Cultural and Creative Industries in the Brussels Region: Challenges and Opportunities of the Ecosystem

Abstract

Brussels Region has a very ambitious circular economy program which is starting to show its fruits in the sectors of interest of the region, namely, construction, resources and waste, logistics, and commerce. Although the region is also very rich of diversified cultural and creative industries (CCIs), the contribution of CCIs to this regional green transition has not yet been really taken into consideration neither in the regional circular economy agenda nor by the lifelong learning programs. The 2019 edition of the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor places Brussels 92nd out of 190 European cities in terms of overall cultural performance. This research paper aims at mapping the CCI ecosystem in the Brussels Region and exploring what reskilling/upskilling programs are needed to enhance their role as levers for local and sustainable tourism development. For this preliminary mapping, desk research was carried out between April and October 2021, while for mapping the reskilling/upskilling programs, a survey was sent to the mapped ecosystem. Throsby’s concentric circles model theoretical framework was adopted, and the CCIs were classified accordingly. This preliminary mapping of 1170 CCIs took into consideration the 19 municipalities of the Brussels Region and consisted of desk research. It is worth mentioning that this mapping is neither conclusive nor exhaustive. It is instead a first step toward creating a common understanding of the richness and diversity of existing actors and activities. A nugget of information aimed at triggering reflection on the needs and how the ecosystem could be enhanced in the future.