The orange economy: Where creativity fuels prosperity | UN News
What happens when you blend creativity, cultural heritage and economic growth?
“If you examine the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), you’ll notice that none of them explicitly mention the words culture, arts or creativity,” he said. “However, if you delve deeper, you will find that creativity, culture and art serve both as means and ends of the SDGs. This is very powerful because culture is an excellent and important tool that brings people together to achieve many of the SDGs.”
He said culture facilitates employment, inclusion, ecological sustainability of cities, better education and cooperation.
“When we gather, when we converse, when we share our perspectives of the world, we are engaging in a cultural exchange,” he added. “This is crucial for achieving the SDGs."
Empowering women in Ethiopia
Samrawit Mersiehazen, a visionary creative designer from Ethiopia and the creative director of Samra Leathers, is using fashion to challenge economic imbalances and empower women in her country.
“In the fashion industry, we give lots of job opportunities, especially for women, and we add value for women and society,” she told UN News, underlining the significance of the orange economy in addressing pressing issues in Ethiopia and across Africa.
Highlighting a gap in educational support for creative industries, Ms. Mersiehazen that although the Ethiopian Government has established over 20 major universities in the last two decades, none focus on nurturing talents in creative fields.
“We produce lots of doctors, engineers, which after they graduate, they’re looking for a job for lots of years,” she said. “These big facilities didn’t help with job creation. So, this kind of the orange economy with the creative industry people like me, provide lots of job opportunities, especially for women.”
Ms. Mersiehazen’s enterprise demonstrates how the creative sector can lead to substantial employment opportunities. Samra Leather, known for its products ranging from bags to clothing for both men and women, stands as a beacon of what can be achieved when creativity is leveraged as an economic force.
A call to cherish cultural artifacts
When contemplating the dynamic world of the orange economy, the phrase’s co-founder Mr. Buitrago voiced a reminder to not overlook the cultural artifacts that shape people’s identity.
“The message is sometimes we take for granted that there’s a craft or that there’s a painting or that there’s a melody from our heritage, and that’s dumb,” he said.
“We need to take it seriously because that’s a message from the past that is being told to us by somebody that is alive today and that is willing to engage with us in dreaming about the future.”
