Creative Industries

Overview

Creative Industries are a source of prosperity and pleasure across the world. Moreover, they are also a key economic resource, and an engine to drive development and change. 

The existence and work of the British-Irish Council’s Creative Industries Work Sector reflects this economic weight, social influence, and ever-growing potential.

British-Irish Council work on creative industries brings together policy makers and practitioners from these islands, to explore areas of common interest. In recent times, the focus has been on fostering growth and resilience within the sector, especially through encouraging young people into the industries.

This work sector has also collaborated across the BIC on shared areas of interest, such as the promotion of languages, which has seen join-up with the BIC’s Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-used Languages (IML) Work Sector.

Lead Administration

The Creative Industries Work Sector was established in 2013 to share expertise and learning on policies and approaches to creative industries across the islands. The Government of Jersey has since chaired the work sector as lead administration.

Current Focus

In March 2023, Ministers agreed the current workplan at a meeting hosted by the Isle of Man Government.  The work sector’s current focus is on:

• Initiatives to support growth and resilience of the Creative Industries, particularly the use of technology and creativity that has led to innovative collaboration and digital audiences
• Contribution to [addressing] climate change and decarbonisation, harnessing creative approaches to societal issues
• Supporting health and wellbeing within the Creative Industries
• Initiatives of common interest with other work sectors – for example, such as with the Social Inclusion Work Sector, and with Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages Work Sector through partnership with the Celtic Media Festival (CMF) partnership and promotion and outreach activities

In March 2025, officials from the BIC’s Creative Industries Work Sector were hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive’s Department of Communities on a visit to Belfast to meet with two organisations: Ulster Orchestra, an professional orchestra at the centre of musical life in Northern Ireland; and Studio Ulster, a state-of-the art facility driving technological innovation and research in the entertainment industry.

The work sector also put on a webinar in June 2025, attended by over 70 people including industry experts, third sector organisations and policy officials exploring the topic ‘Creatively Bringing Buildings Back to Life’. The Webinar featured four fascinating presentations exploring how the refurbishing and repurposing of older buildings can breathe new life into places of historical and cultural importance, as well as bringing wider community benefits, including to local economies and to individual’s health and wellbeing.