THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF CULTURE IN EUROPE. RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS
Jordi Sanjuán Belda and Pau Rausell K?ster
The idea that culture plays a central role in development processes is increasingly accepted both at the academic level and by public administrations and supranational institutions, especially the European Union. From the field of knowledge and research, more and more solid and convincing evidence is coming out that establishes causal links between culture and creativity and multiple impacts on social and economic variables. In the linked text you can get the main results of a study that analyses the impact of the cultural and creative sectors in European regions on various dimensions of well-being, including income, jobs, education, health and sense of community through novel and complex causal machine-learning techniques. The results confirm that both in Europe and in Spanish regions in particular, the effects are positive in most dimensions for most regions. This shows the potential of culture and creativity to activate regional development processes and improve the well-being of European citizens.
Moreover, an application (SICCRED) that is part of the MESOC project makes it possible to consult region by region to check the effects of the activity of the cultural and creative sectors on 11 welfare variables and two other variables such as productivity and tourist overnight stays.
Donwnload the thesis Cultural and Creative Industries and the Well-Being of Regions
Video explanation of the SICCRED platform [from 3:40]