Since 2018, the German Federal Ministry for  Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has been promoting the sector cultural and creative industries (CCI) through its implementing organisations Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale  Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Goethe-Institut. This future oriented sector offers important levers for the implementation of a feminist development policy, which is a priority of the BMZ. Almost half of employees in the CCI sector are women but they often work under precarious conditions. The sector offers the potential to contribute to gender equality in terms of necessary  improvements for women and of working conditions.  

The cultural organizations and events considered in this policy brief are those whose mission and activities are aimed at disseminating and broadening access to a diversity of cultural expressions. They include, among others, cultural centres, festivals, book fairs, bookshops and libraries, theatres, cinemas, performance venues, broadcasters, and online cultural platforms. Individually and collectively, these organizations and events contribute significantly to the achievement of Article 7 of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which urges Parties to foster an environment that encourages individuals and social groups to provide “access to diverse cultural expressions from within their territory as well as from other countries of the world.” Whether they belong to the public, private or associative sector, these organizations and cultural events spearhead innovative practices, which makes them strategic allies in achieving the objectives of the 2005 Convention. 

Cultural and creative sectors are a significant driver of local development both through direct job creation and income generation but also indirectly by spurring innovation across the economy. Beyond their economic impacts, they also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and wellbeing to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. Flanders (Belgium) has placed cultural and creative sectors as a priority in the region’s economic and social strategy. This paper provides an overview of cultural and creative sectors in Flanders, highlighting trends in employment, business dynamics, entrepreneurship and financing as well as cultural participation. It offers analysis and recommendations to support the region in continuing to build on its local cultural and creative ecosystem. 

This case study offers a review of cultural and creative sectors in Lithuania, highlighting issues and trends in employment and business development, financing and cultural participation. It brings a specific focus on three municipalities within the County of Klaipėda located on the Baltic coast – Klaipėda City, Neringa and Palanga – small cities specialised in port activities, logistics, traditional manufacturing and seaside resort tourism. It highlights how culture and creative sectors can be leveraged to foster local development, diversify the economy and strengthen territorial attractiveness. It provides recommendations and international examples on ways to support business development in creative sectors and to strengthen synergies between culture and tourism.

This study represents the culmination of extensive research and the findings from twenty interviews with experts specialized in media freedom, artistic freedom, the protection of human rights defenders and artists. It provides a comparison of the protective frameworks and mechanisms in place to defend the rights of journalists and artists in times of emergency. The ultimate goal of the study is to encourage synergies between artists and journalists, and the communities that work towards their safety. It suggests concrete action to expand protection for artists’ safety in crises, learning lessons from the advanced movement for the protection of journalists; all while highlighting ways in which collaboration could be of benefit to both the advocacy communities focused, respectively, on artistic and on media freedom.

As part of the Cultural and Creative Industries project, the Goethe-Institut and  Africa Beyond 4IR (AB4IR), a non-profit organisation that aims to bridge the digital and gender gaps in access to technology in South African townships, co-developed Drone Divas. The four-to-six-week Drone Divas  training is a very successful collaboration between the training organisation and the private sector as internships form an integral part of the programme. Women learn how to operate drones with applications in many creative fields such as photography, cinematography, architecture, and also agriculture, tourism, research and science. The curriculum provides hands-on training in drone operation, programming, filming, 3D modelling, and an introduction to entrepreneurship, including the modules Design Thinking and Business Model Canvas. Afterwards, the top ten participants complete a three-month internship with a company specialised in drone operation services. 

To better address gender inequalities and promote an inclusive
environment, the supra-regional project, Cultural and Creative Industries, commissioned a gender analysis. It highlights gender-based differences in terms of the relative distribution of resources, opportunities, constraints and power in the Creative and Cultural Industries.

In Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, professions in creative and cultural industries have long been regarded as non-serious jobs by society, government authorities, and economic players. However, with the ever-increasing demand for digital design professionals, especially in the field of User Experience/User Interface (UX/UI) design, the domestic supply cannot keep up with the needs of the market. Therefore, Re:Coded and GIZ teamed up to change this perception. As part of the project Cultural and Creative Industries, they jointly developed a two-phased advocacy campaign to promote the UX/UI design profession.

EGSINA is a collective of designers that have joined forces to organise tours promoting local Senegalese fashion across multiple countries. EGSINA’s innovative approach demonstrates how a collective of designers can help develop and promote the national fashion industry. With organisational development support from GIZ, to date, EGSINA generates enough revenue to self-finance its tours.

The Jigeen Ñi Academie Musique (JAM) is a ground-breaking project in Senegal dedicated to the professional development of women. Along with practical music skills, the academy provides training in leadership and cultural entrepreneurship to enhance income and employment opportunities for women in the music industry.

Although the music sector in Senegal is a promising source of income, the musicians and sound engineers are mostly self-taught. The event and music sectors in the country lack vocational education and training offers. As a result, the quality of products or services within the music industry often lag behind international standards and professionals in the industry do not receive national recognition. In partnership with Senegal Talents Campus and Africulturban, the project Cultural and Creative Industries has established a three-to-six-month state-recognised training programme for sound engineers that supports creative talents to form a promising future. 

The Goethe-Institut Jordan established the takween Circular Design training programme to provide an opportunity for aspiring designers, creatives, and entrepreneurs from diverse fields, such as architecture, fashion, as well as product and packaging design, to develop sustainable product ideas that promote a cleaner planet.

The Goethe-Institut Jordan initiated the takween Product Design Fellowship programme as part of the Cultural and Creative Industries project. The programme offers a hands-on training for product designers and digital designers to enhance their skills and develop innovative sustainable ideas for the modern market.

The creative economy (also known as the orange economy) is an evolving concept based on the contribution and potential of creative assets to contribute to economic growth and development. It embraces economic, cultural and social aspects interacting with technology, intellectual property and tourism objectives: it is a set of knowledge-based, and thus more localized, economic activities with a development dimension and cross-cutting linkages at macro and micro levels to the overall economy. There is not a single definition of creative economy, and the different definitions usually overlap. A common characteristic is that the creative economy has a multitude of dimensions, making contributions to economic, social, cultural development and has a potential for contributing to achieving the sustainable development goals.

The Report also provides an outline of trends shaping the nature of work in the African CCE and policies, as well as an analysis of the decent work challenges in the different countries and subsectors. The study chose five sectors of the CCE to investigate more thoroughly, each located in one of the five subregions of Africa: cultural heritage in Egypt, dance in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fashion in the United Republic of Tanzania, film and TV in Nigeria, and live music in South Africa. The report further clarifies the status, scope and existing dynamics of the value chain in this economy. This detailed evidence will be crucial for policy interventions going forward in order to mitigate the existing precarity and vulnerabilities experienced by many cultural workers and practitioners.
 

Recalibrating the Compass: New Approaches to Asia-Europe Cultural Relations summarises the insights, ideas and recommendations highlighted throughout the series and presents guidance for future work in the field of Asia-Europe cultural relations. Apart from passing on knowledge on how to navigate the current challenges of international cultural relations, this publication will provide some starting points when thinking about the roles stakeholders can play in the field of Asia-Europe cultural collaboration and possible strategies for a post-pandemic recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged discussion of the broader culture as representing, in some instances, a “global public good”, through its capacity to promote social cohesion, increase people’s resilience and connect communities to different forms of cultural expression, in addition to its commercial value. This report will focus on full and productive employment and decent work for workers and enterprises that produce specific goods and deliver services, in particular on the arts and entertainment side of the cultural and creative ecosystem, including the performing arts; music; dance; both live and recorded performance (sound or audiovisual); the visual arts; books; and gaming and animation.

The pandemic has had dramatic effects in the cultural and creative industries (CCI) in MERCOSUR countries and Latin America. This sector, traditionally linked to the freelance workforce with limited social and economic protection, is experiencing the accelerated digitization of face-to-face activities and business models. Up-to-date and systematized data is therefore vital to assess and respond to the disruptive impact of the pandemic through evidence-based public policies. Policymakers and government technical teams, economists of the culture sector, artists and cultural workers, entrepreneurs, private investors and researchers will find reliable data and useful in-depth analysis of findings and trends. Sharing data with a regional perspective is key to identify new opportunities and strengthen cooperation in culture at the regional level.

Carnivals and Festivals: Digital Trends and Strategies is part of the IDB’s editorial series, Art, Culture and New Technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean, intended to point out the impact of digitization and the adoption of new technologies by cultural and creative industries from the region, and how this can catalyze innovation, social cohesion, and change. The publication is divided into four chapters, beginning with an explanation of the social, political, and economic implications of festivals and carnivals, pointing towards the outcome of the pandemic on this type of event. In the second chapter, the main changes, challenges and innovations arising from the adoption of new technologies at carnivals and festivals are discussed. The third section highlights emblematic cases of technological innovation, Finally, several recovery strategies to foster development in the virtual sphere are enlisted, aiming at helping consolidate the path of economic reactivation and sustainable development in LAC.

The report examines the role of the creative economy in delivering a robust and inclusive post-pandemic recovery in developing Asia and the Pacific and explores how the postCOVID-19 revival of the creative economy could advance the realization of the SDGs, setting the stage for possible action during Indonesia’s G20 presidency in 2022.