Over the last years, the importance of the so-called cultural and creative industries has greatly increased. Today, cultural and creative industries are recognised driving factors for economic growth and according to global demand, also stimulated by the new economy. Of course the concept refers not only to the domain of culture in the strict sense, but refers also to cultural goods and services as the core of a new, powerful and vast sector that can be broadly referred to cultural areas.
Since the creative industries initiative was launched, the relationships between the arts and the newly defined creative industries have been subject of much debate.
The application of management principles to the process of artistic creation is not a new phenomenon. However, the development of this field has recently taken a dramatic shift since governments recognize the economic potential of the arts, culture and creativity. Investing in the arts and cultural sectors is seen as providing a more stable environment within which artists can produce and live off their work. The impact of such thinking on artists is currently being explored. While government investment in the arts and cultural sectors is welcomed, artists have difficulty conceiving of their arts practice wholly within the newly implemented economic models. However, artists have little choice but enter into the current creative industries framework if they are to survive in the arts and cultural sector.
Europe is the second largest Cultural and Creative industries market in the world after Asia. A study by ‘Cultural Times’ estimates that European Union creates 32% of global CCI revenues and 26% of world-wide CCI jobs. Numerous surveys have proven that this field is one of the most sustainable in times of crises and can more easily adapt to the changing conditions. The CCI sector is an important player in the economic and political context, and its strength lays on its ability to encourage both competitiveness and inclusiveness in different fields of business, although its further development still encounters certain obstacles. Several studies have been produced on the impact of creative industries on the national economy in several countries and regions, but little has been reported on the impact of such new economic frameworks on artists as subjective motives, learning approach, mismatch between learning and teaching methods, underlying decisions to adopt or not the role of entrepreneurs.
MUSAE project, taking into account the main literature, the achieved results in the partner countries and the national policies on the field of creative economy, will focus on two specific objectives:
to mitigate Knowledge gap between the classical professional training (by integrating the existing curricula with new Modules providing business and entrepreneurial competences, prepared and delivered by professors from Economy Faculties);
to identify and develop coping strategies in order to (a) sustain students’ motivation in acquiring the new skills and competences, (b) maintain their interest in these disciplines despite a different approach and attitude , and (c) introduce them in an intercultura.
