The non-urban constituency of the cultural and creative sector has grown in visibility and significance over the last decade internationally but is still vulnerable due to the lagging attention of research and policy to its needs, characteristics, and potential. In short, research and policy attention on creative work has largely focused on cities, while cultural and creative actors, enterprises and ecosystems in non-urban areas are generally under-researched and under-recognized (Duxbury, 2000). This situation has led to significant knowledge deficits, data gaps, and a lack of guidance for policy approaches for periphery-based creative and cultural organizations and agents that are adapted to the unique characteristics of their situations.
Aiming to address these issues, the Horizon Europe-funded project, “IN SITU: Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas,” aims to advance understanding of the forms, processes, and governance needs of cultural and creative actors located in non-urban areas of Europe and to advance their ability to act as drivers of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability for the locales in which they are located. The initial research phase has revealed how cultural and creative actors face an array of challenges, such as connectivity, whether in terms of transport and infrastructure or links to cultural and creative agents in other regions nationally and internationally; a need for intra-regional networking among cultural and creative agents; and more robust strategic planning and effective policy-making in relation to the rural cultural and creative sector.
Greater attention to the operational realities, challenges, and aspirations of cultural and creative actors in non-urban locations is imperative in order to better enable them to act as agents of change, development, and innovation in their communities and territories. Considerations of the links between culture and local development have traditionally emphasized local economic development and economic performance. Aligned with this, innovation has generally been conceptualized in a very technological way. Today, however, many researchers accept the idea that innovation in non-urban territories is, above all, of a social, organizational or institutional nature (Torre and Filippi, 2024). Thus, significant reflection must be given to the social economy and to the actions carried out by local individuals and groups, whose dynamics support the life and development of territories. The role played by cultural and creative agents in this dynamic is often still poorly studied and informed.
Culture-based actions can identify strategies and tactics to engage citizens, stimulate cross-sectoral collaborations, contribute to the democratization of societies, and raise awareness about urgent issues. To fulfil this role, cultural initiatives must be accessible financially, geographically, and socially and serve as spaces for new ideas and inclusive participation, ensuring that every voice is heard and engaged. The work and dedication of cultural and creative actors must be sustainable over time to form the soft infrastructure that is so important in building connectivities and platforms for cooperation and collaboration.
Cultural and creative actors can also play essential roles as drivers of socioeconomic development in less urbanized and resource constrained regions. They produce and disseminate artistic and creative products and services that can generate wealth and new ideas. By leveraging place-based distinctiveness for localized development, they can strengthen local identity, attract investment, generate jobs, and build collective momentum (Beaudette, 2021). The cultural and creative sector can also foster local development through spillovers of ideas and techniques to other economic sectors and social spheres. These activities can generate a plurality of socioeconomic impacts.
As the IN SITU project evolves, we are bearing witness to a paradigm shift in how we view and imagine peripheral regions as sites of creativity and hubs of cultural production. Established narratives that confine non-urban areas to a passive role in relation to urban centres are making way for new perspectives that recognize them as crucial contributors to social and economic development and innovation. This shift stems from recognizing the unique potentialities that these regions offer and how combinations of cultural heritage, natural beauty, local practices, and distinctive resources can ignite new commercial and social ventures.
While the challenges identified at the beginning of this article remain significant, possibilities can emerge through catalyzing discussions and iterative processes, where created opportunities become the foundation for cultural strategies to build on previous achievements. This involves close attention to local dynamics and specificities, tensions, confrontations, and negotiations – that is, real actions “on the ground” – to move this forward. This attends to the active involvement of residents in the vitality and enhancement of local culture(s), as well as the medium and long-term motivations and commitments of key organizations and successive governments. There is also a need to encourage transformative cultural policy and a holistic approach to all public policies that regards culture as a connective tissue for social processes – an experimental, innovative, and creative realm for sustainable and resilient solutions in the public interest of communities located in rural landscapes and ecosystems (Kegler, Heinicke, and Walther, 2024).
Cultivating cultural vibrancy, continuance as well as adaptation and change over time are integral aspects of local sustainability. They are embedded in the active processes through which cultures are sustained. The cultivation of enabling milieus and sustainable livelihoods for cultural and creative actors in non-urban areas comprises an important dimension of this process so culture can actively contribute to territorial development.
References
- Beaudette C. (2021), Bonavista Biennale – Art Encounters on the Edge: Contemporary art in rural Newfoundland. In: Duxbury N. (ed.), Cultural sustainability, tourism, and development: (Re)articulations in tourism contexts (pp. 69-84). London: Routledge.
- Duxbury N. (2020), Cultural and creative work in rural and remote areas: An emerging international conversation. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 27, 6: 753-767. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2020.1837788
- Kegler B., Heinicke J., Walther H. (2024), State of cultural policies for CCIs in non-urban areas (Deliverable 5.2). IN SITU project. https://insituculture.eu/resource/state-of-cultural-policies-for-ccis-innon-urban-areas-deliverable-5-2-d5-2/
- Torre A., Filippi M. (2024), State of policies and S3s on innovation and CCIs in non-urban areas (Deliverable 5.1). IN SITU project. https://insituculture.eu/resource/state-of-policies-and-s3s-on-innovation-and-ccis-in-non-urban-areas-deliverable-5-1-d5-1/
