Temple Bar Cultural Trust made a submission to the European Commission in July in response to the EU Green Paper on the Cultural and Creative Industries. This submission was made on behalf of a ‘cultural coalition’ of over 50 individuals and organisations working in this sector.
We led this submission process because we believe that culture must be seen as resource for creativity and must be given greater prominence in the broader policies on the knowledge economy, innovation and social cohesion. The intention of our submission is to ensure that our strong cultural assets form part of the foundation of a powerful and creative economy and a cohesive society in Ireland and across Europe.
Creative Industries make a significant contribution to the Irish economy with existing estimates placing the total number employed in Ireland’s creative industries at 60,855 in 2006, generating a total added value of nearly €5.5bn in 2006 – approx. 3% of total Irish employment and 3.5% of total Irish GVA.
Because many cultural and creative industries are small businesses it has been difficult for those them to have their voices heard at national and EU level. Responding to this, the European Commission launched a public consultation in April on issues affecting this sector so that future policy could help create programmes and policies that are “fit for purpose”.
The Green Paper is a discussion document that allows for individual artists, creatives and cultural organisations working across the European Union to communicate directly with policy makers. Now that the consultation phase has finished, the Commission will begin the work of making changes to European law based on the feedback from Member States.
To read a copy of our submission visit www.icce.ie
What is the role of the cultural and creative industries and how can they contribute to the other sectors of society? The European Commission has asked for our opinions and Temple Bar Cultural Trust is coordinating the response from the Cultural and Creative sectors in Ireland.
We want to know what you think! Do you have any ideas, examples of best practice, or opinions you’d like to share?
Check out our website to read what other people think and add your own contributions: www.icce.ie
A forum on the topic will take place on Wednesday 7 July 2010 at 10.30am at Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar. For registration and more information contact cci@templebar.ie
This initiative is led by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and includes contributions from The Digital Hub, Business to Arts, The Project Arts Centre, Science Gallery and Design Business Ireland.
Temple Bar Cultural Trust responded to a call for submissions on the European Commission’s Green Paper on a European Citizens Initiative at the end of January. The submissions were discussed by the Joint Committee on European Affairs, and have now been included in the Committee’s report to the Houses of the Oireachtas.
We have responded to the Green Paper because we believe a Citizens Initiative could be a significant step in giving ordinary citizens a stronger voice in the European Union and how it serves its people. Through initiatives like Culture Night, we encourage people to engage with and actively participate in Culture. The role of Culture and the Creative industries has been recognized at a European level and here at home, and we hope that the introduction of a well designed Citizens Initiative will allow people from all cultural backgrounds to have their voice heard in the years to come!
The Report will be debated by the Dáil and the Seanad in the coming months, with the results being communicated back to the European Commission this summer. The aim is for the Regulation to be approved at EU level by December of this year.
Download – TBCT Submission to the Joint Committee on European Affairs in response to the green paper on a European Citizens Initiative
The Irish Times – Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A chara, – I refer to your Editorial (February 22nd) and the McCarthy report recommendation for a critical examination of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. I propose the Government look at models of best practice internationally and establish a new department of cultural and creative industries to harness the potential of the collective cultural and creative resources across the island, and create a new policy framework relevant to the needs of the 21st century.
The cultural and creative industries are increasingly important components of modern post-industrial knowledge-based economies. While the Irish Government’s smart economy recognises the important role culture and the creative industries can play in our national recovery, it could be argued that the sector is still poorly understood and fragmented and lacking in the raw data that that is required for effective policymaking.
Across the world, cultural mapping has become the favoured approach at national level for governments to study and understand their cultural and creative industry sectors before making policy decisions. Unesco has been providing governments with the tools necessary to study this sector and to encourage countries to prioritise this field of research.
One of the benefits of establishing a department of cultural and creative industries would be to start this exercise, making a comprehensive effort to identify all relevant cultural economic activities, organisations and employment. At the end of the exercise, we would be able to identify suitable public policies to ensure maximum benefit to the taxpayer. – Is mise,
Gráinne Millar
Head of Cultural Development
Temple Bar Cultural Trust
Find out more:
Download – TBCT Submission to Dublin City Council City Development Plan
Download – TBCT Submission to Innovation Task Force
Download – TBCT Submission to Lord Mayor Commission of Employment (Dublin)
Download – TBCT Submission to the Joint Committee on European Affairs in response to the green paper on a European Citizens Initiative
TBCT Conferences
Download – Temple Bar 15 Catalogue (2006)
Download – Culture & the City Conference Programme (2008)
Culture & the City Conference Podcasts (2008)
Check out Culture & the City 3! (2010)
Exchange Dublin in association with Temple Bar Cultural Trust are calling on citizens, funders, public representatives, artists and more to take part in ‘Culture and the City – the Debate’, a masked anonymous debate and theatrical event where invited guests and audience members will respond to broad questions about Culture and the City, including the exploration of issues such as control and regulation of space and the citizens level of involvement in this.
Speaking about the event Lorraine Maye, Cultural Projects Manager at Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) said ‘We are delighted to host this event on Meeting House Square; a fresh, bold new take on traditional debate formats and a timely opportunity for people to have their say about culture in Dublin. All are welcome and we would encourage everyone to come along, participate in and experience what promises to be a lively, informative and fun event.’
All audience members, invited guests and crew will be required to wear a white upper face mask upon passing a screen at the entrance to Meeting House Square and all will remain anonymous throughout. This theatrical experiment aims to break down some of the barriers that exist to real discussion and debate, using anonymity to encourage people to give their truthful opinions.
Posing the question ‘Is this City fit for purpose?’, Dylan Haskins of Exchange Dublin and Debate Curator says ‘In a city like Dublin where everyone knows everyone, this event is an opportunity for people to say what they really feel as users of the city without worry of who it might offend. The only thing we ask is that people leave their associations behind, be it business, political, friendship or otherwise and speak as individuals.’
This event will take place in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar on Wednesday August 19th at 6.30pm (gates open at 6pm), a landmark outdoor public space in Dublin city centre which for one week only, from Sunday 16th – Sunday 23rd August, will be equipped with a marquee roof covering. Join us as we bring the debate out into the open!
This is a free event and does not require tickets – just come along!
TBCT asks What’s the future for culture in Dublin? How can we make sure culture stays on the agenda? Who’s looking after culture in Dublin? What needs to happen to support culture in Dublin?
Dublin City Council is preparing the next Dublin Development Plan 2011-2017 and we expect that the public will get to see the next draft in the autumn 2009. Dublin City Council is using a dynamic consultation process to get as many views as possible on what needs to happen to make sure Dublin works better for its citizens and to make sure Dublin is in good shape to compete with other city regions in Europe and across the world. Temple Bar Cultural Trust is participating actively in this process and has made a written submission to Dublin City Council – read more… and leave your comments below!
“Dublin needs a cultural supremo to ensure the city and its citizens get a better deal when it comes to culture and the arts.” according to Dermot McLaughlin, CEO of Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT), organisers of Culture and the City conference which will take place this Tuesday October 21st in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Speaking in advance of the upcoming Culture and the City conference Mr McLaughlin asks are citizens able fully to enjoy the benefits of Dublin’s rich cultural infrastructure which costs the taxpayer over €140 million a year? Does Dublin know how to prosper from the enormous well of talent and creativity that is embodied in our arts and cultural communities? Is anyone really in charge?
“There are many barriers facing people who want to enjoy and participate in Dublin’s cultural life despite the huge public investment of €140 million in culture and the arts here in Dublin. Audience research from TBCT’s successful Culture Night initiative shows that people are curious, willing and committed to visiting cultural centres. People will get involved in culture and the arts if they get good information, if opening hours are more sensible and if we had a clear policy to encourage cultural organisations to combat cultural exclusion, then things would be even better. In the absence of clear national policies to promote cultural inclusion, it is hard to see how cultural organisations can be expected individually to address a chronic national policy deficit that is bad news for citizens.” He said.
“Do we have fragmented policy or just no policy at all? A city wide event like Culture Night addresses some of these issues – but is one night a year enough? Perhaps it’s time for a coordinating authority, a leader, to make sure that Dublin does better,” added Mr. McLaughlin.
The decision to open this debate follows from a successful symposium on the role of culture in urban regeneration which TBCT ran in 2006 as part of the 15th birthday celebrations of Temple Bar, Dublin’s Cultural Quarter This conference will provide a platform for just some of the key professionals and thinkers in the area of cultural planning for Dublin, alongside leading international thinkers.
The ESRI recently published In the Frame or Out of the Picture: A Statistical Analysis of Public Involvement in the Arts. This report identifies cultural inclusion as a fundamental democratic right. The ESRI report also identified that the benefits of arts and culture funding are skewed in favour of the better off and that there is no policy of encouragement to make sure that people lower down the socio-economic scale benefit from the arts and culture. The ESRI report crystallizes many of the questions and challenges that the Culture & The City conference will address including “the impact of socio-economic circumstances on involvement in the arts is more severe than previously articulated and therefore a policy response is more pressing.”
On October 21st 2008 Temple Bar Cultural Trust will host a conference on the theme of Culture and the City – Keeping Dublin Creative, at the National Gallery of Ireland. This one-day conference will provide a platform for discussion, debate and exchange of experience from Irish and international practitioners around some of the key issues affecting cultural development in Dublin. The conference will explore ways of achieving a more integrated approach to planning and development for culture in Dublin city. It will also explore ways of enhancing the level of civic engagement and public participation in the cultural life of the city.
Among the speakers at the conference will be Dick Gleeson, Chief City Planner Dublin City Council and Director of TBCT, Jude Woodward, Consultant on Urban and Cultural Policy; Laura Magahy, CEO MCO Projects; Franco Bianchini, Professor of Cultural Planning at Leeds Metropolitan University; Sir Ken Robinson, World Renowned Expert on Creativity and Innovation; Catherine Bunting, Director of Research with the Arts Council of England; Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council of Ireland; José Manuel Amaral Lopes, Member of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture.
According to Dermot McLaughlin Chief Executive Temple Bar Cultural Trust the timing for this conference could not be better. Dublin, like many cities and urban regions across the world, is caught up in complex and difficult problems as global economic pressures exact a heavy toll on national and local governments and their citizens. We all expect to see cuts in public expenditure, reductions in services and further attrition of Ireland’s employment base. Our open economy now seems vulnerable, after years of higher and higher levels of performance. We have no idea how lifestyles will change over the next two years but we can be fairly certain that things simply can’t go back to the way they were before. We can, however, bet that we’ll still be making music and dreaming dreams!
We know that culture is resilient and adaptable. With so much pressure on funding and infrastructure for culture perhaps it’s worth recalling the saying ‘a live dog is better than a dead lion.’ How do we need to start thinking now about citizenship and culture in our City? How are our policy makers, planners and decision makers analysing the situation? What is the potential of Dublin’s cultural infrastructure to contribute to building a creative economy and a creative City? Who is responsible for leading cultural development in the City?
Find out more on http://www.templebar.ie
Submit your feedback here!
Culture & the City | TBCT August 6, 2010 | 
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