The impact of COVID-19 on sectors of the creative industries with ties to traditional industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our social, cultural and economic model, our very way of life. The world as we knew it has been shaken, and in many ways it has been destroyed, which has meant that we have been forced to look for unique solutions
In spite of being the first to suffer the consequences of the pandemic (cancellation of events, festivals, reduction of capacity, even complete closure at times), the creative and cultural industries have played a key role during the crisis. They conveyed positive messages, ideas that cut across different communities and countries, raising our spirits, reaching out to people (museums like the Prado set up online guided tours every morning). Their efforts have been crucial to sustaining our resilience across the world.
The creative and cultural industries’ ability to transform and reinvent themselves has once again demonstrated their value when it comes to innovating and building a different future. All this while the present was being destroyed. Creatives, as well as cultural institutions and businesses, saw their activity and their revenue drastically reduced in the first weeks of the pandemic. Its prolonged nature, coupled with uncertainty, compounded this critical situation.
Now that the CreO Project is coming to an end, all that remains for us is to reiterate what we have said on countless occasions, both in our blog, and at project meetings: involving talented young people from different creative backgrounds in traditionally non-creative businesses or environments provides value and differentiation.
Our approach to business has been evolving: from a resistance to change, to the desirability of planning for change, advocated in the 1980s, to the demand for change to be driven by innovation that we see advocated today. This requires a shift in business management to deal with a number of challenges to successfully manage innovation, fostering a range of attitudes and behaviours that are favourable to change in all members of the organisation.
Most of the time, though, change was being instigated by people from outside the organisations themselves. Creatives, trail-blazers, visionaries... Throughout history, they show us that creativity is a necessary component for any business. Da Vinci introduced the crazy idea of flying into the collective imagination, and nowadays his design is considered to be the first serious sketch of an aircraft.
The CreO project, which aims to boost open innovation between creative industry Vocational Education and Training cycles and businesses in the traditional industry and technology sectors, is in its final stages. We would therefore like to let you know how the project has gone, and thank you for receiving it so warmly.
The response to the CreO project has been positive, and it has been warmly received in the 4 countries where it has been implemented. In each country, there were around 15 students, 5 teaching staff, and different business management or HR staff from different companies. With an international conference at Emilio Campuzano VET college in Atxuri (Bilbao), and several multiplier events in each country, the CreO project comes to a close on 31 January 2021. It has run throughout 2020, which has been the most difficult year for in-person activities.
Due to the restrictions imposed internationally due to the public health alert created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial numbers of students and staff authorised to attend the event in person have been reduced. This has obviously affected all project participants, who have had to adjust to the new normal, and holding work meetings differently. The pandemic has forced us to restructure much of the project, and to seek out new ways to interact. Even so, the CreO project has managed to unite the efforts of businesses and students to be able to deliver presentations and attend cultural industry activities (in-person or online), such as the Selected Bilbao event in 2019.
