19 Recommendations for CCIs development in Georgia

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 Georgia 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 Georgia.

In Georgia the priorities seem to relate to and support the audience development of the sector. This is a very focussed set of recommendations. They also point at the need for government-wide engagement in this endeavour. 

According to the experts over the past six years there is one top priority in Georgia:

  • Audience development

This recommendation was shared unanimously across all five reports. While Georgia is good at promoting its arts and culture internationally as a tourist destination there is an exercise to be done in Georgia to increase domestic consumption, and to promote regional destinations, products and events to international visitors. The challenge is to engage a wider group of the Georgian population in culture and creative industries both as consumers and producers.

The next layer of priorities are the pre-conditions that support that audience development, namely:

  • Practical arts education
  • Market development
  • Access to finance

Producing young artists and young art lovers in the school system will produce a generation that consumes and produces culture and creative industry products. Developing the market and providing more varied access to finance are also preconditions for increasing audiences.

The next layer of priorities are the on-going services that ensure the growth of the market:

  • Integrated policy making
  • Internet connectivity
  • Professional management
  • International networking and competitiveness

These priorities all relate to collaboration outside of the sector. They all require support and assistance from cross-ministerial structures. But they show the transversal nature of the culture and creative industries sector, and how the sector’s needs cannot be solved by one ministry alone.

The next layer down includes:

  • Decentralisation
  • Tax incentives

Both of these priorities relate to the mechanics of developing the sector. 

The final layer is a broader range of important ideas:

  • Data collection
  • Professional associations
  • Inclusion in policy making
  • Copyright
  • Youth
  • Regional Funds
  • Online platform for heritage
  • Access to public space
  • Infrastructure investment

Each of these recommendations is a project in itself. Some can be pursued more easily if audiences have been developed in Georgia. Some will support and increase audience development.

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