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 Armenia.

Armenia is starting the process of developing a policy or strategy to support the creative economy. The recommendations from the Programme’s nine reports therefore reflect this state of affairs, as the suggested priorities from our experts and mappings are all-encompassing rather than targetted on selected core areas. 

Better regulation would support the sustainable development and better coordination of the sector for greater impact.

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

• Communications and marketing

• Vocational training

These two needs perhaps show the most important elements of two different phases of developing the Culture and Creative Industries sector (CCIs).

Communications relates to creating the conditions for the development of the sector.

Vocational training relates to the continued strengthening of an established sector.

The second most important area was:

• Service infrastructure

This need relates to support structures that can help creative industries grow – especially outside the capital. One particular issue is the migration of artists to the capital, because they are unable to make a living in the marzes. Funding, promotion, tourism, databases, tax incentives and local government support are just some of the elements that require more support in regional culture and creative industries.

The next layer is:

• Financing

• Access to the Arts

This includes state infrastructure financing, finding new models of non-state funding and bringing market values to the state sector. Finance was mentioned in several ways. There was no single issue, which suggests a need for a fundamental review of how CCIs is funded in Armenia. The government has already made some statements on the need for change in this area in 2017.

Access to arts is an issue specific to Armenia and possibly relates to the country’s mountainous geography. Arts remain centralized in the capital, and while there is some effort to build regional arts centres, there is a particular need to get regional audiences to access culture and creative industries especially from schools and from the marzes.

There follows a long and broad list of 10 priorities:

• Decentralisation

• Arts curricula in schools

• Government infrastructure

• Research & Mapping

• Legislation

• Professionalism

• Freedom of Expression

• Audience development

• Incubators

• Access to international expertise

These priorities were each mentioned in two of the reports. If the three previous sets of priorities were physical and practical. This group of priorities seems to focus more on intangible conditions that would help the sector to flourish. These priorities possibly suggest the importance of setting up the principles for the sector’s growth. So Armenia’s approach could be to develop hard infrastructure as a top priority, closely supported by strong values as a second priority. It is unlikely that all 10 recommendations in this group carry equal weight or urgency. Some can be achieved relatively quickly, others will take longer to achieve.

The following priorities have appeared once:

• Integrated CCIs policy

• Transparency

• Tolerance

• Migration

• Professional bodies

• Crossovers with tourism and IT sectors

 A continued consultation to debate and identify the key priorities may go some way to making the vision for culture clear.