We’re delighted to announce that Peter Rudge, Non-Executive Director (Chair) at Artisans of Innovation has published and launched his book, Beyond the Blue Economy: Creative Industries and Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States.
The book focuses on sustainable economic growth for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) - islands where reliance on the blue economy has historically been the norm and where livelihoods are provided for through traditional industries like fishing and tourism. These are islands which have low carbon emissions yet which, ironically, are the most likely to suffer from climatic change and external forces that reveal vulnerabilities and result in shock.
The discussion regarding vulnerability and shock revolves around economic and climatic & environmental issues as well as cultural, societal and political changes. It highlights the negative impact on SIDS in context of their economies through, for example, a collapse in the tourism industry and other island industries that rely on the blue economy and the consequential effect on food security and infrastructure, employment and income. This draws out the stark reality of macro-level external forces that have direct and indirect impact at meso-level and micro-level SIDS socio-economic systems.
The issue of regional and multi-regional collaboration in response to addressing low resilience, vulnerability and shock is raised, as is the role of cross-sector and multi-sector approaches to blue economy innovation. The emphasis on this is well-placed and sets the scene for the discussion in later chapters that focuses on a number of very relevant contemporary perspectives: creative industries and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SIDS and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), the concept of clusters as a method for growing industrial sectors, a collaborative model for industry, academia & government, the orchestration of ecosystem development, entrepreneurship in SIDS and the digital-creative future.
The book presents an interesting narrative and discussion that forms a coherent and meaningful link and congruence between Small Island Developing States that have historically relied on natural local resources and ecosystems intrinsic to the blue economy and a forward-looking vision and approach based on collaborative innovation, research and policy to deliver equitable and sustainable economic growth for those islands in the face of the expanding digital, knowledge, service and experience economies. This latter aspect demonstrates the timely publication of this book – a time in which digital transformation is creating a new wave of change, altering human engagement and experience with the environment and creating new ecosystems and business models that are driving international trade and export of digital and physical assets.
It offers a refreshing and contemporary approach to discussing the evolutionary and revolutionary force of digital innovation and transformation in the creative industries in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It includes facts and insights into the flow of resources, knowledge & skills capability, a UK-based case study and a discussion on creative industries and digital innovation & technologies in a distinct SIDS socio-economic non-urban context.
The content is well-researched, written in a clear, logical and coherent manner and will enable readers of this book - policy makers, practitioners, scholars and students of the subject area to form a well-grounded and balanced view of the historic SIDS context and future opportunities that go beyond reliance on the blue economy.
Peter said:
“Although this book has its focus on small island states and their challenges, the arguments I’ve tried to make around digital-creative economies and the need for less restrictive thinking on innovation are applicable to the whole of our post-crisis world. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are geographically ubiquitous but are often not recognised as such and therefore, rarely supported. Small island states are at the sharp end of both the COVID induced economic crisis and the impacts of climate change and biodiversity degradation. Supporting island entrepreneurship then has never been more important nor urgent and if we want a truly inclusive and sustainable global recovery, then looking beyond the norms of innovation policy, research and strategy is essential. I hope this book can contribute to that process.”
About Peter:
Peter is Non-Executive Director (Chair) at Artisans of Innovation and specialises in the development of creative economies in developing & challenged regions – internationally in Small Island Developing States & in the UK – in areas of economic and social depression. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and the United Nations Expert Group on Creative Economies.
Over the last 10 years his work has been focused on developing creative economies in developing and challenged regions – both internationally in Small Island Developing States, and in the UK – in areas of economic and social depression. He is the founder and chair of Platform Moving Image Cluster in the UK. He is a long-standing member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an active member of the Speakers 4 Schools charity.