Cultural Enterprise Index

Indices bring together a range of data to assist evaluation of complex concepts. The creative and cultural sector is diverse and multifaceted, which has led researchers and policymakers to use indices as an assessment and analysis tool.

As part of a creative momentum project we have developed a series of indices assessing different aspects of creative and cultural sector development in the project partner regions.   Our ‘Cultural Enterprise Index’ measures the relative regional performance of the cultural industries across a creative momentum project regions. Read the report here

This index includes an overall ‘Cultural Enterprise Index‘ and three sub-indices (1. Publishing Sub Index, 2. Film, TV, Music and Radio Sub Index, 3. Cultural Education, Arts and Recreation Sub Index).  This report presents results for each of these indices. It also presents summary results for each region assessing their overall performance and helping to indicate where strengths and weaknesses lie. Some of the key findings include:

• The West of Ireland has a clear strength in the peripheral regional context based on its score in the Film, TV, Music and Radio Sub Index.
• South East Northern Ireland’s cultural enterprise sector emerged as having a low level of development when compared to the other four regions. But growth is observed in index scores indicating that while a low critical mass may exist in the region it has a developing cultural enterprise sector.
• Based on its score in the Film, TV, Music and Radio Sub Index, this is a key strength of the Mid Sweden region. Alongside this, the region’s score on the Cultural Education, Arts and Recreation Sub Index is also strong.
• Northern Finland showed a relative strength in the publishing industries.
• The smallest of a creative momentum project partner regions, North East Iceland performed well across the Cultural Enterprise Indices. Our report analysing creative sector supports in the region found that the broader cultural infrastructure is an important factor that has facilitated creative sector development. A strong cooperative culture among creative professionals was also found to exist. This evidence combined with the index results reiterates that the creative sector is similar to an ecosystem, with a number of interacting elements enabling it to function effectively.