The promotion of creative economy has taken root in Finnish political thinking. Can this “success story” be replicated?
As the industrial production is steadily moving to low-cost developing countries, the whole of Europe has started investing in knowledge-based economies. And it has proven to pay off. In the recession-stricken European Union, the cultural and creative sectors is one of the most stable employers, offering jobs over 8.5 million people. It also generates between 3.3-4.5% of the region's GDP. According to a recent paper produced by the European Commission, the CCI sector is a “largely untapped resource” in the European economy. Its authors claim that: “The contribution that cultural and creative sectors can bring to social and economic development in the EU is still not fully recognised”.
Accordingly, last year the European Commission published a study from the Utrecht School of the Arts that looked into the Entrepreneurial Dimension of Cultural and Creative Industries. The research was commissioned to examine the challenges facing the CCI sector. It turned out that the problems have been similar across the whole of Europe: a lack or little access to financing, shortage of business skills and a fragmentation of the CCI market. However, there are several European countries that have successfully dealt with these challenges. Finland is one of them.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Finland – from industrial society to creative economy - Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture
