Creativity and Innovation in Cities and Regions of the Czech Republic
2 - 3 May 2011

Have you missed the conference? Have a look at the video on CT24. You can also download the conference report here (in Czech).

British Council hosted  a conference Creativity and Innovation in Cities and Regions of the Czech Republic. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Mr Jiří Besser, and in partnership with a number of partners, including AGORA CE, Arts Institute, Centre for Community Organizing, HUB Praha, Pilsen 2015 and ProCulture-Open Society.

Context and Key messages:

• Cultural and creative industries (CCI) offer cities and regions of the Czech Republic new and exciting opportunities for economic growth and social improvement.
• As the KEA report (2010) notes “very few economic sectors have revealed as much potential for the economy and society as the cultural and creative industries. /…/ CCIs were worth 2.6% of the EU’s GDP in 2003, generating a turnover of more than € 654 billion and accounting for 3.1% of total EU employment in 2004. /.../ Culture and innovation are now a crucial “soft location” factor, helping regions to attract investment, support creative talent, boost tourism and social cohesion and thereby contributing to local development. („Promoting Investment in the Cultural and Creative Sector: Financing Needs, Trends and Opportunities Report prepared for ECCE Innovation – Nantes Métropole May 2010”, download the pdf here).
• The European Commission (EC) has as also recognised the great importance of creativity and culture in local development in its very first Green Paper on CCI “Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries” published in April 2010 as well as in its package of initiatives - the Renewed Social Agenda (2008).
• The conference offered a unique opportunity to national, regional and local decision makers and to explore how - by providing conditions and support to the CCI sector - they can drive economic prosperity and social inclusion in their cities and regions. Through presentations by leading Czech and international experts, the conference drew on case studies and good practice examples from creative and successful cities in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe.

Who was it for?

• Czech public administration representatives and influencers connected to the CCI sector at national level
• Mayors and representatives of municipalities and regional administration
• Business representatives working in the CCI sector
• Key contacts form NGOs and the Media