Took part in a session organized by the City of Amsterdam to review and preview policy on the Creative Industry. Good initiative, reasonable round table conversations. Although sometimes the discussions seemed to drift of to specific issues (for instance, on the position of a Cultural Mayor of the Night...) house moderator of CI hot spot Pakhuis De Zwijger Ruben Maes was in control of his quests. Including myself, positioned in the last group of speakers, along with Marleen Stikker of the Waag Society and Rob Huisman, director of BNO and chairman ai of the new Federation of Dutch Creative Industries).
I hope I was able to sketch a bigger picture in which the CI (including the Amsterdam area) is supposed to play an active role in an ambition to drive the Netherlands into a creative economy. Which means the CI has to become more society focused, better organized, entrepreneurial etc. In other words, the CI has to grow towards a more powerful position in order to deliver its added value. We have to shift focus from a cultural position on the side of the playing field, to a socio-economic role in the heart of society. Because in the end even a creative economy isn't the end goal, that's a creative society. In which creativity is not only just a creating phenomenon, or a healing one...but most of all a connecting one. Between different cultures, business sectors, geografical regions, etc, etc.

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