The Industrial Age peaked and waned, with the force of industrialisation reappearing once again in the 19th century, changing the face of agriculture. However the 21st century is seeing the creative economy change the stereotypes forged by the Industrial Age and also the rules of the game. Our world is changing, however today the raw materials are not coal and iron, but information and its most valued products, ideas and meanings, which are created not by machines, but by the imagination. Today’s capital is the creative person.

Culture is becoming an especially important factor in our post-industrial society. Author John Howkins (www.creativeeconomy.com/john.htm) declares this news to the world in the form of a new economy called the creative economy. His book is described as the first practical guide for those working in the creative industries (CI)* sector.

Companies, the products of which are founded on individual creativity, are growing and having a huge impact on global culture and the global economy. Knowledge and culture are becoming the crux of all business activities. Borders are disappearing between the worlds of science, business and art. The artist/creator is becoming the main actor, the creator of a contemporary product in the new context of the creative economy. Culture is beginning to be understood as the most important factor of the economy, and not as the result of an economic life or a final product. It is a motor that creates the right conditions for economic activity to be carried out, i.e. to create!

Since 2003 the European Cultural Programme Centre (ICPC predecessor) had been devoted to developing creative industries in Lithuania. An international conference entitled “Creative Industries: A Chance in Europe and for Europe” was held in Vilnius on 27-28 October, 2003, which was devoted to introducting the main ideas of the creative industries in Lithuania. The project “Opportunity in Europe: Creative Industries and Regional Development” was implemented in 2004-2005. The primary goal of the project was to prepare creative industry maps of the Utena District and Alytus District, which were based on a method created in the UK. The International Cultural Programme Centre is continuing the activities of its predecessor (www.durys.org), by continuing to introduce the theme of creative industries to Lithuanian cultural operators and other creative industry experts.

The successful development of creative industries encourages the creativity and cultural diversity of a country’s society as well as the competitiveness of a country’s cultural creative product on the international market. Export markets are an essential tool for the establishment of a successful creative industry. The local market is too small in many of the sectors of creative industries in order to support the competiveness of the creative industries. World demand for creative production is growing at an ever continuous pace, creating exceptional opportunities to realise a country’s creativeness. In this context, the European Union and other countries are already making a conscious effort to use these possibilities, integrating the idea of creative industries into their own cultural export concepts.

* Creative industries (CI) are generally described as activities that are based on individual creativity, skills and talents which can create material good and work places, as well as intellectual property. The creative industries include architecture, guilds, performance arts, design, interactive computer programmes, clothing design, the art and antiques market, music, cinema and video production, publishing, television and radio, computer programmes and computer services, advertising and some parts of the tourism sector.