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The aim of the event was to highlight, celebrate and consolidate the creative industries network in the Baltic Sea region and to convene policymakers and practitioners from the Nordic and Baltic countries. The principal focus of the event on its opening day was on strengthening co-operation between Nordic and Baltic professionals from a wide range of creative industries sectors. Furthermore, the conference focused on the issues raised by the Creative Economy Green paper for the Nordic Region while also addressing the relevant challenges on a European level. The second day of the conference was devoted to discussions and to the development of new projects, the exploration of cooperation possibilities in thematic groups (incubators, professional unions, industry leaders, researchers, educators, structural funds) and finally, taking the participants to visit venues where creative industry actually takes place in Tallinn. Tom Fleming, author of the Creative Industries Green Paper for the Nordic region, presented his views on how the Nordic-Baltic region could recover (from recession) with the help of creative industries. Much of it stemmed from cultural-sociological analysis, proposing a number of factors and circumstances that could be exploited and where re-thinking and re-forming should take place in order to catch up with the changes. These could include creativity mainstreaming from school to business, the re-structuring of incubators and cultural institutions, creating new content for the infrastructure already in place, etc. Tobias Nielsen from Sweden stressed the importance of a rich cultural life in order to achieve economic success. A good example of state support for the creative sector was delivered by Finn KooPee Hiltunen. He elaborated on characteristics of the Nordic (computer) game industry and the joint Nordic Game Programme. He drew the conclusion that the Nordic Game Programme is something that really is designed to meet the needs of creative entrepreneurs. Estonian Minister of Culture Laine Jänes said that the Ministry of Culture, with her own strong support, has for several years advocated the establishment of the creative industries approach. Today the initial scepticism and reluctance have faded and developed into various intersections between culture and economy. More than 130 participants represented companies, incubators, ministries and other organisations from all over the Baltic and Nordic countries and Russia. Conference was arranged by the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture and KreaNord (a Nordic working group for creative industries). More on KreaNord Presentations |
The Creative Economy - Leading the Recovery in the Nordic-Baltic region
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The future role of the creative industries was in the spotlight at the international conference called ‘Creative Industries in the Nordic–Baltic Region’ from 17-18 March in Tallinn. Tom Fleming, keynote speaker at the conference and the author of the Creative Industries Green Paper for the Nordic region, conveyed that the creative industries can lead the way to economic recovery if, under the current circumstances, we are able to re-define the concepts of "growth" and "profit". |