White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 4value added and jobs is practicallyimpossible to measure.But in Italy this kind of widespreaddesign activity characterises themanufacturing system in the exportdrivenindustrial districts. Indeed theirhigh performances can presumably beindirectly attributed to theindispensable contribution supplied bydesigners. This may be in explicit form,through the use of specific professionalfigures but also in tacit form, throughthe involvement of all the playersengaged in the manufacturing process.Aware of the risks, we believe it isuseful, however, to cite some referencefigures albeit to be considered with duecaution on account of the abovementioneddrawbacks.The designers’ greatest contribution isclearly in the creation and productionstage.According to the estimates of theeconomic activities linked to theconservation and development of thecultural heritage (presented in Chapter1), in 2004, the stages of creation andproduction in the “design and materialculture” category generated a valueadded of around 19,659.7 millioneuros, the equivalent of 1.57% of theGDP. This category encompasses 28economic activities, including that ofdesigner, and many other productionactivities basically chosen on thegrounds of their origins, normallyrooted in the local material culture.Overall, in the conception andproduction stages of “design andmaterial culture” 45,000 people areemployed, or 1.1% of all jobs in Italy.On one hand, these figures may be toolow since they do not include allproduction activities with a high designcomponent, especially if located indistricts; on the other hand, they couldbe too high since they assume that notonly those working as designers but allthe employees in the 28 productionactivities in the “design and materialculture” category are engaged in acreative activity, independently of thespecific tasks they are assigned.If we dwell on those who declared theywere part of the “designer and stylist”category, government censuses revealthere has been a rise in jobs. Bycomparing the census data of 1991with that of 2001 (AASTER, 2007), wefind that designer and stylist jobs inItaly have risen by 41.7%, i.e. from6,862 to 9,721 jobs. The same study(see Table 4.2) breaks down the figurefor “designer and stylists” according toregions and related to the number ofbusinesses working in the exportsectors (food and beverage, personaland leisure items, householdfurnishings and instrument mechanics)in which the contribution of designersand stylists is presumed to beparticularly significant. At national levelthe incidence of design jobs in exportcompanies has risen (from 1.8 to 2.7jobs for every 100 export companies)by 0.97%. While the greatestconcentration of designers is found inLombardy, there is a significantincrease in the share of designers onthe national total in Piedmont, theMarches and Lazio. There are alsosignificant variations in the Veneto,Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany; in 1991there was already a high percentage ofthe overall jobs nationwide in theseregions.WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 108