DUBAI – The future of the world’s creative industries and how to make them more inclusive came under the spotlight on Tuesday during the afternoon sessions at the first day of the second World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE), which runs from 7–9 December at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai.
A panel of world thought leaders, creatives, and innovators emphasised the importance of driving opportunities for entrepreneurship; bolstering the creative sector with tangible economic benefits; and creating an education system that encourages young people to explore their own creativity, express the creativity of their communities, and enables them to make a living.
Her Excellency Sheikha Alia Khalid Al Qassimi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Cultural and Creative Industries Sector, Ministry of Culture and Youth, UAE, said: “The term ‘inclusive creative’ is not just an expression of an ethical value and an ideal, but also an ideal that is applicable to our pursuit of greater economic potential for the sector.”
During ‘CCI Global Agenda: 11 Key Actions’, Eliza Easton, Head of Policy, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and Nesta, and Policy Fellow, University of Cambridge called on the audience to share the Global Agenda for the Cultural and Creative Industries, written alongside the Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC) International Council, which sets out 11 key actions for international creative industries and governments worldwide to support the growth of creative industries and help them to tackle some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Underlining its importance, she said: “Globally, the creative industries are overwhelmingly made up of freelancers and advisory businesses. In the UK, one in three people working in the creative industries is self-employed and, through speaking to colleagues, I believe that figure is going to be the same or larger in many nations around the world.
“And through discussions with the [UK’s] Arts and Humanities Research Council over a number of years, we have heard again and again, how that group in particular is not being represented at the local, national or international level. They have limited protection and are being overlooked in key policy areas.”
Tita Larasati, Indonesian industrial designer and cartoonist, focused on the global agenda’s 11th action, which calls for international cooperation for cultural and creative industries governance, emphasising the importance of collaboration: “A creative city means everyone should have a partner, which is why we are building a dashboard of crediting index that can be a tool used by local governments to make policies and regulations based on real-time.”
Speaking virtually from New York, Laura Callanan, Founding Partner, Upstart Co-Lab, highlighted how impact investing can complement government funding for creative industries and non-profit support for arts and culture, saying: “The idea of profit with purpose has become the standard for good business and for good investment.
“Impact investing is proper investing: it’s not a philanthropic support or government funding, but it’s investing that is trying to do more than simply make money. It also seeks to drive social and environmental impact by paying attention to the welfare of workers, the community and the planet.”
In ‘NFTs: Inclusive Leadership’, experts discussed the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in supporting the creative world, with participants adding that the world is changing rapidly in light of technological progress.
Christopher Deschenes, CEO, Kalamint – the first NFT marketplace on blockchain platform Tezos – predicts that the market size of NFTs will reach USD 400 billion by 2025: “We are working on creating a platform for innovators to work in a safe environment.”
Over three days, a large global community of entrepreneurs, creatives and policymakers are coming together in person and virtually, where they are being joined by world-leading speakers, thinkers and doers to take decisive action and set out an agenda for the immediate future of the creative economy, helping to build it on inclusive, responsible, and human-first foundations.