Shaping the Creative Industries Professionals of Tomorrow

Roundtable discussion "A Creative Education: Shaping the Creative Industries Professionals of Tomorrow" in the framework of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum (58–60 Galernaya Street).

The pace of the development of creative industries in Russia today is faster than established educational institutions and training programmes can keep up with. This leads to a lack of professionals in the industry who able to launch competitive, successful start-ups and run creative projects. This is a problem that all of culture in Russia is facing today.

Can creative industries and the economy of knowledge continue to develop with established educational patterns which are already in place? Do creative projects in Russia face similar problems as they do in the West? Can Russian Universities prepare professionals for the current dynamic cultural environment? How can education and training programmes be reformed and what skills do creative professionals lack?

The topic of creative education is directly connected with the problem of the public perception of the creative industries and projects. In the majority of the regional areas of Russia creative projects have a low profile and are low-wage. Educating general public on the role and the economic potential of creative industries is another challenge both, for creative institutions and Universities.

Program

• Greeting by Valery Monakhov (SPbU)
• Opening remarks: Jonathan McClory, Ekow Eshun (UK)
• Marina Matetskaya (Higher School of Economics) "Business Education in Creative Industries: Results of a Survey among St. Petersburg Universities"
• Sepake Angiama (Manifesta Foundation) "Manifesta's Educational Programmes"
• Philip Fedchin (SPbU) "On the Role of Liberal Education"
• Olesya Turkina (SPbU) "Liberal Education and Creative Education"
• Maria Godovannaya (SPbU) "On Gender Aspects of Creative Education"
• Open discussion
• Summary and conclusion