On 7 July, Europe’s cultural community met at Europe House for a special event hosted by the Aspen Institute UK and the EU Delegation to the UK. As the Ambassador of the EU to the UK remarked himself, creative industries have a huge transformative potential, both on an economic and social level. With the creative sector making up 4.4% of the GDP in the EU (2019) and contributing £109 billion to the UK economy (2021), this booming industry can bring substantial economic benefits to our societies.
This event featured a distinguished panel including Victoria Broackes, Director of London Design Biennale; Lisa Lang, Director for EU Affairs & Policy Orchestrator for EIT Climate KIC and Kully Thiarai, Creative Director and CEO of Leeds 2023. The discussion was expertly moderated by Paul Owens, Co-founder and Director of BOP Consulting. The panel explored a number of key themes, from the current appetite for cultural programming to how creativity help can tackle climate change using innovative technologies.
The current appetite for culture
Reflecting on their recent work and experience, all panellists had seen a lot of public engagement with culture recently. Kully reflected how, despite a difficult few years during the pandemic, people emerged from lockdowns with a desire to come together and build social connections, a human necessity which the creative industries can support.
Both Lisa and Victoria also emphasised the important function of creative sectors in shaping public perception of critical issues and driving positive action in response. For example, the Blue Planet TV series brought plastic usage and pollution into the broad public discourse. Another example given was when experienced designers used their talents to build innovative windows that could adjust to differently sized window frames to address the multitude of blown-out windows in Ukraine.
Supporting culture and creativity
While the panel celebrated both the economic and social value of Europe’s creative industries, panellists also discussed the need to provide further support this sector, at a national and international level. Lisa commended how the EU had recently recognised the creative industries as an actual industry. For Lisa, this provision of an institutional level of support can offer the industry a chance to implement important standards, from international property rights to cross-industry climate action.
The panel also emphasized the importance of UK and EU cooperation to allow practitioners in creative industries to learn from each other and collaborate – this cross-pollination helps organisations across the European continent grow and thrive.
At the local level, Kully described the effects of recognition of Leeds as a City of Culture for the city beyond the wonderful breadth of programming. After winning the bid for European City of Culture, Leeds experienced an injection of excitement and investment that has boosted the city’s aspirations for itself.
Looking to the future
A key concern from the audience was the impact of emerging technologies on the creative sector. The panel called for a careful approach to incorporating new technology, whilst also recognising the benefits from incorporating new innovations. Addressing the use of AI, Kully highlighted the ethical concerns and how if we’re not careful, it could exacerbate existing inequalities. Lisa recommended that technology should be seen as a tool and the creative community should continue to participate in policymaking on the future use of new technologies.
Overall, this event offered fascinating insight into the economic potential of Europe’s creative sectors and provided an interesting look to the future of this industry. Thank you to our moderator, the panellists and the EU Delegation to the UK for valued cooperation on the event.
