E-Newsletter
No. 15
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
U N C TA D
Creative Economy Programme
April 2011
Page 1
Puppet Planet
Promoting climate literacy and the creative economy
At the World Meteorological Day 2011 (23 March), the Puppet Planet Project was launched at the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) with the presence of its Secretary-General. This
United Nations initiative is being put forward by the Communications and Public Affairs Office of
WMO, jointly with the Creative Economy Programme and the Climate Change and Environment
Branch of UNCTAD. Its overreaching goal is to encourage actions to address climate challenges
and environmental degradation, while promoting sustainable development, culture and the creative
economy in developing countries. The project has two main objectives and was designed to be implemented in two stages. Firstly, as an animation show to be performed in the context of relevant
UN global conferences, such as the World Meteorological Congress, the Rio Earth Summit 2012,
UNCTAD XIII, etc. It is intended to further engage governments and the civil society to be climatewise and caring for our planet. By mixing the artistry of puppet theatre with state-of-the-art multimedia technologies, the Puppet Planet show hopes to reach a broad audience of all ages, particularly
children and youth; the leaders and decision-makers of tomorrow. Secondly, the project proposes a
capacity-building training focusing on climate literacy while nurturing the creative industries
(theatre, puppetry, new media, photography and music). This technical cooperation tool is expected
to be a practical channel to promote creativity, knowledge-sharing and best practices in developing
countries. Training courses for producing local versions of the show will offer job opportunities for
young talents and creative entrepreneurs. At country level, the Puppet Planet show will be performed in schools, communities in urban and rural areas, and could be used for national educative
campaigns and awareness raising. This project will contribute to the enhancement of the local creative economy and climate literacy through education and cultural entertainment to the public at
large. The project is open for partnerships and a video-clip is posted at WMO and YouTube.
Creative Economy Report 2010
Launching at the United Nations in New York, 29 March 2011
The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) organized a debate at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York around the Creative
Economy Report 2010, a tangible result of the
UNCTAD/UNDP partnership, example of multiagency cooperation working as “One UN”. The
event moderated by the Director of the UNDP
Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, attracted delegations and media, and counted with
the presence of the Associate Administrator of the
UNDP, and the President of the UN High-level
Committee on South-South Cooperation, both addressed the session in support to the Initiative. The
Chief of UNCTAD's Creative Economy Programme, who led the research of the study, highlighted the main policy options. Developments at
the country level and the market situation for all
creative industries were analyzed in the report,
and over 45 cases illustrates how the creative
economy generates jobs, revenues and social
inclusion. Creative sectors were more resilient
to the economic crisis. In 2008 South-South
trade of creative goods reached $60 billion, a
sign of the growing market share from developing countries in world markets. The Creative Economy Report 2010 underscores 10
key messages calling for a new growth path
that goes in line with the changes in our society. Lively debates led to a wide press coverage.
In this issue:
Puppet Planet : Promoting climate literacy and the creative economy
1
Creative Economy Report 2010: Launching at the United Nations, New York
1
Study on Hong Kong Design Index, Hong Kong, February 2011
2
Promoting Culture and the Creative Economy in Macau, February 2011
2
Debates around the Creative Economy Report 2010, London, March 2011
3
Annual African Economic Forum, New York, March 2011
3
Net Explorateur Forum, Paris, February 2011
3
Media trends in 2011, Geneva, March 2011
4
E-mail: creative.industries@unctad.org
Tel:+4122 -9175735 / 5829
Assessing the economic contribution of creative industries, St Lucia, March 2011
4
Fax:+4122- 917-0044
Web:www.unctad.org/creative-programme
Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg,
Chief, Creative Economy Programme
UNCTAD
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
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Study on Hong Kong Design Index
22-24 February 2011
UNCTAD was invited to address a
media briefing, and
provide technical
advice to a research
study
commissioned by the Hong
Kong (China) Design Centre with
support from the
local government. The study aims to present a full picture of the design industry and a framework for measuring design capabilities. UNCTAD emphasized that Hong
Kong, China has been a leading player - fourth among
the world’s major exporters of creative goods during the
2002-2008 period - due to its ability to embark on design-related high growth sectors. Hong-Kong exported
US$ 33.2 billion of creative goods in 2008, thanks to the
competitiveness of its design-related products ranging
from interior objects, fashion, jewellery, toys etc. Architecture services have been expanding strongly; a sign of
the strategic role of design to foster economic growth
and modernization in the region. The initiative of the
Hong Kong Design Centre to deepen the analysis of the
design industry was timely. Already in 2005, the Centre
for Cultural Policy Research of the
University of Hong Kong (China)
pioneered a study on a creative
index which remains a major reference for research about the creative economy. This new study is a
good contribution to advance the
research and the debate in the field
of design. UNCTAD shared its
classification of design products
and suggested the adoption of an
international classification and a
comparative analysis involving countries that have
strong design sectors. UNCTAD visited the Jockey
Club Creative Arts Centre, one of the first creative clusters in Hong Kong offering communal spaces for artists
and creative entrepreneurs. In the company of the Project Director, UNCTAD also visited the Hong Kong:
Creative Ecologies - Business, Living, Creativity a oneyear programme comprising an exhibition and public
forums as a platform to showcase the style, innovation
and branding power of local designers. The Chief of the
Creative Economy Programme was pleased with this
enhanced collaboration with the researches, designers
and professionals from the creative industries.
Promoting culture and the creative economy in Macau
26-28 February 2011
The Chief of
the
Creative
Economy Programme paid a
visit to the Institute of European
Studies
(IEEM)
of
Macau (China)
a front-runner
in the development of the creative industries in the city. The purpose
was to hold consultations with government authorities
and the private sector, about the prospects to promote the
creative economy as a tool for economic diversification,
which can contribute to foster new jobs for the youth and
enhance local cultural values. Meetings were held with
the members of the Macau (China) Committee of Cultural Industries, as well as with the Vice-President and
officials of the Cultural Institute of the government of
Macau with a view to explore opportunities for enhancing the creative sector. There is great potential to forge
public-private partnerships and build upon the growing
demand for cultural entertainment brought by the large
number of tourists who visit the city regularly. Creative
Macau (China) and the Centre for Creative Industries
should be seen as catalysers to promote cultural activities, synergy and networking among artists and the
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creative community. The
government
started to articulate
a
strategy
for
harnessing the
creative economy in Macau
(China), and
UNCTAD's
Creative Economy Programme is willing to provide policy advice to support concrete initiatives. At the occasion, UNCTAD also attended the III International Seminar on Intellectual Property for Portuguese-Speaking
Countries, hosted by the IEEM in collaboration with the
secretariat of the Permanent Forum for Economic and
Commercial Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-Speaking Countries. The event gathered academics from Macau
(China), Angola,
Brazil, Mozambique and Portugal as well as
some
invited
international experts.
Page 2
Creative Economy Report – 2010
Debates in London, 11 March 2011
In the context of the
UNCTAD
Creative
Economy
Academic
Exchanges, the Director
of the Centre for Culture, Media and Creative Industries Research
of the King’s College of
London organized a seminar to disseminate the findings
of the Creative Economy Report in the United Kingdom.
The event was attended by an international audience of
masters and doctoral students, as well as invited policymakers from the UK government, academics, and practitioners from the creative industries. UNCTAD pointed
out that the Creative Economy Programme has a long
history of collaboration with a number of UK researchers
and institutions, such as the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), the British Council, the National
Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
(NESTA), Creative Clusters Conferences, etc.
Moreover, the pioneering
work developed in the
United Kingdom in the
late 1990s has been influential to the creative
economy movement in
subsequent years. The Creative Economy Report 2010
makes a comparative analysis of four classification systems for the creative industries, including the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS)
model. In 2007 the creative industries accounted for 6.2
per cent of the UK economy, creative output grew at 5
per cent annually during 1997-2007, employing nearly
2 million people and accounting for 4.5 per cent of
UK's total exports. UNCTAD also highlighted that the
creative economy became a priority and strategic sector
for the European 2020 Agenda.
Annual African Economic Forum
New York, 25-26 March 2011
Net Explorateur Forum
Paris, 3-4 February 2011
Initiated in 2004, the African Economic Forum
became the largest Africa-focused event organized by three of Columbia University’s graduate
programs:
Columbia
Graduate School of Business, Columbia Law
School, and Columbia School of International and Public
Affairs. The conference gathered over 400 students,
alumni and faculty professors, policy-makers and the
business community based in and outside Africa. UNCTAD was invited to share views and moderate a panel on
“Monetizing the Creative Industries in Africa”. An occasion to present the United Nations perspective on the
potential of the creative economy to foster a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable development in Africa. In
recent years, the creative industries are providing true
opportunities for Africans to advance socio-economic
growth, but not without obstacles. The infusion of African culture, cutting edge designs, bold colours, authentic
stories, means that there is growing interest for African
creative products worldwide, but strategies should be in
place. Panellists involved in creative business discussed
current problems and
real possibilities to find
niche
markets
for
monetizing the creative
industries in Africa
through music, fashion,
publishing, film and
television programs.
The fourth edition of the
NetExplorateur
Forum
was organized around
two themes: the 2011
Awards ceremony, and
the presentation of the
Netexploratrend
2011
study. The event convened by the NetExplorateur Observatory was supported and held at UNESCO
premises; opened by its Director-General and the Minister for Industry, Energy and Digital Economy of France.
The Chief of UNCTAD Creative Economy Programme
was one of the 10 international experts that voted for the
10 laureates of the year, selected from 100 cases of excellence worldwide in using digital technologies creatively for innovation, communication and knowledgesharing in different areas. The first winner was from
Ghana (mPEDIGREE) who developed software to be
used at no cost in mobile phones for combating fake
medicine in Africa through texting. Another winner,
from Japan, proposed a robot that enhances the muscle
strength of people with reduced mobility. From Brazil,
the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics successfully implemented its CENSO 2010, as the first
fully digital national census which covered almost 200
million people. These are
applications of creativity
associated with the digital
revolution. There is no
border for human inventiveness.
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Assessing the economic contribution of
Creative Industries to National Economies
St. Lucia, 29-31 March 2011
Media Trends in 2011
Geneva, 21-22 March 2011
UNCTAD was
invited to address a seminar
organized by the
Webster University in Geneva
to discuss recent
trends in the
media industry,
with focus on
women’s rights and gender equality. Debates centred
on the state of the global media, their strength in promoting agendas and images of women, and the employment situation of women in the media. Interesting
discussions were held about Disney’s recent decision
to make no more “Princesses” films, and how the media in Egypt has been used to stimulate political
changes. Recalling that the creative economy relies on
ideas, knowledge, skills and the ability to seize new
opportunities, UNCTAD’s Chief of the Creative Economy Programme observed that creative talents can be
male or female independently of gender. However,
thanks to connectivity many artists and creators now
work virtually in a more anonymous manner; this
helped to open doors for many creative women particularly from developing countries. Convergence and
digitization provides new opportunities and business
models, thus people of all ages in particular women
are spending more time online consuming or cocreating content, and interacting in social networks. In
this scenario, the media and specially the new media
industry are pushing the chain of knowledge and innovation. According to UNCTAD, global trade for newmedia products grew rapidly by 9 per cent in the period 2002-2008. Developed economies led exports of
new-media goods, but lost market shares. The USA
remains the leading exporting country, but China now
responds to nearly 30 per cent of global demand.
This was a regional seminar jointly organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) with a view to promote
the creative industries in the CARIFORUM region, in
response to a request from the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States (OECS). The two main objectives were
to strengthen the capacity of national and regional statistical offices to collect, analyze, and disseminate economic
data on the creative industries and to increase awareness
among policy-makers. Given its expertise and leading
role in developing a methodology and setting-up the first
Global Database on Trade Statistics for Creative Goods
and Services, UNCTAD was invited to address the session and share views about recent improvements on its
methodology allowing for better comparability and reliability of trade statistics as presented in the Creative
Economy Report 2010. The seminar was opened by the
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs of
St. Lucia and attended by policymakers and experts from
the region. An outcome and follow-up action resulting
from the seminar, was an agreement that an inter-agency
presentation, bringing contributions and recommendations from ITC, UNCTAD, WIPO and WTO, will be
made at the forthcoming meeting of the Development
Partners in supporting an Agenda for Creative Industries
in the Caribbean region, to be held in Georgetown, Guyana in May 2011.
Coming events...
World Crafts Council Europe
Dockanema Film Festival, 2011
World Summit on Multimedia Associations
5th World Summit on Arts and Culture
International meeting Creation and Research
World Design IDA Congress
Creative Industries Congress
Global Creative Education Forum
UNCTAD/WEB/DITC/TAB/2011/1
Contact: creative.industries@unctad.org
www.unctad.org/creative-programme
Date
City, country
Website
8-9 June
9-19 September
21-23 September
3-6 October
12-16 October
24-26 October
26-28 October
28-29 October
Dublin, Ireland
Maputo, Mozambique
Shenyang, China
Melbourne, Australia
Potiers, France
Taipei, Taiwan
Bogota, Colombia
Shanghai, China
www.craftinireland.com
www.dockanema.org
www-fiam.org
www.artsummit.org
www.maison-des-sciences.org
www.2011idacongress.com
www.uan.edu.co
www.sta.edu.cn
Contributions for this edition
UNCTAD Creative Economy E-Newsletter N° 15
Text by Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg
Communications and network : Carolina Quintana
Dissemination: Paul Kuku
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