Social and Sustainable Economic Transformation

Workers in the cultural and creative sector (CCS) are involved in a wide range of jobs and activities including advertising, gaming, newspapers and magazines, motion picture production, sound recording and music production, as well as live performance and radio/TV broadcasting. In 2015, UNESCO estimated that the cultural and creative sector worldwide generated US$2,250 billion in revenues. According to 2019 ILO estimates, there were nearly 180 million people employed in the arts, recreation and entertainment, representing 5.4 per cent share of global employment.

The objective of this study, carried out by the IDB, is to promote and give visibility to one of the sectors of the creative economy with the greatest potential, not only for the entertainment and software industries, but also for others such as health and education. This study will explore how the industry is not only capable of generating wealth, but also of creating more sophisticated jobs as new technologies develop along with the creative sectors.

Cultural and creative sectors (CCS) constitute a vibrant economic activity and source of jobs, enterprise turnover and tax revenues. However, the role of culture for local development is more than these direct outputs. Smartly managed culture-led urban regeneration can breathe new life into decaying neighbourhoods. CCS also contribute to increasing levels of regional innovation and productivity, through new product design, new production techniques, new business models, innovative ways of reaching audiences and consumers, and emerging forms of co-production.

The OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums provides a self-assessment framework for i) Local and regional governments to assess and improve their approaches to maximise the social and economic value of cultural heritage as part of sustainable local development; and ii) museums to assess and strengthen their existing and potential linkages with the local economy and social fabric.

This case study considers the role of the MUSE network of museums for local development in the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy. It considers the dimensions of local development featured in the OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums.

This Guide provides a roadmap for local governments, communities and museums on how to define together a local development agenda. It considers five dimensions: 1. Leverage the power of museums for local economic development, 2. Build on the role of museums for urban regeneration and community development, 3. Catalyse culturally aware and creative societies, 4. Promote museums as spaces for inclusion, health and well-being, 5. Mainstream the role of museums in local development.

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.

The notion of creativity and creative economy is evolving. The definition of creativity builds on the interplay between human creativity, ideas, intellectual property, knowledge, and technology, while creative economy encompasses all the industries relying on creative activities. The concept of the creative economy is closely linked with the “knowledge economy,” a key driver of endogenous growth through investment in human capital.

Cultural and creative sectors and industries are a significant source of jobs and income. They are a driver of innovation and creative skills, within cultural sectors and beyond. They also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being, to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. As national and local governments reconsider growth models in the wake of COVID-19, cultural and creative sectors can be a tool for a resilient recovery if certain longer-term challenges in the sector are addressed.

The cultural and creative sectors were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, with over 10 million jobs lost in 2020 alone. Public investment in culture has been declining over the last decade and creative professions remain overall unstable and underregulated. Although culture and entertainment are major employers of women (48.1%), gender equality is a distant prospect.