Monitoring the twin transition of industrial ecosystems :Cultural and creative industries : analytical report

Measuring performance and monitoring change within an industrial ecosystem are vital components that enable policymakers and industry stakeholders to track progress over time and obtain valuable feedback on whether the system is moving in the desired direction. This report is a contribution to the ‘European Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems’ (EMI) project, initiated by the European Commission's Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs, in partnership with the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Its primary objective is to present the current state and the advancements achieved over time in terms of the green and digital transition of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) industrial ecosystem. The CCI industrial ecosystem is characterised by a wide range of diverse subsectors that are all based on cultural values and creative expression. They include architecture, archives, libraries and museums, artistic crafts, audio-visual (including film, television, video games and multimedia), tangible and intangible cultural heritage, design (including fashion design), festivals, music, literature, performing arts (including theatre and dance), books and publishing, radio, and visual arts. They are mostly composed of a high number of small and micro-companies and freelancers. A widely adopted common definition of the CCI is still lacking on a European level and various Member States use different definitions. Combined with poor or inadequate data collection mechanisms for specific indicators, and outdated statistical classifications that do not fully capture the diversity of this ecosystem, this creates challenges in providing uniform monitoring data on the CCI and how the ecosystem is performing in the green and digital transition. According to Eurostat, the CCI employed 7.7 million people across Europe in 2022, representing 3.8% of total employment. Compared with 2021, this is a 4.5% increase from 7.4 million. Both the COVID-19 pandemic and energy crisis have placed this industrial ecosystem under a lot of pressure. The COVID-crisis accelerated ongoing trends of digitalisation in the CCI, while the high cost of energy has steered various subsectors to renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, and in the wake of these crises, the CCI are also more and more seen as a driver in a resilient recovery (e.g. the role of CCI in health, wellbeing and social cohesion) and as a catalyst for the digital and green transition of society at large.