Cutting Edge | Culture: a launch pad for the future of work

The role of the cultural sector as an economic sector and global employer is now undisputed, even if its real contribution is often underestimated. The most up-to-date figures show that some 29.5 million people are employed in the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), and more young people 15-29 are employed in the sector than any other economic activity. It is not just the CCIs that provide employment. There are over 1000 World Heritage sites and other sites of heritage interest and, according to a recent UNESCO survey, there are some 90,000 museums around the world. All of these cultural institutions provide employment opportunities, including the tradition roles of curators, archivists, archaeologists, scientists and park rangers, and - increasingly - cultural mediators, educators and communication specialists. The UNESCO 2015 Recommendation on the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections even explicitly recognises the role that museums play in supporting economic development, notably through the cultural and creative industries and tourism. It calls on Member States to “take appropriate measures to facilitate the employment of qualified personnel by museums” under their jurisdiction. However, museums, heritage sites and other cultural institutions are embedded in a much broader economic system, with many other suppliers and service providers depending on their existence for their own survival

Governments are increasingly reporting on the role of the cultural sector for boosting employment (often in the context of urban development or tourism strategies) in their Voluntary National Reviews, submitted to the UN to monitor progress towards the 2030 Agenda. Regional intergovernmental organizations and development banks are also harnessing their potential, as demonstrated by initiatives such as the African Development Bank’s Fashionomics programme that fosters the fashion industry in Africa as a lever to create jobs or the programme Creative Europe of the European Union to support the cultural and creative sectors.

Yet the currently available data probably dramatically underestimate the contribution of the cultural sector. The Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda, developed by UNESCO - which build on previous methodological frameworks with adaptions to cover all aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals - are an attempt to rectify this data gap. These indicators include four dimensions, one of which is “prosperity and livelihoods”. One of the 22 indicators is dedicated to assessing the full extent of the role of culture as an “employer” at the national and local level as well as the vitality and dynamism of the culture sector and its potential to improve the material welfare of those employed in it. It goes beyond capturing a picture of those in a cultural occupation and who work in businesses with a cultural activity, such as an actor in a theatre. The indicator also takes into account people who have a cultural occupation but who work in a business that is not engaged in cultural activity - for example a designer in the motor industry – and people who work in cultural businesses but who do not have a cultural occupation – such as an accountant working in a theatre. This broader definition of culture as an employer gives a more accurate picture of the contribution of the sector. Yet despite its broader lens, this indicator will always be an under-estimate as it does not include the many people whose ‘cultural’ job is in the informal economy, or whose second job is in culture, taking the shape of, for example, traditional music performances at weddings.

The Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda are currently being rolled out and are intended to give Member States in-depth insights into their cultural sectors to hone national policies. They build on 15 years of work by UNESCO, UIS and other international, regional or national organizations to capture all dimensions of culture, including employment. Seventeen countries have already benefited from the experience of the UNESCO Culture for Development Indicators (CDIS) since 2014. Furthermore, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics Framework of Cultural Statistics – launched in 2009 – provides globally comparable data and contributes directly to the United Nations monitoring of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The question of data is also becoming a priority at the regional level, which can also capture locally-relevant specificities of the cultural domain. For example, there is an ongoing data gathering initiative within the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), in collaboration with UNESCO and the Inter-American Bank, which is the first joint exercise of the South American trading bloc’s countries to identify how the CCIs contribute to employment within the region, as well as economic output and value-added. The initiative also aims to reveal how much cultural economic activity takes place in the informal economy – which is, by definition, difficult to determine – in order to design protection measures to reach a broader number of people whose livelihoods have been affected by the pandemic and strengthen systems in the longer term.

The question of employment in UNESCO cultural programmes is taking on an increasingly important role. This is not only in terms of the creation of jobs – particularly for the most vulnerable – but also in terms of contributing to social inclusion, ensuring cultural rights and other societal benefits that come with supporting decent work. Members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network have adopted strategies to support decent employment through creativity and culture. The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together to place creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level in seven creative fields: crafts and folk arts, media arts, film, design, gastronomy, literature and music. For example, some cities have prioritised creative entrepreneurship as part of its strategy to switch from heavy industries to a new economic model, such as Katowice in Poland. Other cities focus on social inclusion, for instance, Santos, Brazil, has instigated the Creative Ecofactory initiative that supports people from the most vulnerable communities, by helping them to develop skills and earn a trade in woodwork. Meanwhile, Bologna, Italy, has launched the IncrediBol! programme which has served as springboard for dozens of start-ups led by young creative entrepreneurs, as part of a broader regional development strategy.

Employing people with the right skill-set is also central to the question of conservation and safeguarding of cultural sites, particularly World Heritage sites. Restoration projects invest in local skills and professional training of young people through local technical schools. Furthermore, this job creation has a positive impact in the broader society and can also boost the attractivity of a place to encourage future tourism efforts. Supporting the conservation of cultural heritage also means safeguarding certain know-how, (such as iron works, brick-making etc.) which may be on the decline: these local techniques may, in turn, contribute to other sectors of economic activity or provides responses to local challenges. Initiatives such as UNESCO's Cash for Work programme in Yemen and Jordan (supported by the European Union and German development agency, GIZ), provides employment opportunities for the conservation of World Heritage sites - the Yemen programme particularly targets urban youth. The programme aims to not only safeguard the unique buildings that have been under threat from years of decline (and recent conflict, in the case of Yemen) but also the knowledge for restoring them, such as the stone-carving techniques. A similar programme is in the process of being initiated as part of UNESCO’s flagship initiative “Revive the Spirit of Mosul”. The initiative will also contribute to peacebuilding, reconciliation, and recovery in the country.

Intangible cultural heritage practices can also drive equitable and inclusive economic growth, particularly by supporting the contribution of vulnerable populations with precarious livelihoods. Indeed, many practices are intrinsically linked with the livelihoods of the populations and are vital for their social and economic wellbeing. Living heritage can constitute an important source of both innovation and income, as the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is constantly evolving and adapting. Such local knowledge, skills and practices, maintained and enhanced through several generations, can provide decent work opportunities and sustain livelihoods for whole groups and communities. In recent years, some countries in Asia have championed initiatives such as the “One Tambon, One Product” programme, in which a village community (“tambon”) specialises in the production of a particular local product, such as traditional handicrafts, cotton and silk garments, pottery, fashion accessories, household items and foods, for sale locally and internationally. Initially pioneered in Japan in the 1980s, similar schemes have also enjoyed a degree of success in Thailand and Brunei Darussalam more recently.

Culture is also a major component of the tourism sector, which, before the pandemic, directly contributed 330 million jobs, 1 in 10 jobs around the world, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). In fact, cultural tourism made up nearly 40% of world tourism revenues, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with World Heritage sites and museums often serving as the focus for visitors. The creative and arts sector also boosts the cultural offering of a place through theatre, music and gastronomy, for example. The discovery of the diversity of traditions, festive events, performing arts, skills related to traditional local knowledge, skills and practices, as well as the sale of crafts, are also an attraction to visitors. Unfortunately, UNWTO project up to an 80% decline in international arrivals for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (in comparison to a 4% decrease in international arrivals following the 2008 economic crisis). WTTC estimates that that up to 60% of tourism jobs are at risk globally, with a potential loss of 197.5 million job losses. Women, young people, rural communities, indigenous peoples and informal workers – groups that are more likely to be employed in micro or small tourism businesses - are disproportionately affected. Given that tourism is a major source of growth, employment and income for many countries, especially in developing countries and Small Island Developing States, restarting this sector is a major concern for governments around the world.

To merely focus on the contribution of culture to the raw number of decent jobs it supplies and sustains is to miss the true depth and breadth of its contribution to society. To be truly resilient, culture needs to be anchored in broader public policies linked to economic and social development, as this crisis has highlighted. UNESCO Member States have rallied to support their cultural sectors and the Online Meeting of Ministers of Culture convened by UNESCO on 22 April and attended by some 130 ministers demonstrates the heightened political will to address the challenges facing the sector. Just last month, UNESCO published "Culture in Crisis: Policy Guide for a resilient creative sector", which discussed the profound impact of the health crisis on the culture sector and its workers, exacerbating pre-existing problems, such as ensuring the fair remuneration for their work. It collates good practices and innovative responses from around the world with a view to developing a comprehensive crisis-response guide for policymakers, and covers measures related to: direct support for artists and cultural professionals; support for sectors of the cultural and creative industries; and enhancing the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries.

Ensuring the longer-term resilience of the sector also involves ensuring that artists, as well as other cultural and creative professionals, can shore up their livelihoods. The UNESCO 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist calls upon Member States to improve the professional, social and economic status of artists through the implementation of policies and measures related to training, social security, employment, income and tax conditions, mobility and freedom of expression. It also recognizes the right of artists to be organized in trade unions or professional organisations that can represent and defend the interests of their members. Forty years since its endorsement by all UNESCO Member States at the General Conference, some countries have adopted national legislation inspired by it. However, the repercussions of the global pandemic on employment, have clearly demonstrated that the rights of artists to be seen as workers with their own specificities must not be overlooked and that current provisions are insufficient, as outlined in UNESCO’s recent publication on "Freedom and Creativity: Defending Art, Defending Diversity". Since the onset of the health crisis, there have been recent calls by Member States to strengthen this Recommendation.

More broadly across the workforce, there is a need to reinvent social protections as unemployment rises. For many years, contract, freelance and ‘gig employment’ – so characteristic of the creative sector – were viewed as “alternative”. This model is now becoming mainstream and, as the OECD observes, “already in many countries, social benefits and collective bargaining based on models where people have stable, full time job is becoming obsolete.” Indeed, freelancers are becoming the fastest-growing labour group in the EU. The economic model of the creative sector can therefore potentially provide lessons for the wider economy. The 2019 UNCTAD "Creative Economy Outlook" report on the creative industries highlighted that the creative sector had proven itself to be robust, despite the 2008 financial crash. Indeed, trade in creative goods doubled from $208bn to $509bn in 2015, exceeding the average growth rate at 7%, largely thanks to the design, fashion and film sectors. Even creative goods, such as paper-copy newspapers are innovating and switching to online formats, becoming creative services. Indeed, the cultural sector is agile and adaptive and can inspire other sectors, particularly in the face of evolving digital technologies.

Many of the “jobs of tomorrow” do not yet even exist and culture can inform approaches to enhance the wider world of work, beyond the cultural sector itself. Whilst the number of jobs being created (particularly through the expansion of digital technologies, automation and artificial intelligence, as well as the opportunities presented by the green economy) continues to outpace the number of those being made obsolete, many studies published in the past few years highlight the growing skills gap, showing that there is a shortage of uniquely human skills, such as interpersonal and creative skills, as well as critical thinking, analysis, problem-solving and active learning. Deloitte dubbed this diversification of skillsets a “shift from hands to head to heart”. By way of illustration, one study estimated that for five European countries—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom—and the United States, future “demand for higher cognitive skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, decision making, and complex information processing, will grow through 2030, by 19 percent in the United States and by 14 percent in Europe, from sizable bases today". Meanwhile, across the world today, there are more than 1.8 billion people between the ages of 15 and 29 – together comprising almost 20 per cent of the global population - not in education, employment or training. These so-called "NEETs" highlight the need for adaptations of education systems to keep apace of the changing skillsets required for the workplace. One estimate predicts if investment in the “soft skills” was doubled, then the number of jobs at risk from automation would fall from 10% to 4%".

The changing nature of employment – not to mention of societies as a whole – has implications for the education sector. Countries are increasingly looking to boost creativity and other soft skills in education systems to future-proof their prosperity. UNESCO, as lead UN agency for education and lifelong learning, has launched a major flagship initiative on the "Futures of Education" with a view to guiding such adaptations for the world of tomorrow. One key strand of UNESCO's work is the strengthening of arts education as an essential component of a comprehensive education for the full development of the individual. Arts education refers to both education in the arts - teaching specialized art disciplines but also teaching art history which refers us to our historical and cultural heritage - or education through the arts - using the arts as a pedagogical tool for the teaching of other disciplines. Student disengagement with the “STEM” subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in recent years has been highlighted but some advocates are promoting a shift to “STEAM” education, also incorporating the arts by sparking students’ imagination and promoting creativity, design thinking, tech literacy, collaboration and problem-solving, through a more people-centric approach. Rather than focusing on careers as scientists or engineers, it also promotes the skills to become a designer, digital artist, coder or art director.

Technical skills are also important in fostering youth employment and entrepreneurship, and is one of the key priorities of UNESCO’s Strategy for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (2016-2021) (along with promoting equity and gender equality, as well as facilitating the transition to green economies and sustainable societies). Boosting technical skills in relation to the cultural and creative sectors, including in non-formal education settings, is also key. The inter-generational transition of know-how is a key feature of the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Intangible Cultural Heritage, for example. The UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers programme, which has been running for over ten years, also encourages the acquisition of basic preservation and conservation skills for the protection of heritage through projects at UNESCO-recognised sites, as well as raising awareness about the importance of World Heritage and mentoring the young people involved to develop soft skills, such as communication.

Furthermore, the workplace of the future may become more diverse as education empowers marginalised groups to integrate, including the nearly 272 million international migrants (two thirds of whom are labour migrants). Intercultural dialogue is therefore a key tool not only within workplaces of the future but also more broadly in increasingly diverse societies. Tools, such as UNESCO’s Manual for Developing Intercultural Competencies, published in 2019, could help businesses and organizations of the future to adapt to the needs of their customers, as well as create harmony among their staff. The Story Circles methodology encourages dialogue and develops skills to interact across difference, whether within a society (differences due to age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, political affiliation, ethnicity, and so on) or across borders. It has already been rolled out in healthcare environments, training UN staff, non-governmental organization and healthcare workers tackling the global health crisis. The training aims to reinforce their adaptability to different needs of diverse populations, including vulnerable populations, such as refugees, migrants, minorities and indigenous peoples have been exposed to a disproportionate risk of COVID-19 infection.

Shaping the future of work calls for a fundamental rethinking of public policies across the policy spectrum, and is even more critical in the COVID-19 context. As the world faces and economic downturn of the pandemic, with major disruption to employment and exacerbated inequalities, countries will need to address not only a shortfall of jobs but, more fundamentally, the cracks in the global economic system, starkly exposed by the crisis. Forging more inclusive and sustainable economic models - and a more meaningful relation to work - is therefore a leading priority.

Culture’s contribution to both economies and societies is now undisputed. It underpins progress to the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda, not only to SDG 8 on decent work, but also SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, SDG 4 on education and SDG 16 on peace, among others. If concerted efforts are not undertaken, there is a risk of undoing 20 years of progress in terms of harnessing the economic potential of the cultural sector. Assessing the full scope of cultural employment through more robust data systems will be essential to inform policymaking and public funding towards the economic potential of culture.

Providing an enabling environment to cultural employment is equally critical: legislative frameworks and social security systems need to reflect the complex nature of the sector. UNESCO normative instruments, such as those pertaining to the status of the artist, the role of museums, intangible cultural heritage, as well as cultural and natural heritage, provide guidance to Member States. The Organization will continue to support dialogue among Member States, as well as civil society organizations and cultural experts, to further enhance such guidance.

Strengthened synergies between culture and education will also spark the most needed adaptation and innovation skills. Nurturing knowledge, values and behaviours, will be critical to prepare learners to adapt to fast-evolving labour markets and work patterns. This challenge will be even more critical given the change of demographics with a burgeoning youth population, as well as the acceleration of the digital transformation development and the demands of the green economy.

Now is the time to capitalise on the contribution of culture to ensure future prosperity and inclusive, resilient communities. A new dynamic for international cooperation and solidarity was initiated by the UNESCO Forum of Ministers of Culture in November 2019 with the mass participation of countries in a new dialogue about the role of culture for sustainable development. There is a new sense of urgency in this global conversation, as seen in the follow-up online meeting of ministers of culture in April this year, as well as the recent G20 meeting and several other regional initiatives. Next year’s International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development and the UNESCO-convened World Congress on Culture, MONDIACULT, in 2022 now provide a launch pad for action.