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The document is short on concrete ideas to unlock the potential of the creative sector and is timid on steps
that the EC could already set in motion to support it. The document calls essentially on exchange of good
practices and further mapping exercises in skills, mobility or networking opportunities (clustering)
including the promotion of dialogue with third countries. In 2012 the Commission to the European
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Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
are starting to “Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU”. Furthermore, these
industries were defined in the United Kingdom as “those industries which have their origin in individual
creativity, skill and talent which have a potential for job and wealth creation through the generation and
exploitation of intellectual property” (‘Creative Industries Mapping Document’, DCMS, 2001).
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However, the notion of cultural and creative industries belongs to a later period, the economist and art
theorist Pierre Luigi Sacco links their appearance to the industrial revolution at the turn of the twentieth
century. The technological innovations of that period radio, sound recording, photography, film, and the
perfecting of the printing technology expanded the access to culture and influenced the creative
process. The theatre, visual arts, cinema, TV, radio, music, publishing business, computer games, new
media, architecture, design, fashion and advertising are all part of the cultural and creative industries.
The terms “cultural industries” and “creative industries” are practically interchangeable. The concept of
“cultural industries” is more related to cultural heritage and traditional forms of creation, while “creative
industries” includes the applied arts practices, innovations and generating profit and creation of jobs by
creating intellectual property. According to the economic statistics, they are increasingly acknowledged
worldwide for having enormous potential as engines driving economic and social development, not only
do they account for higher than average growth rate and job creation, but they are also channels of
cultural identity which play a key role in promoting cultural diversity. The core creative industries in the
28 countries of the European Union generate €558 billion in value added to GDP, approximately 4.4% of
total European GDP. The value added by the total creative industries (core creative industries plus non core
creative industries) is approximately €860 billion, representing a 6.8% share of GDP. The creative industries
represent approximately 8.3 million full time equivalent jobs, or 3.8% of total European workforce and an
employment value of approximately 14.0 million, or 6.5% of the total EU workforce. The development of
the creative industries sector is not only an engine to increase the share of developing countries in world
trade, but can also directly benefit poor communities by generating income, creating jobs and empowering
artists and people. The main function and role of the Cultural and Creative Industries is that they build a
bridge between arts, culture, business and technology.

3.2 Cultural and Creative hubs

The interpretation of a hub is a physical or virtual place that brings enterprising people together who work
in the creative and cultural industries. Creative Hubs are organisations that use their space or
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infrastructure for networking, organisational and business development within the cultural and creative
industries sector. The research showed that: there are a huge variety of creative hubs with a range of
public and private organisations running them, this diversity makes it hard to provide effective support to
the sector as a whole.

1 https://keanet.eu/the-ec-green-paper-on-cultural-and-creative-industry-a-contribution/
2 https://en.unesco.org/creativity/sites/creativity/files/digital-library/What%20Do%20We%20Mean%20by%20CCI.PDF
3 https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hubs/