Integration of culture in sustainable development policies in the Republic of Srpska
The Republic of Srpska (RS)
In today's world of globalization, culture is increasingly entering into the field of sustainable development and as such it is an integrated part of economic and social documents of sustainable development. Culture in many countries has become a factor that contributes to the increase in total GDP. In this regard, based on the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the Intersectoral Group on Culture in RS is established on the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Culture of RS and consists of representatives of the following ministries of the RS Government and relevant administrative organizations and institutions: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation, Ministry of Trade and Tourism, Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage, Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labour, War Veterans and Disabled Person’s Protection, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of Justice, Chamber of Commerce, Tax Administration.
The Intersectoral Group on Culture aims not only to integrate culture and cultural heritage into cohesion policies, different RS development strategies and implement specific measures for the integration of culture into this field, but also to integrate policies and strategies and other ministries into the culture development policy and strategy of RS.
Within the Intersectoral Group on Culture of RS, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining co-financed the publication of the book "Old Crafts in RS" prepared by the RS Museum, which came out of the press in September 2012. It can also contribute to improving the business of small entrepreneurs, and therefore tourism in the field of cultural tourism and sustainable rural tourism, and improving the conditions for the creation of new jobs.
The work of Intersectoral Group on Culture is of great importance in terms of stimulating culture through tax incentives and tax on culture in order to create favorable conditions for the development of cultural industries, as well as the integration of social rights of independent artists in the respective legislation of RS to achieve basic human rights - right to work, and thus the right to life, which also contributes to the achievement of successful international cooperation in the framework of the mobility of artists and works of art/cultural property.
The field also related to the intersectoral cooperation is the integration of people with special needs in the field of culture, as well as national minorities, which was already mentioned above.
An analysis of the situation in creative industries is conducted in cooperation with the RS Statistics Institute. This project was implemented thanks to the participation in the UNDP project entitled "Culture for Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina", as one of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The analysis was conducted with the recommendations and definitions of the UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics and requirements of the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat), which ensures international comparability of data in the field of cultural statistics. Data were collected from businesses whose primary and/or secondary activity is in the field of culture, employment in culture, individual participation in the various fields of culture, as well as the collection of financial indicators from secondary sources. In this way, culture is directly related to the creation of new jobs which open up the area for profit of many individuals and groups, and thus culture directly or indirectly influence the development of economic and social policy in RS. The analysis conducted just confirms that claim. The Institute published the research conducted in the publication that consists of methodological explanations, the overview of results with tables or diagrams, and the third part is an Annex, as the supplement to the publication.
Gross value added of cultural activities in RS was 578, 553, 852.30 KM in the total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, which amounted to 8,308,120, 000.00 KM, which means that the share of cultural activities in GDP is 6.96%. Gross added value of cultural activities was obtained from both sources (Research of Business Entities in the Field of Culture and National Accounts) and calculated according to the methodology of the System of National Accounts (ESA95), and pursuant to the excerpt from the Classification of Economic Activities in 2010 for the field of culture (p.32 and 33). This indicator should provide a better understanding when planning budget for culture, which, at this point, is less than 1%, so the funds are insufficient to implement all the above objectives of the Action Plan of the Strategy .