Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Executive Master's Degree in Continuing Education in Creative Economy (Executive Program)

In the new landscape of the Creative Economy , we face new challenges that are shaping the future of our youth and society as a whole. This new Creative Economy goes beyond the Cultural and Creative Industries, focusing instead on urban and territorial transformation processes that already point to a genuine shift in systems. This transformation is absolutely necessary and irreversible given the new reality created by COVID-19 and which began with the previous financial crisis of 2007.

In this new scenario, a new leadership model is needed, one that understands creativity and innovation as key strategic resources for our businesses, cities, and regions. A new governance model is required to reposition our cities and regions and foster transformation processes toward new economic, social, cultural, and environmental paradigms.

We are talking about a new system that understands culture as a cross-cutting sector of the entire economy , which adds value through its distinctive character, which energizes and reinvents it through technology, offering important opportunities for employment and quality of life in our cities and territories.

Therefore, we believe that the Executive Master's in Creative Economy: Management of Creative Industries and Sustainable Urban Transformation, aimed at managers and professionals in Culture, Urban and Territorial Development and Management, Tourism, and Innovation , is essential and a vital training program today, given its current scientific relevance in the social, cultural, economic, and environmental spheres. It is also crucial for understanding the processes of change and the new transformative values shaping our cities and territories.

In this master's program, students will acquire in-depth knowledge of the management and leadership tools for creative industries and sustainable urban/territorial transformation, as well as the skills to launch businesses in the creative and innovation sector, which offers significant opportunities today. This is because at the heart of this new Creative Economy,we continue to find Creative Industries (CIIs) , which occupy the intersection of art, culture, business, and technology and remain among the most dynamic sectors in global commerce, capable of revitalizing the economic activity of a neighborhood, city, or region. Therefore, this master's program aims to professionalize this growing sector, a source of attractive jobs not only in the more traditional cultural sector but also in creative services such as consulting, cultural and creative tourism, design, and city branding, with a focus on local development as a key driver of change.

The master's program also presents its own concept of a Creative City/Creative Territory as an alternative to industrial decline and as an opportunity for emerging global economies. In this sense, the program offers excellent training in developing strategic plans for urban or territorial transformation, through a unique model based on four strategic pillars: 1. Innovation-Flexibility, 2. Identity, 3. Sustainability-Connectivity, and 4. Emotion. These pillars define the Creative City as an innovative-flexible city, a city with a strong identity and cultural identity, a sustainable and connected city, and an emotional and vibrant city—ultimately, a more humane city, a Humanist City.

All of the above justifies the need for specific training to understand what the Creative Economy is and why it is a source of attractive jobs. The Creative Economy is a topic of much discussion today at all levels, from international organizations such as the UN (UNCTAD), the European Commission, and UNESCO; to national levels, with the creation of Ministries or State Secretariats for Creative Economy; and at the local level, where policies related to creative industries and creative cities are now on the agendas of all municipal administrations.

Therefore, it is essential to clearly define these new concepts , understand the new urban and territorial dynamics, conduct an in-depth study of the management tools for creative industries, promote a new type of leadership, study the processes of urban and territorial transformation, and learn to develop strategic plans to transform them into Creative Cities and Territories. As the great biologist Maturana would say, this addresses the autopoiesis of the system, which requires a significant dose of individual and collective creativity.

goals

We could establish 4 axes when structuring the objectives of this master's program:

1st - "Entrepreneurial and Innovative Focus": - In this area, we aim to emphasize the development of students' entrepreneurial and innovative capacity to launch their business ideas in the cultural, creative, or technological sectors, supporting them throughout their Business Plan in the Creativity and Innovation Sector. This involves understanding the importance of private initiative in revitalizing Culture, Creativity, and Innovation in a region, highlighting the crucial role of businesspeople and entrepreneurs in evolving and changing contexts. Students will be able to navigate uncertain environments, generate employment and self-employment, and capitalize on emerging business opportunities.

2nd - "Institutional Axis": - Understanding the importance of the network model as an alternative to the institutional model in crisis. A new, more flexible model that allows for new ways of working and living adapted to the new Covid-19 normal. Students will be provided with the necessary business management and leadership tools to lead both public and private institutions and organizations in this evolving environment that requires new models of emotional, participatory, and supportive leadership.

3rd - “Cultural and Creative Axis”: - Culture, Creativity, and Innovation will be addressed as cross-cutting themes to energize and generate value for the entire economy. In this regard, the different fields of action of the various Creative Industries and the most appropriate models for their direction and management will be studied: - Cultural Heritage and Legacy; - Visual and Dramatic Arts; - Publishing and Print Media; - Audiovisual: film, broadcasting, television, and radio; - Design: Fashion, Interior, Graphic, and Jewelry; - New Media: digital content, software, games, and animation; Creative Services: Architecture, Advertising, R&D, and cultural services. We also include in the Creative Sector the relational or transformative sectors that are so important today, such as Cultural Tourism, Education, Sports, and Innovation. In this respect, the particular nature of the “cultural product,” its symbolic, unique, and intangible character, will be taken into account when carrying out its management.

4th - "Social Axis": - Understanding Culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development and the central axis upon which economic, social, and environmental development rests. Culture is not only a generator of wealth and employment, but also an important element of social cohesion and quality of life in a society. Students will be able to develop and manage creative and innovative projects aimed at the local development of a specific territory or the transformation of a particular city, turning it into a hub for innovation and creativity.

5th “Axis – Innovation”: Understanding the multidimensional nature of Innovation: cultural and artistic innovation, social and territorial innovation, economic and technological innovation.

6th Axis – “Sustainable Urban and Territorial Development”: Learning to develop Strategic Plans for the Transformation of Cities and Territories into Creative Zones. Understanding new governance models within the current framework of the Creative Economy, as well as grasping the importance of developing a comprehensive city project with its own identity, based on a concept or idea. A priority objective will also be to study the basic strategic resources available today and to design indicators that allow us to reposition our cities and territories while keeping sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda in mind.

Achieving these priority objectives will determine very clear and specific career paths :

• Creating your own company and launching your business plan in the Cultural, Creative or Innovation Sector.
• To lead or manage public autonomous institutions or bodies, or cultural, creative and innovative projects for them.
• Leading creativity and innovation departments in private and public companies.
• To provide creative services as a consultant for strategic and action plans for international and cooperation organizations such as the UN, UNESCO, among others.
• Working for local public administrations in local development, cultural and creative tourism, strategic plans for urban or territorial regeneration and transformation, in city marketing or branding.
• In communication or design companies in the development of strategic plans and conceptual design.