Symposium on innovation and Cultural and Creative Industries at Tabakalera
2018/03/01
Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.
Yesterday, Tabakalera was the venue for a symposium on Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), and the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI). The aim was to analyse possibilities for Euskadi and for forging partnerships with other regions.
Organised by the Basque Government in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, representatives of the two institutions explained the Basque Country’s strategy for promoting the development of CCIs through various actions and tools.
One of the speakers was Francesco Panella from the European Commission´s Joint Research Centre. In his talk he offered a snapshot of the “Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor 2017”, a network of creative cities which includes both San Sebastián and Bilbao. Panella also spoke about the challenges of cities and regions in the areas of culture and creativity.
The Basque Government stressed the economic contribution of CCIs in Europe and the importance of RIS3 strategies for developing CCIs at the regional level. Of particular note is the potential of the KSI Berritzaile programme and the European project CREADIS3, the latter, a Cultural and Creative Industries initiative led by Euskadi which links six territories of the European Union. Together with the Basque Country, the project’s partners include one European country and four European regions: Slovakia, Central Finland, Emilia-Romagna, Wallonia and Western Greece.
Irene Larraza, Director at Etxepare Basque Institute, shared collaborative experiences in culture and creation within the framework of the Nouvelle Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarre Eurorregion, with examples including aquitaine.eus and the Nouvelle Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarre Eurorregion Designers Alliance.
The perspective of the CCI incorporates disciplines linked to creativity, traditionally relegated to the margins of culture, and straddling art and industry – design, fashion, gastronomy, videogames…. This is an area in which the three territories of Euskadi are making an important commitment.
From an economic perspective, the Cultural and Creative Industries account for 4.4% of Europe’s PIB and generate over 8.8 million jobs.