Knowledge Transfer in the Cultural and Creative Sector: Institutional Aspects and Perspectives from Actors in Selected Atlantic Regions

The 21st century has witnessed a growth in the importance given to the third mission of Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This third mission refers to the socioeconomic engagement with the surrounding social and business fabric, namely in the form of knowledge transfer (KT) schemes and policies. Despite its widely-recognized importance, the Cultural and Creative Sector (CCS) has remained only marginally engaged with HEI, in part due to the lack of explicit policy by public actors to bring the two types of actors together. This article seeks to explore the institutional frameworks that have been developed for knowledge transfer from HEI to the CCS in selected regions of the Atlantic Area. Towards this goal, it first analyses some of the sectoral specificities of the CCS, identifying three feature which distinguish the sector: the entrepreneurial structure and organization of CCS; the type of knowledge, innovation and motivations of firms; and their absence of connections to HEI. The article seeks then to analyze to what extent existing policy on CCS and KT policies in the regions has tackled these specificities, through a qualitative analysis of reports, policy documents, and academic analysis of the regional economies, before proposing a model for understanding KT policy in the CCS sector, which serves as a preliminary line of inquiry into the knowledge relations in the CCS. Finally, these policy concerns are related to the perceptions of CCS practitioners, attempting to understand the primary concerns of these actors according to their regional context. The article highlights the existing disconnect between public policy, the current state of understanding of the CCS and the industry actors, urging for greater research and policy-development to promote innovation and socioeconomic growth.