Beyond Growth: Cultural & Creative Industry Policies for a New XXI Century

The University of Manchester, in partnership with the Itaú Foundation, will host an open Stakeholder Forum to reflect on economic development policies for the creative and cultural sectors in the 21st century. The forum is the second day of a two-day workshop, convening participants from policy, industry, cultural institutions, NGOs, and academia, with a strong UK/Europe–Brazil/Latin America focus.

Day 2 will validate Policy Briefings co-designed on Day 1, aimed at reshaping Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) policy for an era of overlapping crises and transitions. Discussions will centre around four key research axes:

• CCIs & Multidimensional Development – advancing equitable, resilient, and sustainable cultural policy beyond growth-first models.
• Digitisation, AI & the Future of Work – exploring how emerging technologies affect creative labour, value chains, and structural inequalities.
• Valuing CCIs Beyond GDP – developing methods to capture the true social, economic, and cultural value of creative industries.
• CCIs, Climate Resilience & Sustainable Development – integrating creative industries into climate-compatible, territorially grounded development strategies.

The day includes panels featuring policymakers, academics, industry leaders, and multilateral representatives, with sessions designed to foster dialogue, validate policy recommendations, and explore actionable pathways for the next generation of CCI policy.