Cultural and creative sector presents New Creative Deal

On 2 March, pressure groups Kunsten ’92 and Federatie Creatieve Industrie launched the ‘New Creative Deal’: an ambitious, expansive plan for an overhaul and a robust recovery of the cultural and creative sector.

The New Creative Deal is a detailed elaboration of the creative manifesto ‘Cultuur maakt Nederland, Nederland maakt Cultuur’ that was published last year. The main premise of the plan is that the Netherlands has been at the forefront in architecture, media, art, culture, creativity and design for decades. The sector is a driving force behind the country’s innovative powers, and contributes significantly to the nation’s welfare and wealth, the quality of our education and a healthy democracy. The sweeping impact of the pandemic underlines the need for a plan for recovery and reinvention.

The plan focuses on three major ambitions: every Dutch citizen should have unhindered access to a wide range of cultural experiences; the cultural and creative sector should work side by side with governments and businesses to tackle major issues in society; and the cultural and creative sector should team up with the government to ensure the sector’s vitality, with greater flexibility and more financial scope than has been the case.

To achieve these goals the sector is presenting 31 action items, grouped together within a framework with five pillars:

– A coherent, sustainable policy for the entire cultural and creative sector, including the media, based on a single unifying vision and under responsibility of a single Minister.

– Sufficient funding for the sector to overcome the crisis and to innovate its way out of the crisis in a sustainable way. This requires investments in the labour market, local infrastructure, entrepreneurship and new developments.

– An increased impact of the cultural and creative sector in tackling issues in society.

– Robust investment in art education, cultural programmes and reading and writing proficiency.

– A generous fiscal policy to encourage donations and crowdfunding.

Jan Zoet, Chair of Kunsten ’92: “This past year, the sector has worked closely with the government to tackle the effects of the pandemic. We are looking forward to closing a New Creative Deal for a resilient sector with the next cabinet.”

Read the full text (in Dutch) here: http://cultureelencreatief.nl/newcreativedeal/