Scotland’s creative industries contribute over £5 billion to the nation’s economy each year, employing some 90,000 people: more than the energy sector. This makes the Scottish Government’s recent pledge to double spending on the nation’s culture sector very welcome, and timely, with many in the industry hoping that it will serve as something of an antidote to its recent struggle against a perfect storm of funding cuts, economic challenges and the lingering aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The creative and culture sectors deserve this recognition for the immense contribution to our economic and civic wellbeing, and our continued recognition globally as a nation of culture. The many psychological, emotional and social benefits of engaging with culture are well-known. The benefits to our economy are less widely recognised. If we want to truly transform our economy, make the just transition to Net Zero, and cement our place on the world stage, harnessing the power of our creative and culture sectors is critical. What shape the Government’s commitment will take, and how it will evolve from a statement of intent into a reality remains to be seen, but this is a beacon of hope for cultural organisations across the country still recovering from Covid and the economic crisis.

Providing additional funding to the creative and culture sectors will unlock real economic value, foster cross-sector innovation and harness international opportunities. Our work on the innovative Culture & Business Fund and Marketplace has already demonstrated how much value there is in forging long-term, sustainable partnerships, and in cross-sector collaboration. Last year, we distributed £100,000 between 11 organisations Scotland-wide to support the development of new projects; this funding matches sponsorship offered from business.

This included, for example, the Edinburgh-based Living Memory Association, which partnered with Leith’s Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, enabling the organisation to make use of vacant units as exhibition spaces and reach a wider audience than would have otherwise been possible, and in turn attract further funding and opportunities. Ocean Terminal, meanwhile, benefited from the increased footfall into what would have otherwise been an abandoned space, with the resulting added social value surpassing expectations and generating positive impacts in ways that the retail centre had previously not experienced.

With the economic pressures we are all facing, businesses need to tap into creative thinking, innovation, problem solving and lateral solutions, all of which can be found in the creative and culture sectors. Creative minds can drive growth and productivity in all of our key sectors. Culture & Business Scotland can help to forge those innovative partnerships, and can help to create a new approach to cross-sector partnership working. The Scottish Government’s funding pledge will provide opportunities for culture and business to collaborate and deliver on the economic power of that cross-sector approach. If we harness that opportunity, just think how much more value we can deliver to the Scottish economy, to our wellbeing economy and to Scotland’s role internationally.

Jane Morrison-Ross is  chair of Culture & Business Scotland

Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk