Final Report

In 1991 the then fledgling Highlands and Islands Enterprise undertook two substantial, and linked, initiatives which focused on the economic and social importance of the arts in the area. These took the forms of a major report, followed by a large scale conference held in Eden Court Theatre. Both of these initiatives proved to be landmarks: the Report provided a benchmark audit, while the Conference set an agenda for future development, one outcome of which was the expansion and increased remit of HI-Arts as an agent of HIE for arts development and promotion.

In the subsequent decade, huge changes at a regional and national level have impacted upon the arts in the Highlands and Islands: the introduction of National Lottery and Objective One European funds; Local Government reorganisation, the advent of the Scottish Parliament. It therefore seemed timely and appropriate to repeat these two exercises, both to take stock of what had been achieved, and to set a new agenda for the coming decade.

After the study had been commissioned, the opportunity then arose to submit a Highland bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2008. It was therefore agreed that the conference, now entitled Inheritance and Creativity, would be jointly organised by HIE and the Highland Council, and would be in two parts: the first day focusing on the current state of developments in a wide range of cultural fields, the second looking to the future, and the possible impact of preparing a Capital of Culture bid.

The 2001 Study on the Economic Importance of the Arts in the Highlands and Islands therefore sits now within the wider overall context of cultural development, as explored at the September 2001 Conference, and as will be required for a viable Bid to be Capital of Culture.

The full text of the original 1991 study, and the records of the 1991 conference, remain in the public domain, and copies are still requested from individuals and bodies throughout the UK and abroad. It is likely that this successor report, and the proceedings of the subsequent conference, will have an equally long shelf-life and be as influential on the future cultural life of the Highlands and Islands.

The Study into the Economic and Social Impact of the Arts in the Highlands and Islands was jointly funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Arts Council.

The report can be downloaded in sections from the links below: