Arts & International Affairs: 2.3: Autumn/Winter 2017 | Page 96

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS and the public are mingling in co-working spaces, fab labs, living labs, maker spaces, cre- ative hubs, and incubators. Together, they are inventing a new society of collaborations and enterprises. The international community of cultural workers is cosmopolitan with a global mind- set. They are concerned about issues such as nationalism, xenophobia, environmental protection, and climate change. However, this sensibility is not preventing pride in their cultural roots and desire to share their stories. Regional cultures (Bavaria, Catalonia, Corsica, Flanders, Scotland) enhance the expression of European diversity and promote democratic participation. In parallel, the consumption of culture is changing and becoming more focused on shared activities. Events and festivals based around music, street art, theatre, film, spo- ken word, or food create opportunities for people to get together. Cultural consump- tion is an excuse to celebrate together. This culture is about making friends and creating more opportunities for sharing. It is about co-producing among peers, and informal or project-based initiatives which are often carried out by independent freelancers working outside corporate settings, but who, at the same time, are in some way connected to such environments. This trend, this new way of working, favors collaboration as opposed to competition, establishing solidarity and partnerships, and new forms of entrepreneurship driven by social rather than economic goals. It offers a vision of society and its structure, in which the nation state will be one unit of integration among others, but in which cities will co-exist. A societal vision that will be post-capitalist, driven by knowledge, and fore- sees cultural stakeholders playing a key role in developing a new social ideology based on creativity and innovation. This society might be divided by new sets of values—one promoted by the technologists and scientists, and one by the cultural workers. Creative parks or innovation hubs often group both skills to generate innovation and creativity in an interdisciplinary spirit. Cities have a role to play in encouraging both worlds to con- verge and collaborate, to enable us to imagine tomorrow’s world. 94