Starting from an initiative of the European Parliament, which was later translated into a challenge launched to the European Commission and subsequently to countries and autonomous regions, the Presidency of the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for Culture, has held a public consultation on the need to adapt programmes and policies at a European, national, regional and local level to the current and future challenges faced by the so-called "Cultural and Creative Industries."

This Community initiative stems from the fact that in Europe it is estimated that the performing arts, visual arts, cultural heritage, film, broadcasting, music, publishing, video games, new media, architecture, design, fashion design and advertising are responsible for creating quality jobs for five million people, which represents 2.6% of the European Gross Domestic Product.

Taking into account a regional contribution to consolidate a national position on the matter, it was possible to verify that the national document ultimately reflects the position taken by the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

Thus, "Mobility" was the most relevant concept defended at the level of Community intervention not only for its intrinsic potential, but also for encompassing other structural concepts such as Spreading, Training, Equality of Opportunities and Entrepreneurship; it was even defended the creation of an "Erasmus for Culture."

In this context, mobility is understood in the scope of the physical mobility of artists and cultural products as well as in the perspective of improving virtual mobility. It is of utmost importance for the Azores that European policies and programmes designed for the promotion of creative cultural mobility include mechanisms to enhance flexibility in relations with third countries. Hence the archipelago, being an outermost region, would be able to devel
op a strategy to boost the potential of its geographic condition.

The Atlantic intercontinental centrality of the Azores would be optimised either through inter-regional relations with Macaronesian archipelagos or through deepening the historical relations between the Azores and North American countries, including the USA and Canada, with special emphasis on educated, creative and technologically sophisticated younger generations.

With regard to education and training, the basic issue identified by the public consultation on the Cultural and Creative Industries concerns the fact that without a culture of risk there will be no entrepreneurship in the medium and long-term.

Furthermore, it was also identified that there is no dialogue between vocational training schools and regular schools; there is still the idea that the first is a sort of response to school failure instead of being regarded as a way to scientific, technical and technological expertise. It was also understood that schools should target teaching for creativity in order to connect courses and students from classical creative areas, new technologies and economic areas. Moreover, schools should also provide a framework and logistics support to the development of meritorious projects.

It was also addressed the issue concerning the acknowledgement of the importance of design as a means of asserting cultural diversity in a globalised economy that is exposed to severe threats to cultural hegemony. In the case of regional Cultural and Creative Industries, this aspiration should be embodied in the strategic support to projects promoting handicrafts and Design in order to stimulate innovation and the ambition of small handicrafts industries.

This consultation concluded that in order to achieve the success of regional Cultural and Creative Industries in the labour world, in addition to the interventions undertaken at a European level, there is a need for urgent interventions at a local and regional level and, to a lesser extent, at a national level.