Positioning Brazil the Global Creative Economy

Project objectives

Unlocking the potential of the Creative Economy involves promoting the overall creativity of societies, affirming the distinctive identity of the places where it flourishes and clusters, improving the quality of life where it exists, enhancing local image and prestige and strengthening the resources for imagining diverse new futures.

Impact statement

The Creative Economy Programme in Brazil is having some significant outcomes.  The knowledge sharing between the UK and Brazilian partners has also been really valuable with Loughborough University, Coventry University and Nesta all continuing work in Brazil.

At a state level the Creative Economy Programme has reinvigorated and opened new dialogue between a range of different government agency and public institutions, generating new understanding around the potential for and importance of creative economy.  The private sector and universities are still largely absent.  Bringing together all players with a stake in the creative economy in each state would create a stronger creative ecosystem.

It is clear that at a state level, overall there is a lack of understanding of creative economy among public administrators.  Through the consultations of the evaluation, public administrators demonstrated considerable interest in learning from UK’s and global policy approach to growing the economy and its role for not only economic but social development.

For Sebrae and Adesampa, the Creative Economy Programme has positioned both as leaders in and key reference points for creative sector development.  There is real opportunity for a greater sharing of expertise across the agencies to explore methodologies and approaches  to creative sector development of work with entrepreneurs from more vulnerable communities.  There is ongoing need for;

• Permanent expert mentorship:  For the entrepreneurs, the trainings were a valuable starting point to get business ideas off the ground and for some to take their enterprises to the next stage.  Without ongoing support – from peers through networks and specialist next stage advice from creative sector advisor or business mentors – many of the entrepreneurs will continue to face challenges.  

• Combining local development with mobility – creating networks:  As important as fostering local development through creative economy is to connect entrepreneurs from the periphery and rural areas with entrepreneurs the cities.  Helping to break down barriers and promoting encounters between entrepreneurs that would not usually meet would facilitate creative knowledge exchange and act as a bridge towards reducing social inequality

The connections can be much broader than the cities borders, the networking among vulnerable entrepreneurs from one state to another is also crucial to allow them to exchange knowledge among themselves.