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3.2.5 Culture for innovation
The new economy, the experience economy is defined by a new context where the
symbolic, the immaterial brings added value to the products and services.This opens
a new space for collaboration between the culture and creative sectors and other
sectors of the economy. The so called “spillovers” take place when creativity
originating from culture and creative professionals and industries (“culture-based
creativity”) influences innovation in sectors that culture and creative professionals
do not usually interact with. The culture and creative sectors feature a number of
skills and competences that can be brought to other sectors of the economy to
stimulate innovation. Artists have a disruptive mind, they master the world
experience, they are the first movers in the sharing economy, they liked the risk and
they, by definition, are able to think laterally and express abstraction and symbolism.
Creative people play a central role in providing companies with new ideas and abilities
to think differently, to create new experiences, products and services, to add value
to their goods, to provide user-centred solutions.The user is indeed at the very core
of the design-thinking approach (KEA 2009).
Creative SpIN
Creative SpIN is a three-year EU funded project (URBACT) gathering 9 cities
(Birmingham, Bologna, Kortrijk, Essen, Tallinn, Kosice, Mons, Obidos and
Rotterdam) to define and test tools and methods to best connect CCS with
other sectors of the economy in order to stimulate “creative spillovers” for
innovation. During the project, partners have organised different transnational
meetings and site visits in partner cities. Each meeting dealt with a specific topic
of particular relevance for the city: from Health to ICT to Environment to
Tourism. At the end of the project each city will produce a Local Action Plan
that highlights the measures to be adopted to promote creative spillovers in a
local context.
3.3.Arts to enhance cities’ image and help them to go global
Economic and cultural globalisation as well as the need for restructuration after post-
industrial decline have induced changes in the economic, cultural, social fabric of cities
and increased competition among them to bring in new activities, new place-users
and retain the existing ones (Mihalis 2005). Heritage, cultural events and artistic
activities can be turned into competitive advantages and elements of “place branding”
as a way for cities to cast themselves on the global scene.
3.2.1 Local cultural amenities to build a positive image of the city
The local level has gained importance and cities are seeking instruments to create
uniqueness, enhance their image and reputation insisting on their local attributes.The
identity and image a city projects to the outside world are then the basis for attracting
visitors, companies and creative talent.The image reflects people’s impression about
