Prague Cultural Forum 2023

This year was devoted to the positive impacts and the transcendence of culture and cultural and creative industries to other areas. The two-day conference brought together over 300 participants from Prague and the regions, and looked at culture through the perspectives of human health, economy and environment.

In the article, the Creative Prague team brings:

• introduction to the topic of perception of culture as investment
• basic data and description of the current state of the cultural and creative sectors
• and also a selection of the most important things that were heard at the Prague Cultural Forum
  
  

If you are wondering what further steps have been taken in the areas identified by the Prague Cultural Forum and what the cultural community can look forward to soon, do not hesitate and start reading!

Culture is an investment

That culture is spirit-enriching and can bring a profound experience to a person is nothing new. But little is said about its positive contributions to areas seemingly unrelated to the cultural core. And that is why the team of Creative Prague, Prague's organization for strategic planning in culture, decided to organize a conference that turned the lens through which culture is viewed most often - entertainment, something extra, something after. During two days at the Archa Theatre, it was clear from the mouths of foreign and domestic experts in the fields of health, economy, politics, urban planning, innovation and culture that culture has an important place in resorts where we would probably not look for its footprint, and therefore it is worth investing in it. It was said that culture is an investment, an investment with a high return.

Why is it important to raise this topic right now?

The world we live in is going through major crises. In recent years alone, the multi-year pandemic of covid, the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, and all the previous economic crises, coupled with deepening mistrust and escalating emotions at virtually every level of society, have all been signed up to us. In order to be able to respond to the ongoing social, green and digital transformation in the Czech Republic, we must at least follow foreign trends and, in the best case, keep up with them in partnership or even help to report them. In this regard, we now have several great opportunities in Europe, accumulating human energy and economic potential - The National Renewal Plan and its Challenges for Culture and Creativity, European Capital of Culture 2028 — České Budějovice, or the Consortium of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology for Culture and Creativity, which aims to build a Europe-wide structure to support cultural and creative sectors in the coming years, ensure their transition into technology, innovation and business, and ultimately contribute to a sustainable, economically strong and cohesive Europe.

And that's why the theme “Culture is an investment” is relevant right now. It is necessary to emancipate culture, to give its diversity a unified voice through an understandable platform towards the relevant ministries, to learn to beat it for its themes, and to get used to talking about it as an asset and a virtue. In parallel, it is necessary to change the language with which we talk about culture, the way in which we obtain information about its benefits, how we evaluate this information and communicate it outside the field. This does not necessarily mean that we have to defend culture and the cultural and creative industries in the same way as other industries. But the fact is that the benefits of culture can effectively communicate data and unified messages - especially to those who are not used to thinking about culture as a value, but decide directly or indirectly on it at the highest levels. Because only in this way will we be able to enjoy it, as well as exploit its enormous potential for individuals, society, the economy and the environment in which we live.

Benefits of culture for mental and physical health

The block dedicated to mental and physical health was launched by Rarita Zbranca, who initiated the Inner Space program, an international initiative for art and wellbeing, including an annual conference, a series of pilot interventions, research projects and policy proposals on the topics of art, health and wellbeing. She is the coordinator of the research initiative and the report on evidence and policy recommendations for the European Union “Culture for Health”.

In a foreign paper, it was said that culture has a unique ability to promote mental and physical health. It teaches us about the world, shows us how to prepare for all kinds of life situations - already Greek drama had this didactic function. Rarita Zbranca noted that in a rapidly changing world full of megatrends and crises, culture can direct a person. The principles inherent in culture, namely the involvement of several different mechanisms at once (social engagement, different cognitive functions, imagination, information, creativity, physical activity, self-expression), are exactly what an individual needs to cope with the complex problems of today.

Furthermore, the foreign contribution was devoted to data and studies in the field of the influence of culture on health. The World Health Organization's 2019 report provided an overview and evidence from a wide range of studies using different methodologies. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that culture and the arts affect both mental and physical health. As part of prevention, positive social determinants, promotion of child development, promotion of health-beneficial behaviors, assistance in disease prevention and caring function were pointed out. As part of treatment, the report showed that culture and art help people with mental and other illnesses manage complex and challenging life situations, help care for people with acute conditions, help support people with neurodevelopmental and neurological diseases, or support end-of-life care.

In the United Kingdom and other European countries, the concept of “arts on prescription” has developed. “Social Prescribing Schemes”. It is a collaboration between the health sector and culture, where, in appropriate cases, culture is “prescribed” to patients as one of the preventive tools. It has been shown and supported by data in the United Kingdom that £1 invested in these schemes is returned as £2.3 (return of investment). Across Europe, only 2.8% of total health budgets are devoted to disease prevention within the health sector. Strengthening prevention, in which culture plays a vital role, can then help save and subsequently spend huge sums of money more efficiently.

Finally, Rarity also mentioned the importance of not forgetting one of the “most beautiful” abilities a culture has, which is to create and transmit meaning.

The foreign entry was followed by an expert panel in the cast of Kateřina Šedá (artist), Vendula Ježková (manager of educational activities, Prague Innovation Institute), Viktor Dočkal (drama therapist and co-founder of the Association of Drama Therapists), Daniel Krejcar (chief clinical psychologist, Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital). The panel was moderated by Hana Slívová from Czech Radio.

Economic impact of culture

The block dedicated to the importance of culture for the future of the Czech and European economy and its position on the market was launched by Bernd Fesel, CEO of the Knowledge and Innovation Community Culture & Creativity at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

It was said that the cultural and creative sectors are among the most dynamically developing. In the European Union, the under-30 age group is the most important employer. The CCP also accounts for 4.4% of the EU's GDP - after all, we can find 3 million SMEs across Europe employing over 9 million people and have a turnover of €450 billion. As an apt example, Bernd Fesel said that when a person wakes up in the morning, reads the news, listens to a podcast or music, puts on a dress that someone has designed and made, travels to a building that someone built according to the design of architects - maybe the building is even a cultural heritage, sits down in a chair, opens a computer, communicates through multimedia technologies. And these are all cultural and creative industries. Without them, we cannot live in the world today. That is why attention needs to be paid to these sectors - they hold enormous potential and added value on which Europe can build not only economically in the future.

The foreign entry was followed by an expert panel consisting of Jakub Bakule (cultural and creative sector expert, Creative Prague, Prague Institute of Innovation), Radek Špicar (Vice President, Union of Industry and Transport), Martina Dlabajová (Member of Parliament, European Parliament). The panel was moderated by Mario Kubaš from Czech Television.

The panel discussion was devoted in particular to the unified voice of culture and the promotion of its interests. Jakub Bakule explained that the cultural and creative sector already had a good previous experience of joint lobbying within the framework of the National Renewal Plan, where it achieved the largest representation of culture throughout the EU. At the same time, it turned out that with the profit of funds, it was no longer possible to continue cooperation and communication with the Ministry of Culture. The result is a reduction in funding for culture and problematic implementation of some programs. At the beginning of the year, it became clear that the same need exists in regions that lack effective communication channels with the state administration in the areas of culture and cultural and creative sectors. Jakub Bakule brought to the panel the idea of creating a Cultural and Creative Federation, which would represent the important and diverse sector and would act as a lobbying and support network.

Since the Prague Cultural Forum is, among other things, a practical planning tool, in the months after the Prague Cultural Forum, common goals and statutes were formulated for the future Cultural and Creative Federation of the Czechia, and its constituent assembly was prepared. This is the fulfillment of specific resolutions and wishes of the sector, which came to light thanks to the Prague Cultural Forum. The very foundation and the beginning of the functioning of the Cultural and Creative Federation are scheduled for the end of 2023.

The influence of culture on the environment in which we live

The last part of the Prague Cultural Forum, dedicated to the relationship between culture and physical environment, was launched from abroad by Malin Kock Hansen, a designer from the Norwegian Design and Architectural State Office DOGA. Malin Kock Hansen at DOGA leads an innovation program involving designers and creatives in solving urban problems, aimed at creating sustainable communities across Norway.

Malin Kock Hansen said right at the beginning of her post that we face complicated and complex challenges that no industry or sector can solve alone - demographic change, sustainability, the climate crisis etc. Design-thinking, that is, applying methods that are common in culture and cultural and creative sectors (holistic approach, inclusiveness, understanding through empathy, defining the right problem, ideation phase, prototyping, testing, implementation, learning from mistakes, repetition), is very suitable for solving complex types of challenges.

The foreign entry was followed by an expert panel consisting of Rozálie Kašparová (architect and urban planner, Prague Institute of Planning and Development), Tomáš Vácha (Innovation Manager of International Projects, ICT Operator and CTU), Zora Jaurová (expert on cultural policy and creative industries, Progresívene Slovakia).

Workshops and desks

Within the framework of the Prague Cultural Forum, there were also 3 working meetings on the topics of wellbeing, urban environment and federations representing the interests of cultural and creative sectors across the Czech Republic. The working meetings were attended by dozens of invited professionals from a range of fields. The intentions of the workshops, their course, outputs and follow-up steps are presented in the paragraphs below.

Workshops Wellbeing

Workshop on Culture - Interdisciplinary Cooperation - Mental Health was prepared and facilitated by Vendula Ježková from the Prague Innovation Institute.

New European Bauhaus Workshop (NEB)

The workshop on the influence of culture on the urban environment was attended by Tomáš Vácha from the ICT Operator and Michal Kuzmič from the CTU.

Together, the participants considered how collaborations, new projects and real involvement of culture and creativity in urban planning in the spirit of inclusiveness, diversity and aesthetic quality could look like, and how cultural principles can be incorporated into the functioning of the city.

Workshop to establish the Cultural and Creative Federation

The last of the workshops that took place within the framework of the Prague Cultural Forum was the workshop for the establishment of the Cultural and Creative Federation. It was prepared by Creative Prague and facilitated by resident Jakub Bakul and Petr Peřinka. It was attended by over 40 selected professionals from the cultural and creative sectors.

The aim of the workshop was to clearly define the model of functioning of the umbrella Cultural and Creative Federation of the Czech Republic, its main priorities for the next period and ways of cooperation with other key players such as cultural associations, EIT Culture & Creativity consortium, Chamber of Commerce, Union of Industry, Association of Regions etc.

In the following months after the Prague Cultural Forum, the initiatives formulated at the workshop were processed into goals, statutes, and steps were taken to establish the federation towards the end of 2023.

Which way next?

If the topics that Creative Prague has been raising and representing for a long time seem interesting and important to you, get in touch with us! Write to the manager of the Prague Cultural Forum Kristýna.

Records from the event

• Record: Foreword
• Panel Recording Culture is an investment: Wellbeing
  • Record from Foreign interview with Rarita Zbranca
• Panel Recording Culture is an investment: Economy
  • Record from Foreign interview with Bernd Fesel
• Panel Recording Culture is an investment: Environment
  • Record from Foreign interview with Malin Kock Hansen