THE OBSERVATORY
Culture and Creativity Observatory is an integrated tool designed to monitor the CCIs sector of the Emilia-Romagna region.
Why?
From the 90s onwards, the Cultural and Creative Sector has caught the attention of a large number of stakeholders: CCIs are considered an important catalyst for innovation, a fertile domain and a pivotal element to foster social impact. In fact, they were included in the Smart Specialization Strategy of Emilia-Romagna as a high-growth potential sector.
Due to the growing relevance of this domain at a European, national and regional level, political institutions and organizations have started reflecting on the best tools that could be adopted to analyse, monitor and collect data on cultural policies and activities; observatories, research and documentation centres. The aim being the improvement of decision-making processes and the development of tailor-made measures to support the growth of this sector.
What?
The Culture and Creativity Observatory was designed and created in light of the aforementioned framework. This instrument intends to improve accessibility to information, which is fostered by a shared governance model. Indeed, this tool is managed by ART-ER, the Performing Arts Observatory and the Cultural Heritage Observatory of the Emilia-Romagna Region.
Having different players working together enables to:
- facilitate interconnections among databases
- integrate information to monitor the sector from a wider perspective and track the latest trends
- asses the policy measures put in place by identifying the points of weakness and encouraging actions responding to the needs of the sector
How?
Data and information are available on this website in multiple formats with the aim of addressing the curiosity of a diversified audience:
- the cultural and creative ecosystem adopts a narrative approach, it outlines the characteristics and dynamics of regional CCIs through seven thematic areas so as to provide an integrated picture of this secor;
- data visualizations are based on statistical information and allow for the discovery of this field through interactive graphics;
- research consists of publications drafted to explore specific issues and tendencies characterizing the sector.
For whom?
The Observatory targets a heterogeneous audience:
- Policy-makers: to provide regional administrators with tools supporting them in the evaluation of sectoral policies to quickly understand current trends and implement effective actions for CCIs development;
- Intermediaries and professionals: to help them define guidelines and strategies for the growth of the sector through concrete data and information;
- General public: to better communicate cultural and creative initiatives to a wider community, so as to promote the relevance of this field for the territory, in terms of social and economic impacts.
Monitoring and research actions on CCIs in ART-ER are carried out by both its Research Unit and by the Cultural and Creative Industries Group.
The former mainly investigates socio-economic trends: employment, added value, business creation and internationalization. This type of activity allowed for the production of the first two regional reports on the Orange Economy, published in 2012 and 2018.
The latter develops multiple initiatives to support the growth and development of regional CCIs, including the production of qualitative reports that analyze different sub-sectors, with a particular focus on financial dynamics and innovation potential.
The Performing Arts Observatory - managed by the regional Sector for Cultural activities, cultural economy and Culture youth Service and by ATER Foundation - was established by law. n. 13/99 "Rules in the field of entertainment" to observe, monitor and disseminate information on the live entertainment sector and the audiovisual industry.
For over two decades, the observatory has been carrying out periodic surveys and processing data related to supply and demand, funding, employment as well as mapping places and entertainment spaces in Emilia-Romagna. It conducts studies aimed at investigating cutting-edge themes in the field, maintains relations with research centers and other cultural observatories.
The Cultural Heritage Observatory - run by the regional Cultural Heritage Sector - is in charge of collecting data and information on regional cultural institutions, their activities and their interactions with the territory.
Fostering regional policy-making based on concrete data and supporting cultural institutes of the territory: these are the main objectives of the Observatory. To achieve these results, it has set up specific information systems: Pater groups all cultural and landscape heritage; Sibib is the information system used by libraries belonging to local authorities. It also collaborates with the Statistics Sector of the Emilia-Romagna Region which allows direct access to ISTAT data and interactions with data from other sectors, such as tourism.
