On June 23, 2012 within the frameworks of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum the Investments and Strategic Projects committee of St. Petersburg arranged a round table on the potential using of creative industries and creative infrastructure in regional development.

The special focus had been made on the problems of cooperation between the government and the big businesses in order to stimulate the development of the creative industries.

British Council was a co-organizer of the discussion and invited the founder and director of British FutureCity agency Mark Davy. More then 10 years the agency has been consulting its clients in urban planning and cultural policy. All the regional development strategies are based on cultural planning, since agency specialists consider culture to be the main tool to build a sustainable community and to ensure comfortable living environment for citizens. FutureCity published more then 70 strategies for territories all across the UK and abroad.

The discussion involved representatives of small and big creative businesses, federal and municipal authorities from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Pskov, Minsk, as well as experts from Vilnius, Helsinki, Ulyanovsk, and Krasnoyarsk.

The participants reviewed the importance of culture, economic strength and social functions of creative industries in contemporary world, and also the win-win scenarios of cooperation between institutions, government and big businesses. The deputy chair of the investments and Strategic Projects Committee of St.Petersburg Irina Babyuk shared the prospects of creating the first creative cluster in St. Petersburg.