On May 24, the Swiss-Ukrainian UCORD project, in cooperation with the Regional Regional Development Agency in the Ternopil Region with the assistance of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration, held a forum “Creative Economy VS Cultural Heritage: How to Monetize Culture” in the Zbarazh Castle.
This is the first in a series of forums devoted to the topics of cultural policy development, multilateral dialogue and strengthening social cohesion. Support of precisely these areas of development of Ukrainian regions complements the project’s task of strengthening state regional policy, including through the development of regional development agencies according to EU standards, as well as support of the water supply, sanitation and waste management sectors.
The following cultural forums will be held in all partner regions of the project – Vinnytsia, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, as well as Volyn and Odesa.
A feature of the forum in the Ternopil region was the completely offline format. Participants and speakers from six partner regions of UCORD gathered together in Zbarazh Castle to work out new formats in Ukrainian culture, learn about successful cases and rethink Ukrainian cultural heritage as the basis of a creative economy and a stimulus for sustainable economic growth.
On the basis of real successful cases presented during the forum, we can form a recipe for the success of a cultural initiative, which aims not only to become economically profitable, but also to stimulate the economy of the entire region:
- choose a clear niche for each initiative to clearly define its achievable goals;
- conduct scientific research that informs strategic decisions;
- carry out mapping and cataloguing: many unique cultural products lack simple visibility in front of a potential customer;
- to form spaces for communication, joint work, exchange of ideas and experiences;
- to have big plans – to want even more than you embody now;
- to hold events that bring value to people and at the same time are information drives;
- use all possible interactive formats for the revitalization of cultural heritage;
- make spaces and events barrier-free and inclusive;
- attract visionary leaders: for an ideological manager, a destroyed palace is a hyper-opportunity, not an obstacle;
- to share love for the heritage of one’s land and attract people through emotions;
- take a comprehensive approach to the implementation of initiatives: if there is a wine farm, why not support the neighboring cheese or meat production?
- proactively stimulate the cooperation of well-known national artists and entrepreneurs with so far less well-known local and regional ones;
- to form effective programs for the transfer of creative experience, skills and traditions from older generations of youth.
In addition, the challenges of reformatting approaches to cultural heritage did not escape the attention of the participants. Here, the speakers offered a set of key theses, which we can consider as open questions that still need solutions, or interesting facts that can become the basis for future solutions:
- 50% of tourists in the world travel for culture.
- The main challenge for heritage managers is the lack of understanding of how to position it in the market.
- Cultural heritage in general requires inspired management, not just preservation.
- At the same time, preserving our cultural heritage is not for the sake of the fact itself, but for the people, for the sake of community.
- We also remember that preserving cultural heritage is saving the authenticity of Ukrainian culture.
- As a demonstration of our identity, cultural heritage makes the economy more resilient and sustainable, especially with active integration into the creative industries.
- Young people are looking for employment that shows results in practice, so engaging young people through the creative industries is a good entry point.
- The economic component of culture is not only about the accompanying economic growth (trade or services around heritage sites), it is also about the growth of the financial rewards of the cultural sector.
- Ultimately, when it comes to the complex management of our heritage, identity, and their reinterpretation in the creative economy, there should not be economic assessments of culture based on stereotypes – the broader view is needed.
In general, the forum “Creative Economy VS Cultural Heritage: How to Monetize Culture” was able to become a platform for networking, exchange of experiences, and dialogue to jointly find answers to the question: how to combine cultural heritage, traditions, and leisure – and bring this into the creative economy of Ukraine?
Our Ukrainian identity became an important element of dialogues about culture during the cruel and unjust war against Ukraine.
“In such a difficult time for us, we are looking for meaning, dialogue, a common language to support Ukrainian identity – exactly what the enemy seeks to destroy. Therefore, today we are talking about how to revive our heritage and monuments through state policy and the unity of Ukrainians,” said Deputy Head of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration Viktor Ustenko at the opening of the forum.
UCORD Project Manager Marina Bryl said in her welcoming speech:
Standing today in the historic Zbarazh Castle, I can’t help but think about how every Ukrainian now breathes their history. Our history is our identity, around which we unite and rally through dialogue.
Dialogue is a central tool in fulfilling the tasks of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development”, UCORD, which is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB.