EUNIC MENA Creative Industries
EUNIC MENA is a long-term project initiated by EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) which is addressing the issues of Democratic Empowerment, Cultural Policy and Creative Economy in the MENA region. It will include regional and national projects and is supported by EUNIC and the European Commission, namely EEAS, DGEAC and DEVCO.
As a first step, the EUNIC Cluster Jordan (British Council, Goethe Institut, Institut Français and Instituto Cervantes) initiated the “EUNIC MENA Creative Industries” Project. The aim is to support Jordan’s economic performance, competitiveness, and regional cooperation; to stimulate citizens’ initiative to create projects, public debates and to open physical or web-media spaces in the cultural, social and economic fields; and to reach out to the wider public, in particular to the marginalized neighbourhoods of Amman and outside the capital. The project is carried out by the EUNIC Cluster Jordan and supported by the EU Delegation to Jordan.
In 2012, the following activities have been/ will be carried out:
The Euro-Med Forum on Creative Industries & Society, 13 - 15 May 2012, Jordan
The Euro-Med Forum on Creative Industries & Society was the launch pad of the long-term EUNIC MENA Project and gathered around 170 representatives of the Creative Industries from the MENA region (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia) and the EU. The participants were assigned by the EUNIC Clusters in the MENA region and the EUNIC Members in Europe. All sectors of the creative industries were present: Advertising; Architecture; Crafts; Cultural heritage; Design; Educational & leisure software; Fashion; Film, video and audiovisual production; Literature, libraries and publishing; Music; Performing arts & entertainment; Television, radio & internet broadcasting; Visual arts.
The Forum was organized in a creative and highly participatory format using Open Space Technology (OST) which brings all stakeholders (individuals, independent organizations, institutions etc.) together to discuss and to seek a shared solution. The performance group Improbable from London facilitated the process – the participants proposed the topics, discussed them in groups and identified their needs and expectations. The feedback to the methodology was very positive as it allowed all participants to contribute to the design of the long-term EUNIC MENA Project. The final report lists all the issues raised and is available on request.
OST proved also to be a good way of gathering people around subjects of common interest. One-to-one meetings, a fair and project presentations facilitated further networking between the participants.
The Forum was a perfect opportunity to launch the Brochure “Culture & Development”, a collaboration between the European Commission (DEVCO), EUNIC and the British Council, and published in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. It was presented by Mr. Gilles Hubens (EC) and Ms. Katri Maenpaa (BC) at the Inauguration Ceremony and all participants received a copy with their Welcome Pack.
Based on the issues raised at the Forum, EUNIC Jordan developed a concept note for the long-term EUNIC MENA Project. The recommendations include actions in the fields of cultural policy, networking, capacity building and project support. A detailed project plan will be worked out during the summer, with regional and national actions to be implemented by EUNIC Brussels and the EUNIC Clusters in the MENA region. The project should be launched by the end of 2012.
The Forum and many of the recommendations helped to identify also the needs in Jordan and contributed to the other strands of the “EUNIC MENA Creative Industries” Project:
Mapping of the Creative Industries in Jordan, autumn 2012
A Mapping of the Creative Industries in Jordan will be carried out, not only to know more about the sector but also to assess the value of the creative industries to the wider economy. Surveys in Europe show that the creative industries not only contribute significantly to the GDP but also that they are growing faster than most sectors of the economy and also generating new jobs twice as fast. The mapping aims to help creative practitioners as well as policymakers to understand the creative industries better, to identify the needs and suggest ways in which they might be addressed. It should encourage politicians to take the sector seriously and to develop policies to push the creative industries agenda forward. The Mapping will be carried out in two phases and a first study will be presented at the Festival of the Future in autumn 2012. Parallel to the Mapping, an online platform for the Creative Industries in Jordan will be created.
Training // Festival of the Future, November 2012
The Festival will take the ‘creative industries’ theme as a springboard from which artists and cultural entrepreneurs can imagine their future. The participants will be asked to tackle social, cultural, political, economic and environmental issues in their works. Artists and cultural entrepreneurs are invited to creatively envision a different world from the one we live in as well as critique the present.
The Festival will be held in November 2012 (tbc) and build on the Euromed Forum on Creative Industries & Society. An Open Call will be launched for projects that link different sectors of the creative industries. They will be put in an online “pool” of current/ future creative industries projects. . A few selected initiatives will be supported, in providing coaches/ mentors as well as assistance by incubators to help realizing the projects, and to participate in the Festival.
The Festival will include an Artistic Programme (curated selection of visual arts, performing arts, community based and multi-media projects); an Open Day where projects will be presented in a creative and participatory way to the audience; Lectures, encounters and discussions incl. the presentation of the Mapping results and round-table discussions with the creative industries and public authorities in Jordan; Workshops as well as On-line/ Social Media Interventions.
Final List of Participants is available here.
Contact:
Renata Papsch, Project Coordinator
EUNIC MENA Creative Industries
c/o British Council Amman, Jordan
Tel.: +962 6 460 3420 ext. 1108
Mob: +962 79 718 7265
E-mail: renata.papsch@britishcouncil.org.jo
Web site: www.eunic-online.eu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EuromedForum
This project is funded by the European Union
