The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will spotlight the cultural and creative industries as drivers of sustainable development and resilience in the Caribbean region at a special seminar entitled "Imagineering: Using Creative Industry Research to Devise Development Strategies” to be held on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, during the Bank’s Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Canada.

The knowledge-sharing event will examine how research on the economic impacts of creative sectors like music, art, fashion, and multimedia can help shape effective policies and programmes to boost jobs, innovation, and resilience in CDB's Borrowing Member Countries. The findings have been garnered from research initiatives undertaken through CDB's Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund which was launched in December 2018.

"The cultural and creative industries play a vital role in Caribbean economies and societies, but their full contributions have often been undervalued or poorly measured," said Mr. O’Reilly Lewis, CDB’s Director of Projects (Ag). "This seminar will highlight pioneering research that quantifies the creative sector's impacts and explore how those insights can drive sustainable growth strategies across the region."

A panel of analysts will discuss new data on the contributions of copyright-based industries to Caribbean nations' GDP, employment, and trade, and the initial findings of a study on how public development banks' engagement with arts and culture initiatives can further economic, social, and environmental sustainability goals.

Perspectives will be shared by Ms. Marsha Cadogan, PhD, Intellectual Property Law Specialist, Dr. Marcus Goffe, Attorney at Law and past Deputy Director, Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, and Dr. Hilary Brown, CARICOM’s Programme Manager for Culture and Community Development, among others.

To facilitate cross-sectoral dialogue, the event will also examine how the Region’s cultural and creative industries promote social stability, and economic opportunities consequently contributing to sustainable development, resilience, and prosperity.

"From catalysing green entrepreneurship to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, the creative industries offer incredible opportunities to accelerate progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals across the Caribbean," said Ms. Lisa Harding, Head of CDB’s Private Sector Division, (Ag). "This seminar will spark vital dialogue on unlocking that potential through smarter policies, investment, and cross-sector collaboration."

The seminar is a main event on the schedule of the 54th Annual Meeting of the Bank’s Board of Governors which will run from June 17 – 21, 2024. The proceedings will be streamed live on CDB’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and on the Bank’s YouTube channel.