2010-02-01

The Entrepreneurial Dimension of Cultural and Creative Industries

The cultural and creative sectors play an important economic and social role in Europe, contributing to European GDP, growth and employment. These industries and the creativity which they generate are therefore an essential asset for Europe's economy and competitiveness in the context of globalisation. While these industries are performing well, with cultural entrepreneurs being risk takers and innovators with long-term vision, there is still further scope fully to develop this potential. These enterprises -which are part of the cultural and creative industries- need to be able to take full advantage of the EU internal market and adapt to the rapidly changing environment characterised in particular by globalisation and a technology revolution (digital shift). These developments call for new skills within the industry as well as new European business and economic models.

Building on previous and ongoing research, the Study on the Entrepreneurial Dimension of Cultural and Creative Industries aims to provide the European Commission (EACEA Culture Programme) with a better understanding of the operations and specific needs of companies in the cultural and creative industries, especially SMEs.

This Study is being conducted by a team of experts in the field of cultural entrepreneurship from Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU) in the Netherlands with the help of K2M Ltd and Eurokleis S.r.l. In order to achieve the Study objectives, the research team will use various sources of information on cultural and creative ecosystems to identify transversal and specific problems, perspectives and challenges. The following methods will be used to achieve the expected results:

Literature review to identify the main aspects of the entrepreneurial dimension
Data collection using questionnaires that will be sent to relevant European experts and stakeholders
Interviews with key informants in the European cultural and creative industries
Collection of significant case studies and best practices
Two workshops (in December 20009 and April 2010) will be held to validate the outcomes of the research and to reflect on the recommendations which will be formulated (on EU and member states levels).

For more information about this Study, please contact Emma Tilquin in the first instance:

emma.tilquin@kmt.hku.nl

Questionnaire

Please visit http://cci.eurokleis.it for more information.

Research Team

Utrecht School of the Arts

The Utrecht School of the Arts (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht) was established in 1987, following a merger between the Academie voor Fine arten, the Utrecht Conservatory, the Academie voor Expressie door Woord en Gebaar, the Nederlands Kerkinstituut and the Nederlandse Beiaardschool. In 1989, a new faculty was added to the HKU, the Faculty of Art, Media & Technology. 1990 saw the establishment of the Interfaculty, the current Faculty of Art and Economics. In 2008, the HKU had around 3500 students and offered a highly varied programme of pre-training, bachelor and master programmes and post academic programmes and courses at one of the largest training institutes for culture and the arts in the Netherlands and Europe.

The HKU offers educational programmes in the area of autonomous fine arts, design, music, theatre, art and technology, art and economics, and art and education. From its origin in 1987, the Utrecht School of the Arts formulated Art and Media Management as an educational priority within its corporate strategy. In 2002 the school established the research group for

practice-based research.

HKU is the only university in the Netherlands with its own faculty specialising in bachelor's and master's degree courses in cultural entrepreneurship, namely Art and Economics. The faculty has its own lectorate, research programme and student body (600). The faculty is actively involved in the implementation of entrepreneurship education at the 4 other faculties. The HKU has a strong position within Europe when it comes to training young professionals in the creative industry, as evidenced by the high ranking in Business Weekly (Feb 2007) in a list of the world's most influential design schools.

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