The project CERS (Cultural and Creative Ecosystem of Latvia as a Resource for Resilience and Sustainability) explores the arts and cultural values that are key for Latvia’s sustainable development and resilience and their contributions to cultural and creative ecosystem.

The project will explore the most important current and historical processes of Latvian culture, and the cultural and creative industries as agents of these processes.

Applying qualitative and quantitative research methods, horizontal studies and case studies, the project will analyse current tendencies in the cultural and creative industries (literature, music, theatre and dance, visual arts, design, architecture, audiovisual and film arts, traditional culture): cultural offer and access; employment and income generation patterns, the relevance of education supply to labour market demand and trends; the impact of digital technologies on cultural consumption patterns, on the processes of creating and distributing cultural content, and the generation of revenue from creative activities.

The project will develop a new knowledge base on the impact of historical processes, including the Soviet occupation period, on contemporary cultural, artistic and creative processes.

The social and economic impact of the cultural and creative industries will also be explored by increasing knowledge and understanding of the current and potential contribution and role of the cultural and creative industries in the sustainable development of the country. Particular emphasis is given to research methodologies, including the measuring of socio-economic impacts, artistic research, and digital methods.

The research quality, implementation and impact are based on the high capacity of the consortium of five research institutions (Latvian Academy of Culture, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Art Academy of Latvia, National Library of Latvia, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of University of Latvia), evidenced by their scholarly output, international reach, the synergy of research, academic and artistic activity, and close functional connections with policy-makers and arts/cultural practitioners. The research project proposes an in-depth and interdisciplinary view of the cultural and arts environment, creating extensive impacts for policy, cultural sector and education.

Execution of the project has been divided into six work packages (WP) with particular tasks, deliverables, milestones and those responsible for implementation.

Work package 1: Current development trends in the cultural and creative industries: cultural offer and accessibility (contact persons: Anda Laķe (LAC) and Agita Gritāne (AAL))

The aim of the WP is to generate new knowledge on the creation of a diverse cultural offer, the groups of actors involved in the CCE (cultural and creative ecosystem), the linkages of these processes with the accessibility of culture and the potential for inclusive dialogue with groups at risk of exclusion from culture.

Work package 2: Current development trends in the cultural and creative industries: employment, revenue generation patterns, the correspondence of the education offer to labour market demand and trends (contact person: Ilona Kunda (LAC))

The aim of the WP is to generate new knowledge on employment patterns and forms of precarious employment in the CCSs (cultural and creative sectors) in general, in specific fields, and to compare these forms in the private and public sectors; to assess the correspondence of arts/cultural education offer to long-term labour market demand; to develop a methodology for measuring labour market demand to adapt it to the specificities of the CCSs and employment patterns.

Work package 3: The manifestations of digital technologies at different stages of the production cycle of the cultural and creative ecosystem and their impact on the patterns of consumption of culture (contact persons: Pauls Daija (NLL), Līga Vinogradova (LAC), Inese Sirica (AAL))

The objective of the WP is to generate new knowledge on the impact of digital technologies and the digital gap on people's cultural consumption habits, on the processes of creating, distributing, and preserving cultural content, and on the generation of revenue from creative work, in order to develop the digital maturity of operators in the CCE and to foster transformative resilience strategies in the sector.

Work package 4: Representation in the contemporary culture of historical processes that are significant for the Latvian cultural and creative sector (contact persons: Edīte Tišheizere (ILFA), Kristiāna Ābele (AAL), Jānis Kudiņš (JVLAM))

The objective of the WP is to develop a new knowledge base on the historical, including political-ideological, processes of the Soviet period that have a lasting impact on contemporary culture and are relevant to the resilience of the Latvian CCS ecosystem and the sustainability of society. This will be done by focusing on the processes specific to cultural and artistic sectors, as well as by identifying common trends in the manifestations of history in the context of contemporary culture.

Work package 5: Development of approaches for the assessment of the social and economic impact of cultural and creative sectors (contact persons: Ieva Zemīte (LAC), Baiba Tjarve (LAC), Liene Jākobsone (AAL))

The aim of the WP is to generate new theoretical and empirical knowledge on the current and potential contribution of CCSs to the sustainable development of society and country; to develop approaches for the assessment of the social and economic impact of CCSs, in particular on quality of life and well-being of citizens, health, education and social inclusion, environment and climate, and innovation.

Work package 6: Project Management and Synergies Across the Consortium (contact person: Ieva Vītola (LAC))

The aims and objectives of this work package are as follows:

1) to provide integration and synergies among partner’s research and academic activities to strengthen the competitiveness of the CERS interdisciplinary team;

2) to carry out the project within a set timeframe and financial framework.