Transforma Think Tank (TTT) 2007

2nd and 3rd November 2007Transforma, Torres Vedras, Portugal

Transforma Think Tank explores the role of creative production within the development of the competitive edge of any given city, region or country and the potential importance of leadership, and commerciality within the cultural sector, considering Transforma and Torres Vedras as case studies.

In October 2006 the first ever Transforma Think Tank (TTT) took place in Torres Vedras Portugal. The theme was leadership. The group at this inaugural TTT comprised of creatives, policy-makers, academics, institutions, legal experts, media owners and journalists. The event was hosted and produced by Michael DaCosta, the founder director of marketing strategy consultants Architects of Communication and Transforma-AC, the leading Portuguese hybrid creativity association.

TTT has been set up as a fluid platform for discussion about defining creativity and its past, present and future role within society. The main ambition of TTT is to stimulate exchange on a micro level between the various creative sector stakeholders such as academics, policy-makers, brand owners and media owners and of course creatives across all disciplines. On a macro level the European Union (EU) has long noted the need for more investment in innovation. This preoccupation was highlighted at the Lisbon summit in 2000 where transfer of knowledge was cited as being a key driver of the EU economy:

“The prominence given to the concept of a genuinely creative economy reinvigorated industrial and cultural policy in the UK around a few very specific forms of intellectual property…this was true not only in Britain but far beyond. The European Union’s Lisbon Agenda was constructed upon the idea of promoting a knowledge economy which, in turn, owed much to early thinking that lay behind the development of the UK’s creative economy”[1]
At the moment there is no pan EU definition or benchmark of the creative or cultural industries. However, by 2010 this situation may change. That is the due date for completion of research into the creative economy by the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development studies (AMIDSt). Their investigation is entitled Accommodating Creative Knowledge – Competitiveness of European Metropolitan Regions within the Enlarged Union (ACRE)…Their mission is as follows.
“The central research question we will address is: what are the conditions for creating or stimulating ‘creative knowledge regions’ in the context of the extended European Union? We will compare the recent socio-economic development trends and strategies in several metropolitan regions across Europe to get more insight in the extent to which creativity, innovation and knowledge are indeed the keys to a successful long-term…” [2]

The TTT 2006 final findings:

The TTT group developed and proposed pragmatic steps that Transforma could implement in the short, medium and long term:
§ Research second city networks which other organisations and cities operating within a similar context
§ Look for organisations with similar issues to their own especially those that might be interested in collaboration
§ Investigate possible connections with local industry in Torres Vedras: “Sustainable creativity for everyone”
§ Launch Torres Vedras as the “Davos of creativity”. Just in time for the new airport if it is located in the region
§ Research the potential for partnerships with property developers who are building leisure projects in the region including chain or boutique hotels
§ Research the creative sector and take ownership of that research
§ Launching, updating and maintaining a web site\ blog
§ Comprehensive documentation of all TTT events
§ Major international conference to launch Torres Vedras World Creative Forum

[1] Management and Creativity – Chris Bilton (Blackwell Publishing) 2007
[2] The UK defines the creative industries as “...those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through generation and exploitation of intellectual property”[2] For those unsatisfied with that definition, Justin O ‘Connor defines the Cultural Industries as (…) “those activities which deal primarily in symbolic goods (…). This definition then includes what have been called the ‘classical cultural industries’ – broadcast media, film, publishing, recorded music, design, architecture, new media - and the ‘traditional arts’- visual art, crafts, theatre, music theatre, concerts and performance, literature, museums and galleries” (O’Connor, 1999).