Florens 2010 - exploring the link between culture
and the economy and how this could be a game changer in
the way we think about investing in the artistic industries
Culture is as undefinable as the soul and as indelible a part of our lives as is the air we breathe. And, just like air, it is invisible yet essential, all around us yet untouchable, mostly unnoticed yet utterly remarkable. Bustled in our daily lives with our hectic, stressful schedules, we rarely stop to enjoy the very essence that defines us as human species and separates us from all other creatures on this planet.
When producing something as expensive as art and culture, being invisible and ubiquitous is an often insurmountable challenge that has seen countless art organizations vanish, only to be replaced by an abysmal void of culturelessness. Our own backyard, Fairfield County, as well as the entire state of Connecticut has its share of related stories. Among a challenging economy and an increasingly stressful lifestyle, the arts and entertainment sector has taken a back seat in the theater of political and economic decision-making processes both on a local and statewide levels. Budget cuts, as often is the case in times like these, are disproportionally skewed towards arts organizations and cultural projects.
Economic minds say that tough decisions need to be made and money to be channeled toward more profitable sectors of the economy which will drive it back to a stable upward curve of expansion. Arts is more often than not seen as a cost center of indulgence. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet, it appears that such thinking could be wrong.
A new study says that the arts could be one of the major drivers of the economy with its own larger-than-estimated economic impact on a local and global scale.
The European House – Ambrosetti, a global think tank based in Europe, recently took on a project to explore the link between the cultural industries and the economy. The purpose of the study was to see what impact, if any, these industries have on local and global level. The one-year long enterprise culminated in the publishing of what could become a priceless base for the fund raising efforts of countless arts and entertainment organizations around the world – The Economy of Cultural Heritage and Landscape – A Systematic and Integrated Vision.
The work was presented during a three-day conference in November, part of Florens 2010, a week-long celebration of the arts in Florence, Italy. At the forum, an impressive lineup of more than 80 speakers from the artistic and cultural industries from all over the world took the podium to report their experiences in building their own contribution to the global artistic heritage.
For three days, different panels on the economy, technology and creativity, among other subject, laid out the case for the importance of the arts and culture. The case studies were presented by a virtual “who's who” in the industry.
Darien resident and world-renown PR mogul, President and CEO of The Dilenschneider Group, Robert Dilenschneider, played a major role in the project as a member of the scientific board – the body responsible for making sure that the research is scientifically sound. The board also worked on advising and developing methodology and strategy for Florens 2010.
Mr. Dilenschneider was also the moderator of a panel at the forum in November which discussed the promotion and communication of cultural heritage and landscape.
All speakers at the forum seemed to gravitate around one conclusion – despite a plethora of difficulties, presented by a shaky global economy and shrinking budgets, people in the creative industries are now, more than ever, determined to succeed in a challenging world of a changing cultural landscape. And while most people in the arts and entertainment business speak with emotion and passion about their projects, the global economic system almost always requires hard data to fund them.
Enter the economists.
The data is compelling. According to the Florens 2010 study, for every one dollar invested in the cultural industries, the local economic impact is estimated to be $2.49.
The economic benefit from the cultural industries is often seen as being linked to their ability to attract dollars from tourism. However, it appears that the value of these industries is much larger than that. It turns out that, in Italy, for every additional full time job in the cultural industries, the economy gains another 0.65 full time positions, according to the new analysis.
Probably even more impressive is that a large portion of this gain is in the manufacturing, transportation and trade industries.
While this data is derived and related to one country, the implied economic relationship should be more or less the same across the developed world.
“We did away with the old pre-conceived ideas that the relationship between the culture and the economy, between the culture and companies is not possible. We believe the exact opposite, we believe that the two can be closely linked,” said Giovanni Gentile, the President of Florens 2010 in his closing remarks.
A case in point was presented by one of the distinguished speakers at the forum - Jeffrey Patchen, President and CEO of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Mr. Patchen reported that his organization has a $74 million annual impact to the local economy, which, he says, is larger than that of many other famous attractions in the city. The museum's budget for 2008 was $26.4 million.
While establishing causality between investment in culture and GDP output needs more research and data, examples like this one from all over the world suggest that the Florens study is on the right track.
The lineup of international cultural industry decision makers at the forum hailed from different parts of the globe, yet they presented similar stories of success and challenges. It seemed that culture is as uniquely local as it is universally similar.
In a world of global travel and the Internet, the study would not have painted a sufficiently complete picture of the economy of culture without crossing borders and boundaries.
For this purpose, the project team created comparative models, worked out almost one hundred key performance indicators and came up with a new way to compare and present the level of activity and imprint of cultural industries between different locales in relation to each other - the Florens Index.
As the document states, the Florens Index is an analytical tool which makes it possible to undertake comparisons both on a local (within a nation) and international level “in terms of the potential and dynamism shown by the cultural and creative sector.”
To the surprise of many, the first ever leader in the Florens Index is our own United States of America. It's not a secret that for many Europeans, as they readily admit, the United States is far from being a culturally rich world. Europe, many there say, has long history and heritage, where the United States is a modern civilization without the benefit of a culturally enhanced past. Hence the surprise when our country came out on top as the first overall leader of the newly established index. Impressive, but even more so, considering the competition - the study compared eight of the largest economic and cultural leaders of the world: USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan and Greece.
Our hope can only be that our country will continue to lead the world in cultural activity, despite the continuing economic challenges, but the road ahead could be bumpy. Connecticut's arts community has seen its share of shrinking pool of funds available from public and private sources. Barely coming out of the worst global recession in recent memory, our state is not alone in its struggle with the “austerization” of our lives. And while it is apparent that our only option to continue to grow is to make financial sacrifices, investments in culture should not take a back seat if our society is to retain its competitive advantage.
We could try to learn from the struggles of Italy, the global tourism powerhouse, which has been having a questionable strategy for investment and support of its cultural heritage. Many of the Italian speakers at the forum in Florence highlighted their frustration with the country's policies of cutting funding for the preservation of cultural heritage and the arts. The result is an industry that is in considerable dire straits even though it is rooted in tradition, enjoys overwhelming public support and is one of the main components of the country's economy.
According to Marco Magnifico, Executive Vice President of FAI, the National Trust of Italy which is working to protect Italian's cultural heritage, municipalities in Italy will soon have to spend 80% of their budget just for conservation of their artistic and historic assets, which, he says, would be impossible for them. Since many of these municipalities rely on these assets for a large amount of their income, mainly from tourism, the inability to maintain them is likely to lead to a direct and tangible economic loss for these regions.
Removing passion and perceived benefits and replacing them with hard data could be one of the ways to bring a stronger support for the cultural industries, both in Italy, as well as here at home and all over the world. When it comes to investing money and effort, most people like to see a tangible justification for their decisions. The mutually beneficial relationship, as suggested by the Florens 2010 project, between culture and the economy should help the case for support and funding of cultural institutions around the world.
We often say that we live in a changed world where everything has a price and we've abandoned the ability to appreciate the intangible. The truth is that we, the people, are notoriously myopic and fail to appreciate the immaterial, that separates us from all other creatures on this planet, until we get a hangover from the material. It seems that it is then, when we pause, albeit for a moment, and see through the clutter and into the food for our souls we call art and culture.
Sitting in the middle of the magnificent Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio and listening to the best and the brightest ambassadors of culture from all over the world talking about challenges, achievements and dreams, I couldn't help but think about the days of the Medici and the legacy that they helped create in this great city of Florence. Is culture a catalyst for a powerful economy or is it just a manifestation of an abundance of wealth? Whichever it is, the impact of its invisible force over our lives and progress as a civilization is surely undeniable. All you have to do is listen, see and, most importantly, feel.
