UK/Georgia 2019 Hosts First Creative & Cultural Industries Youth Forum in Georgia

As part of the UK/Georgia 2019 season, on 15 and 16 October, the Creative and Cultural Industries Youth Forum for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Creating New Pathways for Young People was held at Rooms Hotel, Tbilisi.

The Creative and Cultural Industries Youth Forum was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia, in partnership with Creative Georgia and the Georgia, Europe Program.

The Forum aimed to create common understanding of the notion of the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) and of the role of culture and creativity in economic and social development, capacity building and employability for young creative entrepreneurs.

The objectives included sharing the UK experience and case studies from the UK, presenting the Georgian context by introducing successful case studies, identifying priorities for future development based on understanding of the current situation in the Georgian CCIs including policy, funding, technologies, skills development through collaboration with the UK based CCIs where possible.

The forum was attended by cultural and creative industries experts of various sectors from UK, and young entrepreneurs and students from Georgia. The program included both panel discussions and workshops on actual topics in the field. The forum also included pitching ideas and announcing the winners of the British Innovation Foundation NESTA Workshop on “Creative Enterprise Program.’

“Creative industries represent the growing economy, which promotes the stable economic and social development of all countries, said Levan Kharatishvili – Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. ‘‘The forum is focused on the ivolvement of the youth in the process. It will be very interesting for our students, foreign experts, and others.‘‘

“The cultural industry has very big economic value. In the last 10 years, the income doubled,” Justin Mckenzie Smith - British ambassador to Georgia. „The Forum is very important. The British Embassy and British Council in Georgia fully supports the development of creative industries.”

The UK/Georgia 2019 season is a specially curated program of more than 60 events jointly presented by the British Embassy in Tbilisi and British Council in Georgia, running from September to December 2019. UK/Georgia 2019 includes events in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and other locations across Georgia and will showcase the best that modern, diverse, global Britain has to offer in culture, sport, education and business. It draws on the shared values of both the UK and Georgia to deliver a program with a specific focus on diversity and inclusion.

The UK/Georgia 2019 is funded by the British Embassy and the British Council, working closely with a small group of sponsors including Georgia Capital, Bank of Georgia, BP, Adjara Group and Wissol.