Anyone looking for a glimmer of hope in these economically difficult times soon notices a sector that didn’t exist until recently: the cultural and creative economy. Alongside green technologies, cultural and creative occupations are regarded as sources of growth. There can be no innovation without creativity, no progress without innovation. It’s that simple. The idea is that all adventurous, creative people use their ideas and products to pave the way from the post-industrial to the knowledge-based age. Moreover, the creative element is becoming increasingly important in innovative competition between countries and regions: capital in people’s minds instead of their bank accounts. “About a third of all employees in the global economy of the advanced, industrialized countries are today regarded as creative,” writes Der Spiegel.
So it is hardly surprising that brainstorming on the cultural and creative economy has become a top issue in economic debates. About 210,000 companies with nearly a million employees throughout Germany are identified with cultural and creative sectors. The Federal Ministry of Economics estimates that the industry generates over 125 billion euros a year, and the trend is rising. So there is little doubt about its economic significance. But what is the cultural and creative economy? Who belongs to the “creative class”? The first, striking impression is how heterogeneous cultural and creative industries are, a colourful group working away in eleven sub-sectors and including designers, film people, advertisers, architects, game creators, fashion designers and musicians. The second characteristic is that small is beautiful. The classic creative person is often a lone warrior. The average creative office feeds 3.5 creative minds. The drawback of such “garage industries” is that many creative firms lack capital and frequently have few connections with each other. “We want to lend a face to the industry,” says Dagmar G. Wöhrl, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economics. Industry hearings are to be held by summer 2009 to shed some light on the individual sub-sectors of the cultural and creative economy and help formulate a funding strategy for the Federal Government Culture and Creative Industry Initiative.
This initiative is coordinated by the Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The Federal Foreign Office is also involved, because international aspects are important. Alongside North America and Asia, Europe is one of the three global centres of the creative economy. It is not surprising, therefore, that creative industries have recently also been playing an important role in nation branding.
The prospects look good for Germany’s creative people. In many fields, Germany’s creative achievements are among the best in the world; in others, although there is talent around, they sometimes still lack a platform for an international career. Another asset Germany has is its creative regions. Berlin is its “creative locomotive”, a city that functions like a creative biotope. How does Ares Kalandides from Create Berlin put it? “Berlin is the brand.”
