Horizontal and sustainable cooperation in the cultural and creative industries

In development work in cultural and creative industries, horizontal cooperation between policy areas is vital to sustainability. Work with cultural and creative industries (CCI) within the Government Offices of Sweden is therefore run in partnership between several ministries. The approach to cultural policy rests on fundamental respect for the intrinsic value of culture, equipped with the insight that industries whose value is comprised of cultural goods, services or processes are taking on increasing importance for social and economic development. The balance between both these objectives is vital partly for maintaining a robust and stable cultural policy that provides scope for artistic innovation and development. At the same time, the opportunities and the potential inherent in development of the cultural and creative industries is exploited and developed in the field of business policy. At government agency level, this approach has resulted in agencies within business and cultural policy now working on issues in their respective remits and also working together with the cultural and creative industries in different ways. The Swedish Arts Council and The Swedish Agency for Economical and Regional Growth have an ongoing partnership, one of the results of which is shared forms of funding geared towards the CCI sector. Furthermore, in the autumn of 2015 the Government decided on an export strategy for Sweden in which the cultural and creative industries are an explicit area of focus based on a partnership between the Ministry of Forign Affairs, Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation and the Ministry of Culture.