The round table discussion “Sustainability and Synergies of Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism” took place within the 10th Northern Dimension Forum on April 4, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The discussion was moderated by Elena Bogdanova, Director of the “Kizhi” Open-Air Museum and Dace Resele, Head of Secretariat, Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC).
With the help of case studies about the Synergies between Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism, the Round Table focused on an analysis of how these two sectors create products that encourage the development of human capital, social inclusion, strengthen connectivity, support responsible innovation and contribute to the development of the region. The focus of the Round Table was public sector and mostly non–commercial activities.
Seven presentations were given during the Round Table, followed by a discussion with the audience. Participants were from Northwest Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. At the end of discussion, there were several conclusions that have been drawn:
- Taking into account rapid societal changes and the challenges within the CCI and Creative Tourism sector, one of the prerequisites for its further development is to boost professional capacity. It is evident that there is a lack of trained, educated specialists within these fields. That is why occasionally those are the investors who are upgrading the professional skills of stakeholders.
- Cultural tourism should be more environmentally and socially responsible. That is a relatively recent issue within these sectors, but it goes hand in hand with the common Northern Dimension directives that could be more accentuated in the implementation of future projects.
- In order to encourage local social initiatives, CCI organizations should apply an NGO approach to regional development through work with communities, raising social awareness and supporting individual social or cultural initiatives.
- Collaboration between administration and authorities – local, municipal, regional and international – on the one hand, and NGOs, local businesses, on the other hand, is necessary in order to create the most effective services and products for the benefit of communities. It is crucial to develop specific cooperation mechanisms, e.g. private companies supporting CCI structures whose business values are overlap with theirs.
- International cooperation serves as a quality indicator and helps to evaluate local strengths and weaknesses within the Creative Tourism and CCI sectors.
The ND Business Forum is an annual event and is primarily aimed at fostering cooperation between business, authorities and civil society involved in developing the Northern Dimension area in the changed reality.
Dace Resele
Writer is a new head of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC) secretariat
Ms. Dace Resele (in the middle) with NDI Lead Coordinator Ms. Riitta Kosonen and Mr. Paavo Lipponen at the ND Business Forum in St. Petersburg.
