京国际服装服饰博览会

"A la mode à la mode"  - From Paris Fashion Week to Beijing "Chic"

(chinese version scroll down)

The Paris Fashion Week is a highlight in the fashion calendar. Thousands of brands, creative designers, sellers and buyers and trade associations from throughout the world occupy various parts of the French capital to talk business, new trends and future stars. The fashion industry is a huge global enterprise and one of the European flagship industries whether in haute couture or prêt-à–porter (ready-to-wear).  This success is built on a respect for tradition, craftsmanship and creativity. Creators are the driving force behind an industry that calls on consumers’ hedonism, desire to emulate others or to celebrate their own individual identities. 

Chinese cities, garment industries and fashion associations are keen to associate with European fashion designers and brands.  I went to Paris keen to ascertain how China was represented at the Paris Fashion Week.  

Artistic Interventions in Organisations: An Alternative to Stimulate Innovation

Artistic interventions are very much advocated to spread all over Europe. This is at least how the future seems to look as confirmed by the great interest raised by the final conference of Creative Clash[1]. This EU project, on the promotion of artistic interventions, organised an appealing, content wise and well-attended –around a hundred participants- event. Some 20 speakers -EU advisors, politicians, EU regions, producers of artistic interventions, artists, entrepreneurs and researchers- discussed the impact, support schemes and  future avenues for this new form of promoting innovation.

Transfers of players: PART 2 - TRANSFER FEES, FREE MOVEMENT, “BUY-OUT” CLAUSES

Under European law, transfer must respect the following principles[1]: i) They must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner; ii) They must be justified by overriding reasons in the public interest; iii) They must be suitable for securing the attainment of the objective they pursue and; iv) They must not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose. Consequently, to remain legitimate, these derogations must prove their efficiency in meeting the pursued goals while remaining compatible with EU law requirements. We will focus on the implementation of two objectives of the 2001 Agreement: on one hand, ending “exorbitant” transfer fees and on the other hand, ensuring solidarity between clubs and youth development. 

TRANSFER FEES, FREE MOVEMENT, “BUY-OUT” CLAUSES

Has the new regulatory framework on transfers of players manage to end “exorbitant” transfer fees ?

Between the 1995-1996 and 2010-2011 seasons, the number of transfers in the EU multiplied by a factor of 3.2 from 5,735 to 18,307; while over the same period, the total value of transfer fees went up by a factor of 7.4, from €403 million to €3 billion.

Transfers of players: Towards a new regulatory framework to acquire a new legitimacy?

(this article in French here)

If transfers of players have become the focus of much attention and continue to make headlines, this is both due to their extravagant amount as well as their irrational nature and also the fact that they raise the fans expectations. French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) provides an edifying example. Since summer 2011 and the arrival of Qatari investors, PSG has spent more than €250 million, undoubtedly the price which they hope will put their club up among the top European teams. Three players have thus been recruited for a sum of more than €40 million.

European? What about Union?

G1000 is a civil society initiative to consider alternative ways to make policy choices in a country (Belgium) that has lost any sense of direction and collective purpose. It published its final report on ideas to resolve the crisis of our democracy and get citizens to articulate their policy wishes. How to recreate social cohesion?  Such initiatives are now taking place throughout Europe: We the Citizens (Ireland), Netwerk Democratie (Netherlands, Mehr Demokratie (Germany), Citizens for Europe.

In an interview in Belgium’s newspaper De Standaard (December 2012) the Czech economist Tomas Sedlacek notes that the economy has led us into the crisis and that to resolve the crisis we ask for more economy… The economy is seen as a solution for all problems.  Our society is constantly feeding the economic system it has created instead of the economy serving society. He concludes that the economy and society have no goals; the only goal being growth but growth to achieve what?

The proposed Universal/EMI merger: why should we care?

The proposed Universal/EMI merger in recorded music not only raises serious issues from an anti-trust perspective, policy makers and citizens, including music lovers, are not sufficiently alerted to the issues raised by such a mega concentration in the arts and entertainment sector, and the consequences for Europe’s identity and heritage, access to culture, creation and innovation.

The consequences of the proposed transactions on music creation should be carefully considered by the European Commission.  Music is more than market shares and rights issues.  It expresses the singular and the beautiful.  Like other forms of art, music reflects our history and contributes to our social transformation.

In the Mood for Love - 花样的年华

For the past five years, we have had the privilege and pleasure of working and advising in China. This May the journey took us to Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macao. It is reassuring and even motivating that, similarly to Europe, things are not easy for the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in China, both for local and foreign organisations.

The added value of creation and imagination is still only paid lip service in an economy geared towards the cheapest possible modes of production.Thus Chinese designers are forced to take the risk of developing products to final manufacturing stages which means ideas can be stolen along the way. The tendering processes relating to procurement also remain opaque, forcing creative companies to make tremendous and uneconomic efforts in attempts to win bids.

(Chinese version below)

Get ready for Smart Specialisation Strategies: Supporting cities and regions to raise EU regional funds for culture and creative industries

The European Commission (EC) has recently issued its proposal for the 2014-2020 Cohesion
Policy. With a budget of over € 376 billion for the new funding period, European regional policy represents over one-third of the EU budget. However, access to EU regional funding will be faced with much more demanding requirements and a more result-focused approach than the current one. EU funds will be released to regions and cities subject to performance or on the condition that, among others, Smart Specialisation Strategies^[1](RIS3) exist.

Regions and cities have used 1.7% of structural funds’ budget for the period 2007-2013 to support culture and creative industries (CCIs), either to promote cultural heritage and tourism, to revitalise local
economies or to enhance sustainable urban development.

Verdict: guilty. Criminal law applies to match-fixing

Match-fixing has been the focus of the sport policy agenda over recent months. Betting scandals, sportsmen in the dock, ongoing investigations on the manipulation of sport results[1] but also the determination of betting and sport organisations to fight against this cancer have splashed across the headlines during past months. At  policy level, the Council of Europe adopted the Recommendation on promotion of the integrity of sport against manipulation of results (September 2011), the EU Council the Conclusions on combating match-fixing (November 2011), and the European Parliament the Resolution on the European Dimension of Sport (February 2012). Episodes of match-fixing may concern both professional and amateur sports and usually show a transnational dimension, in particular with regard to betting motivated cases. Indeed, online betting has contributed to the spread of this criminal activity.

In this context, KEA has recently published a study prepared for the European Commission to map the criminal provisions and case law in the 27 Member States. The ultimate purpose was to ascertain the most efficient criminal law mechanism to fight match-fixing. The response is not straightforward.

Grand opening of the Tartu creative center in Estonia. Creative incubation at its best.

Towards Creative Europe - Interview with Philippe Kern - 15/3/2012

by Berk Vaher

Estonian version extracted from Lehter.eu http://www.keanet.eu/docs/interview%20PK%20estonia%20032012.pdf

 - How would you summarise KEA's mission and experience in the context of "creative Europe" to a lay reader?

KEA would like to be considered as a European hub to foster CCIs and culture based innovation.   KEA acts as a research center to build up knowledge and understanding on culture economics, culture and audiovisual policy or intellectual property. We advise governments, associations, NGOs, artists, regional authorities, businesses. KEA is driven by its passion for the arts and culture as well as by its belief in the European project as visionary.

Press Release - KiiCS: a new pan-European project gathering creative people, scientists and young adults in a process of co-creation for innovation

KiiCS (Knowledge Incubation in Innovation and Creation for Science), a 3-year European Commission-funded project (2012-2014), was launched today in Brussels by its 12 partners - including KEA. Led by ECSITE, the European network of science centres and museums, the project aims to build bridges between arts, science and technology by giving evidence of the positive impacts of their interaction for creativity as well as for triggering interest in science. The project will stimulate co-creation processes involving creators and scientists, and nurture youth interest in science in a creative way.

Read full press release here : 

http://www.keanet.eu/docs/KiiCS%20Kick%20Off.pdf