Dr. Stephen Boyce, Programme Manager (Education & Employment) with the European Union (EU) Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, receiving a copy of the Pinelands Creative Workshop (PCW) research-based initiative from CEO of PCW, Rodney Grant (left), during the Project Close Out Session.
There is a call to encourage youth to see careers in Culture as viable professional options.
This comes from Programme Manager (Education & Employment) with the European Union (EU) Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Stephen Boyce, who also expressed the need to ensure that organisations that are training in culture are registered with the Barbados Accreditation Council and adhere to the National Qualifications Framework.
He was at the time addressing the Project Close Out Session of Pinelands Creative Workshop (PCW) research-based initiative “The Internationalisation of Community Cultural Performance Arts Products and Services as a Component of a Vibrant National Cultural Industries”, supported by the Barbados Human Resource Development Programme Implementation Unit within the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, and the EU.
“This allows for currency and mobility within the educational sector and between the educational sector and labour market at the national, regional and global levels. It also allows for recognition of prior learning… For example, if you have been in PCW and have been drumming for the last 10 years that needs to be translated into something which can then give you further mobility within the sector. Through such a mechanism, there is a better idea of the level at which you are pitching your skills and ultimately, what your services are worth,” he explained.
Additionally, Dr. Boyce is of the opinion that attention must also be paid to the venues that house the performing arts. He said that there are opportunities for rethinking existing community centres as multi-purpose hubs, with facilities for performing arts and support services.
“This may also be an option for reshaping the blocks … while revitalising urban and rural communities,” he observed.
The EU Programme Manager also told cultural practitioners gathered that the performing arts must be positioned as not only a sub-sector within Culture, but with horizontal dimensions that traverse other policy fields such as education, labour, research, technology and sustainable tourism.
“Simply put, a sustainable future for community performing arts cannot be achieved through one-off projects and a few grants here and there from donors or the business community. The future must be grounded in a holistic, forward-looking, strategic, scalable and sustainable programme. In this way, potential investors can have a 360 degree view of the programme, clearly identify synergies with their own organisational objectives and determine the value added of being involved in such a venture.” (TL)
Section: