The Rise of the Creative Economy

Why you should care about the Creative Economy, what it is and how come I am talking about it?

Here we go, first article, exciting right?

First and foremost, welcome to the weekly newsletter and virtual exhibition - ‘The Creative Entrepreneur’. On this journey we unleash the unfair advantages of creative entrepreneurship but also highlight the work of prominent creative entrepreneurs on the way. An approach where theory meets practice, making learning fun.

Today, I’m honored to present the imagery done by the full-time entrepreneur and artist Netta Kontiainen who brought some magic and a creative touch to this post. Be sure to check out her profile or visit her company Luna Estika at https://www.lunaestetika.fi/

But now into to the topic, the creative economy. For us to understand what it takes to be and work like a creative entrepreneur we need to understand the bigger picture. To be more precise, creative entrepreneurs are often described as individuals working within the creative industries. According to Howkins (2001) a well-known researcher in this field the creative industries comprises the following industries: advertising,?architecture,?art,?crafts,?design,?fashion,?film,?music,?performing arts,?publishing,?R&D,?software,?toys?and?games,?TV?and?radio, and?video games. We will look more deeply at the creative industries later, but for now it is is important to understand that these industries together make the creative economy.

As a still young and evolving concept, the creative economy lacks one single definition, but can be the easiest understood as the interplay between human creativity, business, and technology. It is one of the most dynamic sectors in the world economy providing new opportunities for new disruption to all business fields (UNCTAD, 2021).

Simply put, the creative economy is an ecosystem of occupations and activities that generate wealth and jobs through intellectual property. It is the creative industries combined with creative occupations in other industries. As any economical ecosystem it comprises a big chunk of questions and areas. This is well captured in the image below published by UNCTAD (2019) in their article "High-level Luncheon on the Creative Economy and the Future of Work"

If you want to understand the creative economy in-depth my recommendation I to read the book “The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas.” from John Howkins.

So why are we so interested in the creative economy?

The covid-19 pandemic was devastating on many industries it hit. The creative economy was one of them, causing many to lose their jobs and livelihood. Amid the crisis our eyes started to open on how big and important this economy was. According to UNESCO (2021), the creative economy is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the world economy, generating nearly 30 million jobs worldwide, especially for the young people as it occupies more people aged 15-29 than any other sector. The pandemic has accelerated the development of the creative economy further bringing megatrends such as digitalization into immediate attention.

In a time of crisis and rapid globalization, many leading countries have recognized the importance of the creative economy, not only as value increasing business segment, but also as the field of the future – where the young creative talents play.

The importance is highlighted further by John Newbigin (2021) from the British Council who states that:

“It is sometimes said that where oil was the primary fuel of the 20th century economy, creativity is the fuel of the 21st century. In the same way that energy policy and access to energy was a determinant of geopolitics throughout the 20th century, it may be that policies to promote and protect creativity will be the crucial determinants of success in the 21st. If that is true then we will have to rethink the way governments are organised, the way cities are planned, the way education is delivered, and the way citizens interact with their communities. So, thinking about what we mean by creativity and the creative economy could not be more important!”

Furthermore, the Creative Economy already represents around 7% of total employment. Deloitte (2021) states that it is growing faster than the overall economy and is likely to be a key economic driver of economic growth on the long-term.

Something this big can’t be ignored and we need to be knowledgeable enough to ride this wave of growth. The creative entrepreneur withholds an important position, acting in the crossroad between the creative economy and other economies.

Deloitte (2021) has done great work in analyzing the future of the creative economy and their publication can be found here: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-uk-future-creative-economy-report-final.pdf

Interaction sparks creativity

It is evident that the creative economy is a growing segment. The job of this newsletter is to help you interact with this segment. Interaction sparks creativity, this leads to ideas, ideas to action and action to growth.

So who am I and why am I writing this? My name is Ronny Eriksson and I am a creative entrepreneur from Helsinki, Finland. For the past five years I have been creating and building companies and organizations. I have always been the creative free soul trying to do things differently. This has resulted to amazing endeavors such as our New Nordic Creative Agency Norders and the global youth led nonprofit organization Ambitious.Africa. I am also a master’s graduate in Entrepreneurship and Management from Hanken School of Economics.

During the past years the importance of the creative economies has become evident for me. I have realised there is a growing gap between technology, business and the creative economy (we will look at this topic more closely during the upcoming weeks). This gap is slowing growth in all the sectors and thus requires active work to be bridged.

Hi, I’m Ronny Eriksson

I'm a driven creative entrepreneur with a passion for people, new creative challenges and self-development. I have been working actively in the Finnish startup ecosystem as a founder and entrepreneur. This background combined with intensive studies at Hanken School of Economics (Major: Entrepreneurship & Management, MSc) has allowed me to understand the relationship and importance of well-constructed ecosystems and how their interplay can fuel growth. In addition to all of this I believe in the strenghts and shared values of the New Nordic region and represent these in various social medias at @ronnythenorder

Contact me:

Email: [email protected] LinkedIn:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/erikssonronny/

Social media handle: @ronnythenorder

Conclusion and what to expect next?

This newsletter is the start of various activities including a podcast show, events, interviews and a creative hub. With this movement we aim to inspirie, unite and elevate the creative economy and create positive growth through it.

Today we scratched the surface of the creative economy and in the next newsletter we are going to take a deeper look into the creative industries and talk about the growing gap between it, technology and business.

For me this is an exciting new project, so all feedback, comments, thoughts and ideas are welcome. What would you wish to learn about creative entrepreneurship? How do you love to consume information?

That is all, super thankful you’ve subscribed and joined the journey ??

Sincerely,