Scottish Government

Section 2 The cultural case

2.1 Culture at the heart of our society

"Let's agree first the importance and the centrality of cultural activity to all aspects of our lives, why it's important and how it can be used to revitalise us individually and as a national community."
Jack McConnell, St Andrew's Day, 2003

This new approach to culture and cultural services, and the express requirement that all government departments consider how cultural activity can help them meet their aims, was well received by the cultural sector, by the press and by the Scottish people. The Cultural Commission strongly supports the Scottish Executive's acknowledgement of the value cultural activity brings to society and the central role it can play in policy areas such as education, health, employment, regeneration, justice and communities. We believe that the 'case for culture' is clear. ¹ During our consultation and our desk research, we examined and debated the many benefits of cultural activity with both analysts and practitioners. Three main areas stood out, and we elaborate them below:

• creativity

• confidence

• well-being.

2.2 Creativity

2.2.1 Nurturing creativity

"The creativity of Scots - from the classroom to the boardroom - is the edge we need in a competitive world. Our duty as an Executive is to create the conditions that allow that creativity to flourish - whether in arts, sciences, commerce or industry."²

That is the Scottish Executive's view about the position of creativity in Scottish society, a view consistent with their drive behind the Curriculum Review ³. There is no doubt that the pursuit of creativity is now recognised as being fundamental, both for individuals and for society as a whole.

2.2.2 Driving economic development

The value of the creative sector to the economic development of society is becoming more evident and substantiated. For example:

• over the next three to five years, the sector aims to grow by 30%, increase exports by 15% and create up to 2,000 new jobs with assistance from Scottish Enterprise. ⁴

• Europe has become increasingly reliant on ideas and creativity. ⁵

Richard Florida has been the key analyst of a seismic shift in the global economy away from mechanical or efficiency improvements driving economic growth to creativity as the main driver of the economy. In The Rise of the Creative Class, ⁶ Florida analysed the biggest drivers of the American economy and he was able to link these to creative centres and to what he called the 'creative class' or those engaged in work to "create meaningful new forms". This includes a core group of scientists, engineers, academics, artists, non-fiction writers, cultural figures and an outer group of creative professionals who work in knowledge intensive industries such as finance, legal and health care. With creativity as a driver, the ability of nations to compete becomes increasingly tied to their ability to attract, retain and develop creative people.

"Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource. The ability to come up with new ideas and better ways of doing things is ultimately what raises productivity and thus living standards."
Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

This view is shared by Scottish Enterprise, who believe that the creative industries offer Scotland the best potential for economic growth and by leading business leaders who identify a pressing need for improving the creativity of the workforce.

In 2001, Arts Council England ( ACE) carried out research to map creative industries, in order to provide a national overview of the economic contribution of the creative sector for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport ( DCMS). The report ⁷ estimated that the creative industries in the UK, which include but are not confined to the arts sector:

• employ 1.3 million people

• generate revenue of around £112.5 billion

• are responsible for an estimated £10.3 billion worth of exports

• account for over 5% of GDP

• have grown by 34% in a decade.

In 2004, Florida applied his concepts and indicators to the 14 European countries. He found a rapid growth in the creative class in the majority of European nations, with Ireland topping the table with 7% growth per annum since 1995. ⁸ However, he also identified a shift in the epicentre of competitiveness from the UK, France and Germany to the Scandinavian and North European Countries. These nations have invested in creativity across the board, in all of its various facets and dimensions, and they have built environments that are attractive to creative people. Support for culture is a key factor in making a place attractive to the creative class.

2.2.3 Stimulating creativity

Creativity is essentially about generating alternatives. These may be ideas or solutions but equally they may not conform to a 'solution'; creative thinking often requires breaking the patterns which limit traditional thinking.

"Creativity is as valuable in retail, education, health, government and business as in culture. The cultural sector should become the national dynamo of the creative impulse that can serve all these areas." ⁹

Because of the importance of creativity as a driver of economic growth there has been a great deal of interest in a better understanding of creativity and how to support it. The benefits of creativity are acknowledged by teachers but Learning and Teaching Scotland recognises the difficulties in nurturing creativity. A report published by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in 2003 ¹⁰ noted:

"Most teachers see developing creativity in young people as an important educational aim. However, whilst teachers endorse many of the ideas implicit in creativity, they often find that the everyday demands of classroom life make it difficult to give anything more than superficial attention to these matters."

The report goes on to acknowledge the benefits of developing creativity in schools, which are marked:

• behaviour in arts lessons can be better than in many other lessons in secondary schools

• the arts can provide more opportunities for pupils to receive positive feedback about their contributions from both their teachers and their peers and this has a strong motivating influence on their subsequent work

• pupils often talk positively about the specific styles of teaching and learning and activities undertaken within the arts, comparing them favourably with their experience elsewhere

• many pupils attach a high level of significance to the arts in their lives

• some of the more disaffected pupils reported that they would not miss a day which contained an arts lesson; an analysis of attendance registers suggested that, for such pupils, there were fewer absences for arts lessons.

Cultural activity offers a different language and an alternative space away from 'normal' school. This provides an opportunity to deliver on the wider creativity agenda.

"The principal goal of education is to create people who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done - people who are creative, inventive discoverers."¹¹
Piaget

The National Cultural Strategy ( NCS) also identified the centrality of culture to creativity:

"Creativity is nurtured, not taught. One of the ambitions of this cultural strategy is to develop the conditions in which creativity and innovation can flourish in all sectors of Scottish life."¹²

This is a view which is not only shared by government and educators but also by business leaders. A poll among the UK's top business men and women showed children are much more likely to become successful and contribute to a stronger workforce if they take part in the arts when young. 80% of business surveyed at a conference of the Confederation of British Industry ( CBI) said that UK companies would gain a better quality workforce if people have exposure to the arts when they are children. ¹³

Cultural activity has been increasingly used to deliver the policy objectives of other areas of government. The evidence is examined more thoroughly in Section 3. Here we focus on why culture can be used in such a way, and we would stress some of the fundamental qualities of culture as the key. Culture can appeal because it is fun, because it can be a social activity, because it stimulates creativity and because it can, and increasingly will, be important to drive our economy and the future prosperity of Scotland.

2.3 Confidence

2.3.1 Shaping confidence and self esteem

"The inheritance of our children cannot be a poverty of aspiration or ambition" ¹⁴
Jack McConnell, St Andrew's Day, 2003

Low confidence is being recognised as an issue across Scotland, and in other countries. A body of evidence in education suggests that teaching arts in school has a number of additional benefits, including improved self-esteem and higher achievement in non-art subjects. More broadly, creativity across the curriculum is seen as important. Learning and Teaching Scotland has stated that being creative is:

"inextricably tied up with the process of becoming knowledgeable, of developing self-esteem and becoming whole." ¹⁵

2.3.2 Supporting culture, increasing confidence

The Tourism Culture and Sport Minister's ongoing bilateral discussions with her ministerial colleagues, particularly those in Education and Health provide an opportunity to promote a co-ordinated approach to addressing some of the root causes of low confidence in individuals. We must ensure we have events, people, and institutions that inspire people and national pride. Our confidence should be evident in the ambition of our events - Edinburgh Festivals, MTV Awards - and in developing the framework to ensure our national creative talent can participate and exhibit at the highest levels. Similarly, our artists and National Institutions must be supported to provide excellence at an international level.

2.4 Well-being

2.4.1 A role for government?

One of our Thinking Group members told us of his secondment with the Greek government where their ambition is to reduce all measurement of public policy down to one indicator - are people happier. This is a bold aspiration for government but is arguably its most genuine desire.

We have been impressed with the work of the New Economics Foundation ( NEF) in elaborating this concept by focussing on the notion of well-being and their view that:

"Policy traditionally focuses on growing the economy, when all the evidence suggests this has little impact on well-being" ¹⁶.

Their Manifesto for Wellbeing ¹⁷ includes elements we feel have relevance for the cultural sector and we list them below:

Measure what matters

Well-being audits would assist local and national government to integrate their services and allocate their funds more effectively and efficiently.

Create a well-being economy

Growing the economy does not necessarily result in higher levels of well-being. High quality work can profoundly affect our well-being by providing us with purpose, challenge, and opportunities for social relationships.

Create an education system that promotes flourishing

The purpose of the education system should be to create capable and emotionally well rounded young people who are happy and motivated. All schools should have a strategy to promote emotional, social and physical well-being. The curriculum needs to be broadened to include more opportunities around sports, arts, creativity.

Invest in the very early years and parenting

Children need a lot of responsive individual attention in their first years. Cost-benefit analyses show that investment in the age group 'zero to three' will repay itself many times over, by lowering future costs in services such as health, education and social work.

Strengthen civil society, social well-being and active citizenship

Being actively engaged with communities has been shown not only to give us a personal sense of well-being but also to have positive knock-on effects for others.

2.5 Culture and social engagement

Culture brings people together - in a gallery, a crafts class, a cinema, to sing in a choir - and the ultimate destination of a creator's work is for social consumption, be it poetry, a radio broadcast, or a computer game. The wealth of media commentary on popular actors, musicians, writers and broadcasters is an indication of the public appetite for culture and its central place in society.

The European and World Value Surveys identify attendance and participation at arts events as a measure of social capital. Evidence quoted in Section 8 on the Voluntary Sector shows people who might not formally participate elsewhere are prepared to freely give up their increasingly precious time, money and skills as volunteers to support cultural activities.

Most importantly, cultural activity is fun; we are stimulated, challenged and entertained, which is why most people participate or audiences attend. Enjoying cultural activity, therefore, presents a range of opportunities for engagement that are not open to other areas of public policy.

2.5.1 Culture as communication

Howard Gardner, Professor of Cognition at Harvard University, is the leading advocate of what he terms multiple intelligences ¹⁸. Rather than a single concept of intelligence, he outlines a series of independent intelligences, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. He sees culture as a form of language used to communicate facts, thoughts, concepts, feelings and emotions.

It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that we celebrate individuals with great talent whose skills lie outside the areas of communication, literacy and numeracy. This may explain why cultural activity is particularly effective with those left behind by formal education and those with mental health impairments. Openness to alternative intelligences will improve our ability to change as technology opens new forms of communication.

"The visual arts are a powerful tool for the stimulation of the imagination and allow us to see the world differently."

Visual Arts and Galleries Association submission to the Commission

2.6 Defining culture

It is worth making some observations on what we mean by culture. The National Cultural Strategy ¹⁹ ( NCS) takes a broad approach to culture, basing its definition on the UNESCO definition, adopted in 1982 at their World Conference on Cultural Policies:

"In its widest sense, culture may now be said to be the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterise a society or group. It includes not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human beings, value systems, traditions and beliefs." ²⁰

The NCS elaborates on this theoretical definition:

"This strategy therefore takes a broad view of Scotland's culture. It includes ideas, customs and traditions, beliefs, habits of thinking, religions, languages, identities, mythologies and histories, and the expression of these in myriad forms such as poetry and prose, visual arts, music, song, theatre, comedy, dance, architecture, design, costume, film, photography and a range of crafts. It is represented in the natural and historical landscape; archaeology; buildings; museum, gallery and library collections; archives and records; and shared memories and experiences. It includes aspects of lifestyle, such as sport and leisure. We can participate in Scotland's culture almost anywhere: in museums, theatres, schools, colleges, streets, galleries, libraries, churches, cinemas, sports grounds, workplaces, local halls, pubs, and in our homes. Not only have new technologies dramatically widened global access to Scotland's culture, but they have also widened our understanding of what that culture is." ²¹

This is the way culture has been defined in terms of policy since 2000. However, there has been no change in infrastructural arrangements to encourage such a holistic view of culture to be undertaken or effectively managed.

2.6.1 Our view of culture

The Commission's remit proposes a view of culture similar in scope to that in the NCS²². We believe that culture should include:

• the arts, including drama, dance, literature, music, the visual arts, crafts, film, and all branches of these

• the creative industries, including screen and broadcasting

• museums and heritage

• galleries

• libraries

• archives

• architecture.