The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

The Challenge

COnTeXT

CITIeS

CReaTIVITY

DeVelOPIng The RISKY CITY

PhaSe 1

PhaSe 2

PhaSe 3

COnClUSIOn

INDEX4

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4 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

The potential of the creative economy and the

ability of creative crossovers to foster innovation

was the topic of the 6th Culture Ministers’

Meeting of the asia-europe Meeting (aSeM) in

Rotterdam in October 2014.

The creative industries are among the most

rapidly growing parts of the world economy.

thEChallENgE

These industries are demonstrating the ability to

employ culture and creativity to provide insights

into and solutions for the pressing social and

economic challenges of our times. When properly

nurtured, the creative industries can enable job

growth and wealth creation, and support social

inclusion, cultural diversity and environmental

sustainability. Talent can be employed and

used not just within the creative industries, but

across sectors to share knowledge and develop

breakthrough innovations.

So what would a city need to be the most creative,

inclusive and innovative city in the world?

This city - creative, inclusive and innovative - is

one with the right conditions where individuals,

companies, education and government, can

take risks and try new ideas: the Risky City.

5OKTOBER 2014

nine experts from across europe and asia came

together to tackle this question in a workshop

programmed and organised by leo van loon

in cooperation with the european Creative

Business network (eCBn) and het nieuwe

Instituut, Rotterdam. These experts brought

together the perspectives and experience of

some of the leading cultural centres within the

aSeM member states, including Singapore,

Spain, Thailand, estonia, Slovakia, hong Kong,

France, netherlands and the UK.

This workshop, Cities: Entrepreneurship and

Creative Crossovers, was one of three held

during the 6th aSeM Culture Ministers’ Meeting

on 20th October 2014, under the theme Creative

Industries for Society: Talent, Technology and

Trade.

after a day of exchanging ideas, experiences

and examples of best practice, the experts

agreed that in order for a city to be creative and

inclusive, there needs to be an end to isolated

thinking toward the creative industries and for

creative professionals to be better integrated

across other sectors. Members offered each

other new perspectives and together tackled

the big issues involved, from economic policy

to community, education, and market demand.

Their vision was then presented at the aSeM

Ministerial Meeting.

CONtEXt

6 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

Over half of the world’s population lives in cities.

Culture and creativity are now seen as crucial

for cities in developing creative clusters and

new businesses, and so creating new jobs and

becoming happy and thriving communities.

The workshop aimed to understand and assess

the concept of (re) developing creative cities,

using examples of best practice from aSeM

member-states and bringing together strategies

from both asia and europe. By taking an

integrative approach based on cross-disciplinary

thinking, the group considered the factors that

make them a success, the barriers they face and

the role of governments and the rest of society in

making change happen. In other words, how can

we create and sustain the Risky City?

CItIES CREatIVItYCreativity is now widely viewed as a crucial

component of successful economies and

societies. With the rise of the creative and cultural

industries, the difference they can make to the

way people live and work is increasingly being

recognised. This shift of emphasis includes

a renewed focus on creative crossovers: the

way in which the creative industries can help

catalyse innovation in other sectors, whether

through the products and services they provide,

or as a means of originating and spreading new

ideas, knowledge and ways of working. For

example, design and other creative services

such as ad¬vertising are firmly integrated into

the operations of almost all businesses – from

the development of new products through to

how they are marketed and sold. Cities are

also at the forefront of this rise, as they are

crucial in the development of creative clusters,

that make cities punch above their weight and

which are uniquely connected internationally.

7OKTOBER 2014

CREatIVItY“Innovation is the outcome. Creativity is the process” - Tay Tong (Director at arts network asia and Managing Director of TheatreWorks, Singapore)

Creativity is now a global issue, as both asian

and european governments try to stimulate their

creative industries and develop the creativity of

their citizens.

8 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

“In our city, from a very early age, children are challenged and taught to take risks. They learn to risk failure in all aspects of life. To us, this is called entrepreneurship.”

leo van loon (Managing Director of Buzinezzclub and european

Creative Business network)

9OKTOBER 2014

a city that is creative, inclusive and innovative

is a Risky City. The discussion was structured

around the building blocks of the Risky City:

the principles and beliefs that underpin its

development, and the three phases of support it

would need to be successful. The first phase of

support – the seed phase - identifies and nurtures

potential; the second phase of support grows

that potential; and the third phase of support

harnesses and capitalises on this creativity.

DEVElOPINg thE RISKY CItY

10 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

With the foundations of the city built, the group

outlined the activities needed for the first phase

of growth, the seed phase, in order to identify

and nurture potential. They include:

Promote interdisciplinary learning:

more attention needs to be paid to what and how

we learn. In particular, risk and failure need to

be both encouraged and supported, especially

at a young age in order for children to be more

independent, experimental and confident with

their ideas.

encourage and support diversity:

recognising that diversity - people from all

backgrounds – breeds creativity.

Work to unlock creativity:

with schemes and events to find creative

talent and provide cross-border mentorship

opportunities for them between existing powers

and start-ups.

Create market demand for new talent:

through schemes to buy local design and

creative services.

principles and beliefs:

building the Risky City

These principles and beliefs are the foundation

of the Risky City. They are the ground rules,

developed by our experts to guide how a city can

function effectively, inclusively and sustainably.

They include:

everyone has the right to happiness:

from an inclusive, accepting society that allows

individuals to make the most of their talent and

ambition.

a commitment to environmental sustainability:

must be central to the development of the city, to

ensure its long-term success.

Friction can breed creativity: the Risky City

acknowledges that tension and stress can be

harnessed to transform and innovate.

everyone has access to creative opportunities:

inclusivity is at the heart of the city to encourage

participation and exchange of knowledge and

skills.

The government respects creativity’s impact:

The government must acknowledge the cultural

and creative impact of its citizens and industries

and show they are valued.

identify and nurture potential

PhaSE

1.

11OKTOBER 2014

The second phase of activities helps to identify

and nurture creative potential, to help it grow.

For this to happen, the Risky City should:

Strengthen creative hubs and incubators:

bring together talent and stimulate their growth

potential through programmes and physical

spaces, provided by hubs and incubators. The

impact of these locations could be increased by

creating a strong network for the exchange of

skills and knowledge.

Fight to remove red tape: removing red tape

would allow a strong start-up culture with little

bureaucracy and fewer barriers to innovation.

Identify the missing links in creative growth:

that are stopping businesses from accessing

finance, developing cross-sector relationships

and supply chains. This will help to create an

inclusive, creative ecosystem.

Grow the potential

2.

Create new links to enable crossovers:

with the links identified, focus on the barriers

to growth that exist for small businesses and

start-ups. These include: improving access to

finance, refreshing intellectual property rights

(IP), promoting export markets and building skill

and knowledge exchange across industries. If

crossovers could be enabled, for example with

funded support, other industries could harness

the potential of creative problem solving and so

foster growth.

12 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

Funding the Risky CityNew and innovative ways to fund culture and creativity should be creative themselves, such as allowing citizens to make voluntary tax payments for programmes they want to support. Such creative strategies would empower individuals and encourage people to have a stake in their city.

The third phase explored how to harness and

capitalise on this creative potential in order to

support sustainable social and economic growth.

For this, the Risky City needs:

Show political leadership: agree a focus – a

specialisation – that brings skills and expertise

to a city, supports economic development while

enabling social change.

Develop internationalisation strategies:

including export opportunities and trade

missions, and building platforms that can help

young creatives to learn from international

successes and in international markets.

harness and capitalise

3.

Use universities and incubators as magnets:

use their networks to attract talent, investment

and create start-up and employment

opportunities. Universities should think more

about what happens to students outside of their

degrees – they should invest in a student’s

career and entrepreneurship competencies, not

just their education.

13OKTOBER 2014

The building blocks of the Risky City.

These actions provide the foundations and

materials for a creative, inclusive and innovative

city. But these are just the first steps. Every

expert emphasised the need for new ways to

end the isolation of the creative industries, and

so make the full economy ‘creative’.

CONClUSION

The conversation was ignited by the phrase

‘crossovers’, but the discussion preferred the

term ‘cross-fertilisation’ – used to exemplify

how industries across the creative, political

and economic spectrum and communities can

work together to create an entrepreneurial and

creative city, for the benefit of everyone.

14 The Risky CiTy: innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess

appendix 1: about the experts:

• Leo van Loon (programmer & organiser) – PopVox, Buzinezzclub and ECBN, Netherlands

• Rachel Chan – Innofoco, Hong Kong

• Michal Hladky – Kosice 2013, Slovakia

• Boris Meggiorin - Quartier de la Création / Art & business cluster of Nantes, France

• Mehjabeen Price – Creative England, UK

• Rafa de Ramon – Utopicus and ZINC, Spain

• Ragnar Siil – Creativity Lab, Estonia

• Tay Tong - Arts Network Asia and TheatreWorks, Singapore

• Martin Venzky-Stalling – Creative Chiang Mai, Thailand

appendix 2: about the asia-europe Culture Ministers Meeting (aSeM)

The netherlands hosted the 6th asia-europe Culture Ministers Meeting (aSeM) from 19-21 October

2014 in Rotterdam. The topic was Creative Industries for Society: Talent, Technology and Trade. The

ASEM Culture Ministers used this 6th meeting to exchange experiences and discuss the benefits and

challenges of the creative industries.

The meeting was attended by delegates from 43 aSeM Partners and the asia-europe Foundation (aSeF).

Find out more about the 6th ASEM event at http://asemculture2014.org/

Find out more about ASEF at http://www.asef.org/

aPPENDIX

15OKTOBER 2014

appendix 3: about eCBn

eCBn is a network of cultural and creative industries development agencies. eCBn represents our

19 board members and over 220 creative centres in 23 eU-countries. Its main aim is to help creative

entrepreneurs to internationalise – to do business and collaborate internationally. eCBn were founded

in 2011 and are a non-profit Foundation, based in the Netherlands.

http://ecbnetwork.eu/

appendix 4: about het nieuwe Instituut

• Het Nieuwe Instituut organises exhibitions, lectures and fellowships, carries out research and

development projects, and publishes reports on the outcomes of its projects.

• Het Nieuwe Instituut arose on 1 January 2013 out of a merger of the Netherlands Architecture

Institute; Premsela, the netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion; and Virtueel Platform, the

e-culture knowledge institute.

• Find out more about Het Nieuwe Instituut at http://www.hetnieuweinstituut.nl

innovaTion is The ouTCome. CReaTiviTy is The pRoCess - RepoRT okTobeR 2014

thE RISKY CItY