Czech Republic/ 4.2 Specific policy issues and recent debates  

4.2.3 Cultural/creative industries: policies and programmes

Cultural and creative industries are not currently defined in any of the state's strategic materials. In the spring of 2011, however, the Arts and Theatre Institute (ATI) launched the research project Czech Cultural and Creative Industries Mapping (2011-2015), as part of which attention is devoted to defining cultural and creative industries in the CR. The main aim of the project is to obtain complete and detailed, quantitative and qualitative information on the state of individual branches of cultural and creative industries in the CR and to analyse these data and findings. As part of the project a comparison will be made with the situations in other EU Member States. The main project outcome will be a document that maps cultural and creative industries in the CR and sums up all the findings from the project. Based on this mapping document strategic recommendations will be formulated towards the better organisation and more effective financing of the arts and culture with public resources at the national, regional, and local level, and towards a more thorough use of the social and economic potential of cultural and creative industries in the CR (see also: http://new.institutumeni.cz/cs/kreativni-prumysly-2).

Following consultations with NIPOS, the Czech Statistical Office (CSO) and the MC, the ATI proposed a "three-sector table on culture" based on definitions of cultural and creative industries published in a report titled Economy of Culture in Europe (European Commission (2006): Economy of Culture in Europe. http://www.ec.europa.eu) and that has naturally been adjusted to the Czech environment; see the Table for 2010 below.

The three-sector Table is currently the subject of discussion in the expert community. In connection with the availability of data based on CZ-NACE, optimal solutions for problem areas are being sought and in the near future it is assumed that the three-sector Table will be put into cultural-policy practice in the Czech Republic. Beyond the framework of these three sectors, a fourth "support sector" is to be included in the future within the scope of cultural and creative industries, and it will encompass branches that do not produce content typical for creative industries but nonetheless play an important and traditional role within the framework of cultural and creative industries in the CR. These include, for instance, the production of musical instruments and pressing sound and audio-visual media and more.

The ATI's mapping research also includes working on an official definition of cultural and creative industries for the Czech Republic, which has also to be established. The prevailing practice is now to refer to the definition of the UK's DCMS, and it is expected that the DCMS' definition will ultimately serve as the basis for the official Czech definition of cultural and creative industries. The publication Cultural and Creative Industries in the CR (see: Žáková et al.: Kreativní průmysly v ÄŒeské republice. Prague: Institut umÄ›ní, 2012), in follow up to the book Creative Industries: An Opportunity for the New Economy (see: Cikánek, M.: Kreativní průmysly: pÅ™íležitost pro novou ekonomiku. Prague: Institut umÄ›ní, 2009) uses the following definition:

"Creative industries are those industrial branches that are founded on individual human creativity, human skill, and talent. At the same time, creative industries are branches with the potential to create wealth and jobs mainly through the use of intellectual property" which the expert community believes "can be used in the Czech context" (ProCulture, 2012). The issue of the Czech definition is also connected to the issue of Czech terminology used in the context of cultural and creative industries in the CR. It is important to note that cultural and creative industries entail a way of looking at culture that has not previously been customary in the Czech cultural environment. As a result there has been criticism or even outright rejection of this new cultural policy paradigm by a part of the cultural community. This opposition has been most apparent in a questioning of the Czech terminology currently being used in connection with creative industries. However, in connection with the increasing awareness of cultural and creative industries in the CR it has also been possible to notice that the terminology is becoming more firmly rooted and in the future it is expected that these critical tendencies will subside.

In 2012, based on the ATI´s mapping project and within the context of the Satellite Account created by the CSO a three-sector Table on culture was drawn up using data for 2010. So, for the first time the Czech Republic now has data available that gives a quantitative description of the individual branches of cultural and creative industries. In each branch data were filled out for categories such as revenue, expenditure, consumption of material, energy, goods and services, expenditure on investment, gross value added, the number of employees and legal and physical persons, and finally also the volume of imports and exports for each branch. The analysis and interpretation of these data are the focus of the Mapping Document of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Czech Republic, publication of which is planned for the autumn of 2012 as part of the Cultural and Creative Industries Mapping in the Czech Republic.

Table 1:     Selected indicators in a three-sector table on culture for 2010 – in thousands of CZK

Source:     Three-sector table – Satellite Account for Culture 2010, published in 2012.

The information, mostly of a qualitative nature, and the data on individual branches come not from any survey conducted by the CSO but from professional associations and interest groups organised within individual branches of the cultural and creative industries in the CR and are available in the publication Cultural and Creative Industries in the Czech Republic (Žáková et al., 2011), which was prepared as part of the outcome of a research project of the ATI conducted in 2011 titled The Socio-economic Potential of Cultural and Creative Industries in the CR (The project (2007-2011) focused on a sociological-historical definition of the concept of cultural and creative industries and their impact on the development of concepts of cultural policy, and on proposed indicators for assessing the socio-economic potential of cultural industries and the mapping and structuring of individual cultural industries in the CR). This publication is available in electronic format at: http://new.institutumeni.cz/cs/kulturni-a-kreativni-prumysly-v-cr-elektronicka-pu. The publication offers an in-depth overview of the state of individual branches of cultural and creative industries in the CR. The branches it covers include: architecture, advertising, design, TV and radio, music, film, the market in art, books and printing, video games, stage arts, and cultural tourism. The publication also contains a summary of the state of Czech cultural and creative industries, a comparison of economic performance based on data from professional organisations with the findings in the satellite account for culture for 2009 (see also chapter 6.2) and recommendations for cultural, developmental, and structural policy.

In addition to mapping and monitoring creative industries at the national level, which the ATI has been doing in the CR as part of the two research projects mentioned above, in recent years there have also been comparisons made of efforts and attempts to map cultural and creative industries at the regional and municipal levels in the CR. The biggest progress in these activities has been made by the Zlín Region, where, as part of CreaClust – Cross-border Cluster Initiatives for the Development of Creative Industries in the Zlín Region (CZ) and the Trenčián Region (SK), creative industries have been thoroughly mapped and socio-geographical analyses of the results of the mapping have been carried out: http://www.cjournal.cz/index.php?hid=clanek&bid=search&cid=82&cp=&q=bedn%C3%A1%C5%99.

Similar activities, albeit not to the same extent as in Zlín, were observed earlier in Ostrava and the Moravia-Silesia Region in connection with its candidature for the European Cultural Capital 2015 and in Brno (http://www.idu.cz/media/document/kreativita-a-inovace-ve-mestech-a-regionech-cr.pdf) in connection with the planned founding and construction of a Creative Centre in Brno. Pilsen won the title of European Cultural Capital 2015 for the Czech Republic and is considering mapping cultural and creative industries as part of the evaluation of the project European Culture Capital 2015. In the Czech Republic, in conformity more with practices in the United States than in Europe, a creativity index is compiled in the academic sphere (http://www.kreativniprumysly.cz)

Since 2010, the Czech Republic has operated the Programme for the Support of the Film Industry (see chapter 3.4.2), which is a response to the decline in film production in the CR that occurred not just as a result of the global economic crisis but also in connection with the introduction of support measures in neighbouring countries. The Programme is based on an analysis of the changes made abroad and not only ensures effective use is made of financial resources, but also prevents abuses of the established system of support. The basis on which subsidies are allocated is approval of a project by the Programme Board, which is the advisory body of the Ministry of Culture. In conformity with the rules of the Committee (the EC), all films must be submitted to a cultural test that guarantees that the supported film will have certain qualities in relation to European culture. The Programme guarantees that no more than 20% of the recognised costs will be paid until an "investor/producer" within the Czech Republic invests its own financial resources into Czech services and goods and an audit of these resources is conducted. The Programme's system aims to motivate foreign and domestic production to achieve its objectives of bringing invested resources to the Czech Republic. This is a measure that helps ensure business for companies in related services and in production and creates new jobs (see http://www.ppfp.cz).

In March 2011 the MC published its Assessment of the Programme of Support for the Film Industry in 2010 (http://www.ppfp.cz/clanky/dokumenty.html). An assessment of the financial costs and benefits connected with this support confirmed expectations of the positive effects of support on the Czech public budgets and on the Czech economy generally. The assessment concentrated mainly on the following points:

• increasing the interest of foreign productions in filming in the Czech Republic;
• positive net contribution to the public budgets;
• benefits for the promotion of the Czech Republic; and
• effect of the export of services in the film industry on competitiveness.

In 2011, forty projects fulfilled the conditions of the Programme and were allocated subsidies amounting to a total of 260 702 200 CZK (see: Annual Report of the Ministry of Culture 2011).

Compared to other cultural and creative industries cinematography occupies the best position in the Czech Republic in terms of how recognised and esteemed it is by Czech society and the government. A sign of this is the existence of the CR State Fund for Cinematography, which supports not just film work but also the digitisation of Czech cinemas, a programme of incentives for the film industry functioning since 2010, and two strategic documents prepared by the Ministry of Culture: the Concept of the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography and the Czech Film Industry 2011–2016 approved by the government in 2010, and it also acknowledged the Strategy in Support of the Competitiveness of the Czech Film Industry 2011–2016 (see also chapter 4.2.11).

In February 2012 the Government of the Czech Republic proposed legislation on audio-visual works drawn up by the Ministry of Culture. The reason for the new legislation is that existing laws do not fully reflect the new technologies of production and distribution of works, are conceptually inaccurate, and put an administrative burden on businesses (see also chapter 5.3.6). The bill is currently the subject of debate in the Chamber of Deputies in the Parliament. (http://www.psp.cz/sqw/historie.sqw?o=6&t=620).

Among other specific strategies and programmes, mention should just be made of support in the field of design. Support for industrial design falls within the portfolio of the government agency CzechTrade, which since 2008 has run the project Design for Export aimed at individual consultation. During its existence its services have been used by approximately 100 Czech producers, while the Programme's annual budget in the years 2008–2010 was less than 4 million CZK. The agency also organises expert seminars and supports the presentation of Czech firms at selected exhibitions and fairs abroad. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) manages a programme called Czech Official Participation in International Fairs in Exhibitions Abroad and in 2010 a joint project of the MIT, CzechTrade and the Czech Chamber of Commerce was launched, entitled Joint Participation in Specialised Exhibitions and Fairs Abroad (2009–2012).

In recent years references to cultural and creative industries have appeared in newly developed strategies of individual state organisations and regional administrative bodies. For example, The Strategy for the Work of the Czech Centres (a state budgetary organisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; see chapter 3.4.2) for 2012–2015 states: "In the area of support for external economic relations, cultural representation abroad is linked to important Czech export labels and export opportunities for Czech creative industries are supported." In the part of the strategy devoted to instruments it plans: "annual preparation of reports on opportunities for Creative industries in countries with a Czech Centre to support Czech experts and co-participate in the creation of the conceptual foundations for the promotion of Czech creative industries abroad." (http://www.czechcentres.cz/_sys_/FileStorage/download/4/3673/czech-centres.pdf)

The City of Pilsen's cultural policy commits to specific activities in cultural and creative industries, such as, for example, since 2012 participation by the city's Department of Culture in at least one international project connected with creative cities, creative industries, or economic planning with the use of culture, and an agreement with the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen to create a study programme that will focus on the education of cultural managers and enable Pilsen to obtain a highly qualified labour force for the 21st century. The programme will educate current and future artists and management and marketing skills, which they need for the development of creative industries in Pilsen. 

In 2012 the City of Brno introduced the Programme for the Development and Evaluation of Culture in the City of Brno.

The Programme also mentions the essential role of creative industries: in terms of the infrastructural development of the city, a vital role is assigned also to creative industries. A response to this is the plan to build the Brno centre for the support of creative industries (Brno Creativity Centre). This project envisions serving as an incubator for entrepreneurs just starting out in creative industries. In reference to priority A1 / Infrastructure - A.1.2 Support for creative industries, it states that: "In a similar way it will be necessary to support creative industries, one of the most important sectors in the contemporary European economy. Centres for creative industries provide the conditions for the further development of the activities of those starting out or already established in this field."

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