Page 25 - AHATA

A14 LOCAL
Thursday 1 November 2018

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Do we need more than just Culture and Creativity?

Maastricht – In the past weeks we have explored various outlooks within the
Cultural and Creative Industry (CCI) that serve as a foundation for under-
standing. We covered topics such as the CCI definition, how CCI is related
to sustainability and last week, we deconstructed how CCI is related to the
cultural identity formation in a country. The importance and relevance of
resource inventory mapping towards the formulation and implementation
of a CCI in Aruba is countless. Today we will discuss how Aruba can create
a cultural and creative inventory mapping to shape the desired framework
for this new industry. Starting from the bottom provides the opportunity to
design our own CCI using the resources that are denounced to our own
culture, historical context and our future.

Cultural and Creative Resources?
When discussing resources, many people would assume that one is talk-
ing about materialistic resources, or even more popular, human resources.
Eventhough these are relevant within the CCI, today we are exploring the
cultural and creative resources that are imperative for successful imple-
mentation of a CCI on Aruba. Considering all types of resources known to
us, it is interesting to analyze all the diverse scales of cultural and creative
resources we have on the island.

However, why do we need to know this information? Is creating and defin-
ing the Aruban CCI not enough for implementation? Well, when you are an
inspiring entrepreneur ready to meet with investors to start a new business.
Some common questions that might be asked are; What resources do you
have? What does your capital consist of? What are your assets? For the
implementation of a CCI we would ask; What are the cultural and creative
resources available. For Aruba, what are the resources available to us. Are
these resources enough for a CCI implementation? How realistic are these
resources?

Before we get lost answering these questions, let’s understand what cultural
and creative resources look like. Resources can be human, natural, social,
economic, or man built. Examples of cultural resources are: the arts, media
activities and institutions; the local human, natural and cultural heritage;
creative and cultural enterprises; festivals and events; youth cultures and
lifestyles; the diversity of the local community; universities and private sec-
tor research centers; the repertoire of local products and skills in the crafts,
manufacturing and services; the natural and built environment (Ghilardi,
2007).

A common formula that has been used by many international organiza-
tions and countries around the world has been the resource inventory map-
ping framework. This framework is used to create a unified inventory of all
the types of available resources. This creates a benchmark measurement
opportunity to access whether we have enough resources for implementa-
tion and to know what other resources are missing. It relates to the question
we ask ourselves today, is culture and creativity enough for CCI implemen-
tation?

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