In response to the ‘Designing the Next 50’ project launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority held a webinar lately under the title ‘The future of the cultural and creative sector in the next 50 years’ hosted by HalaBadri, Director General of Dubai Culture. The webinar saw the participation of an expansive number of citizens and residents, that helped design and realise the future of the culture and arts sector in the UAE. In parallel, a public survey was launched aimed at involving all community segments in the ideation stage of the Culture Sector.

This public engagement, which resulted in 40 creative ideas generated by the public, came as part of the interactive initiatives between government entities, the private sector,and individuals from society in support of the he Designing the Next 50 ’ project, which is under the supervision of the 50 year development plan committee. Members of the public came together to work and propose ideas and perceptions for the future of all sectors and fields through a set of activities and initiatives.

On this occasion, HalaBadri, Director General of Dubai Culture, emphasised the importance of community interaction in designing the next 50 years for the UAE and the importance of the topics that were discussed during the webinar. She said: “Involving community members in the strategic planning and shaping of the UAE’s future of the UAE is integral to help establish and design the next 50 years. It also reflects the wise leadership’s transparency and keenness for the nation to continue on the path of the founding fathers who, with their wise vision, laid the foundations for civilisation, progress and prosperity based on people.”

Badri added: “Cooperation, solidarity and joint dialogue between the government and the people is an essential pillar in building the future of the country and achieving its renaissance and sustainability. Therefore, we are keen to work as a team with the community across various sectors to design a better future and a clearer roadmap that would support the development process, achieving the quality of life of the community, ensuring its sustainability over the coming period, and enabling future generations to achieve the goals of the UAE Centennial 2017.”

She continued:“The Cultural and Creative Industries Sector is considered one of the vital economic sectors. Based on our role as its custodian, we are actively engaging with various groups in society to enrich the process of developing the sector’s comprehensive development plan with new ideas that would contribute to the process of designing the next fifty years and studying the challenges faced by the various groups in the creative community to base our development of the plan on.

Badri indicated that the dialogue session comprised a detailed explanation of the concept of Cultural and Creative Industries as well as the six sectors that fall under them, the broad ramifications that they include, and the positive role they play in the development of society and the economy to motivate and inspire the participants to put forward comprehensive and creative ideas that would contribute to creating a supportive environment and ensure its sustainable prosperity. This was followed by a vote that was presented to the audience to explore ways to strengthen Dubai’s position as the best global model in the cultural and creative industries sector.

The session was characterised by an enthusiastic interaction from attendees, who shared their views and ideas that Badri described as wonderful and rich, noting that the topics discussed were selected according to the outputs of a series of studies and consultative meetings with specialists in the emirate’s creative community. She added: “Community engagement contributes to expanding the knowledge associated with achieving the vision behind the development plan and establishes a solid base to meet the expectations of the creative community’s members. Based on the outcomes of these fruitful consultations, we will start working with the rest of the sectors on preparing the centenary plan, the comprehensive development plan for the next 50 years for the UAE, which starts 2021.”

Dubai Culture is committed to supporting a prosperous future for the cultural and creative sector by encouraging and empowering creative talents in the United Arab Emirates, preserving and celebrating the emirate’s rich heritage, and ensuring that culture is accessible to everyone, everywhere, thus contributing to strengthening the cultural footprint of the UAE on the global stage and ensuring the sustainability of the sector’s prosperity for the coming generations.