The KEA Blog

Welcome to the world of “Creative Partnership”

Creative partnership sounds very much like a marketing or religious slogan, the promise of a better world where “creativity” mingles with altruistic behaviours “partnership”.  Both words “creative” and “partnership” trigger positive feelings in our mind. They make a promising combination.

Creative refers to the world of Creation which is after all the domain of the Gods.

Partnership refers to collusion, empathy, altruistic and social behaviours (as opposed to egoistic or selfish conducts).

The meaning of Europe? The meaning of a European Cultural Forum?

The European Cultural Forum has just taken place in Brussels on 19 and 20 October 2011.  Every year the Forum gathers institutions and organisations involved and interested in the making of cultural policy at European level. The themes of the Forum are linked to the EU 2020 strategy of the European Commission.

The near collapse of the financial system and the sovereign debt crisis are testing the limits of Europe’s solidarity and as a consequence the essence of the European project.  The cultural movement at the Forum was behaving as if nothing was happening to Europe, or worse that it did not care.  

This was the opportunity for the Cultural Forum to calls on Head of States and Governments to work towards Europe’s unity[1] and keep the European utopia alive.  Culture activists have a special responsibility to keep alive the perspective of a Europe where all Europeans, despite their cultural differences and mental barriers, work for a common destiny and for the promotion of shared values such as democracy, human rights, social solidarity, cultural diversity and tolerance.

Hommage

Jean-François Michel, le fondateur du European Music Office (EMO) , est mort le 23 juillet dernier. Avec lui l’Europe perd l’un des plus ardents défenseurs,  un champion de la cause culturelle.  Je n’oublierais jamais que Jean-François a été le premier soutien de KEA à sa naissance en 1999.  EMO et KEA ont travaillé ensemble pour une meilleure prise en compte des intérêts de l’industrie de la musique dans les politiques européennes.   Les deux organisations ont partagé des bureaux à Bruxelles et ont grandi ensemble.  Avec finesse, persévérance,  diplomatie mais aussi beaucoup de chaleur humaine Jean-François savait convaincre au-delà des frontières et des différences culturelles. La culture perd un de ses meilleurs ambassadeurs. Son charme et sa gentillesse laissent un grand vide.  Le goût du cigare et du steak au poivre ne sera plus le même. Perdre un voisin, un collègue  et un ami c’est perdre un peu de soi-même.

Philippe Kern, KEA

Jean-François Michel, the founder of the European Music Office (EMO), died on the 23 July this year. Europe has now lost one if it’s most ardent supporters, a champion for the cultural cause. I will never forget that Jean-François was the first to support to KEA at its launch in 1999. EMO and KEA worked side by side to ensure that the interests of the music industry were better taken into account in European policies. The two organizations shared offices in Brussels and grew up together. With finesse, perseverance, diplomacy but also a great deal of warmth, Jean-François knew how to convince people beyond frontiers and cultural differences. Culture has lost one of its best ambassadors. His charm and his kindness leave a great void. The taste of a cigar and a pepper steak will no longer be the same. To lose a neighbour, a colleague and a friend is like losing a part of oneself.

 Philippe Kern, KEA

Free flow of Culture – Asymmetric expectations in Europe and in China? 文化的自由流动 - 中欧间不同的期待？

Chinese translation (scroll down)

China has made the development of its creative and cultural industries a policy priority. Massive investments are directed at State, Regional, District and Municipal levels to this effect.

Cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are at the forefront of a policy driven essentially by economic considerations: develop a service economy capable of producing and distributing entertainment, design, in valorising the local craftsmanship and raw materials (silk for instance) to cater for the Chinese audience but also to export Chinese cultural goods and services abroad. 

Shanghai and Shenzhen estimate that around 7% of the city’s GDP stems from culture and creative industries. Beijing put this figure at 12% with a larger definition of CCIs which include sport, tourism and business software.  Large culture and creative industry trade fairs are taking place throughout China, creative clusters or parks are burgeoning throughout with a view to build capacity. Universities have set up specialized departments to study the economics of the culture industry and consider policies to nurture this particular economic sector. Large industrial conglomerates, whether public or private, active in real estate or the energy sector are devoting increasingly large investments to the development of creative industries, perceived as a key growth sector.

Public Consultation on the CIP programme - KEA’s contribution – CIP to Promote Creativity

 This contribution to the CIP public consultation aims to show that culture and creative industries as well as the promotion of cultural diversity should be part of the CIP programme to implement the EU 2020 project which is to make a smart, inclusive and sustainable Europe.  The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) (http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index_en.htm) is one of the key funding instruments in support of competitiveness.

Summary of Proposals:

1. CIP should be part of the cultural agenda as culture is a catalyst for creativity.
2. CIP needs to recognise the cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary aspects of “creativity” which mixes elements of “artistic creativity”, “economic” as well as “technological innovation”.
3. CIP should be more accessible to creative industries to implement a linkage between creativity and innovation. It should foster ICT and Creative industries incubation schemes to promote spill overs.
4. CIP should support investment in culture and creative industries  ( and specifically mandate the EIB and the EIF).
5. CIP should support the ECIA initiative – European Creative Industry Alliance and tailor support measures to creative SMEs.
6. CIP should establish a creativity index or complement the innovation scoreboard with creativity indicators. (See KEA suggestion in this respect in the study “The Impact of Culture on Creativity” – Annex 2).
7. CIP should support SMEs in the creative sector to achieve scale (acting collectively so that they can influence market development – as European SMEs often command collectively a 25% market share in the respective cultural sectors) and make rights licensing less costly. CIP has yet to engage with SMEs from the culture and creative sector.  
8. CIP should contribute to celebrate and brand “a Creative Europe” in a large promotional campaign  in conjunction with other EU programmes such as the Culture Programme;    Europe to celebrate the contemporary and not only the heritage.  
9. CIP to fund studies on the importance of brands, creativity and the immaterial in innovation strategies and competitiveness.
10.  CIP should fund benchmarking raster/indicators to measure impact of local policy measures to support CIs.

To read the full document :http://www.keanet.eu/docs/CIP%20contribution%20final.pdf

 

2010 The Year of Culture and Creativity in Europe in review

Culture and creative industries gain more political attention

In April the European Commission published its Green paper on culture and creative industries.  The document is the first ever EC paper on culture and creative industries. It officially acknowledges the economic and social importance of the sector and its contribution to social inclusion and competitiveness.  

On 26 May, the Competitiveness Council of the European Union (EU), which gathers Ministers from the 27 EU Member States to discuss policies and actions related to the internal market, research and industry, recognised the role of culture-based creativity as a driver of innovation. 

Moreover the Innovation Union flagship Initiative endorses a broad definition of innovation, including creativity. It states: “The creativity and diversity of our people and the strength of European creative industries, offer huge potential for new growth and jobs through innovation, especially for SMEs” [1].

DG Enterprise announced a new policy initiative to support SMEs and creative entrepreneurship with the launch of the European Creative Industry Alliance (ECIA) in 2011.

In an EP report Dutch MEP Schaake is suggesting that the newly formed external actions service appoint in each delegation in third countries a person responsible for culture.

European Union – a Union Soluble with Culture

Economic interest is just holding Belgium together as a country with a nation divided over lack of cultural understanding and exchanges. The same fate is threatening the EU project.  Relationships based exclusively on economic interest make poor marriages. Europe’s union is driven by economic and diplomatic consideration but also by the interactions of diverse cultures (ideas, languages, artistic expression). This rich culture embodies the European Project and make it so special, so close to utopia.

For the period 2007-2013, the culture budget amounted to € 400 million, plus the 700 million to support the circulation of European films. A minuscule part of the structural funds also benefit the cultural sector. Overall, less than 0.1% of the EU budget is spent on culture.

KEA's contribution to the consultation on the future “EU 2020” Strategy

Europe’s future prosperity and competitiveness will undoubtedly depend on its capacity to foster innovation and creativity.

 

The Lisbon Strategy has put innovation at the heart of EU policies. However, the focus has been firmly concentrated on technological innovation and support to research and development initiatives.

The Impact of Culture on Creativity

These days creativity seems to be everywhere. The term has turned into a catch phrase, used in the media, in policy statements and in academic literature. Creativity consequently means different things to different people. You can be a creative accountant or a creative football player. Likewise, management literature has turned creativity into an essential means to stimulate productivity in the work place. As a result, the notion of creativity has become ubiquitous and has lately been used to describe vaguely defined capacities that are attributed to creative people. A more tangible notion of the concept of creativity and an assessment of its relationship with the European cultural sphere is therefore required.

Creativity: driving local economic development

1.Economic and social contribution of the creative sector

In today’s knowledge-based society the rationale for publicly supporting the cultural and creative sector goes beyond the traditional “arts for arts sake” approach. Fostering sector development is based on multiple social, cultural and economic objectives. Culture and creativity are considered vital factors in attracting talented individuals and investment. They also foster economic development, local regeneration and strengthen cultural diversity and social integration.