19 Recommendations for CCIs development in Azerbaijan

Over the past six years the Eastern Partnership has engaged a wide range of tools to review and analyse the key challenges facing the Culture and Creative Industries Sector. In Azerbaijan the two phases of the EU Programme have developed the tools and skills to research the sector at the national, local and professional sub-sector levels. Do the conclusions of this work tell us anything?

The table brings together an overarching view of what all of this research has recommended to date. This is by no means comprehensive, but the table attempts to identify if there are unifying, top level and consistent recommendations in Azerbaijan.

According to the experts over the past six years there are two top priorities in Azerbaijan:

  • Organisational structures

  • Professional training

These two top priorities suggest a need for re-alignment, both within and outside of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) sector. The state is looking to realign the economy away from over reliance on the oil industry. The sector provides some opportunities for diversification. The transversal nature of the sector means CCI needs the support from several government agencies in order to flourish, and those agencies need an integrated strategic approach to culture. Secondly any successful reform will require professional training both for new generations of cultural managers, and for people already working in the sector.

The next group of recommendations are:

  • Data collection

  • Communication and Marketing

  • State-Private collaboration

This group of priorities are linked. Changing investment streams takes time and investor confidence. New collaborations will emerge once there is a change in attitude towards the potential of the sector. A change of attitude will only come about with engaging communications and marketing, which in turn needs evidence through data collection.

The recommendations that received two mentions focus on

  • Infrastructure Investment

  • International Collaboration

  • Financing structures

This cluster of priorities focuses on developing the business end of culture and creative industries. They are the next step. Once people are convinced of and ready to engage in the sector as a business, then these three elements will enable financing to take place.

The recommendations that received one mention focus on

  • Procedures

  • Human Resources skills

  • Strategic planning

  • Digital shift

  • Arts education

  • Art for social development

  • Mainstreaming of CCIs

  • Access to public space

  • Audience development

  • Interpersonal trust

  • Press freedom

This group of priorities look at some of the tools needed to develop the sector once funding is in place. This possibly reflects the primary need for the infrastructure in order to develop the market.

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