ACADEMIC institutions should train college students to think like entrepreneurs and educate them on the potential of using their creative skills into a business.

This was the recommendation made by Nestor Jardin, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

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In his talk during the recent Management Association of the Philippines-Asian Institute Management (MAP-AIM) Management Educators Workshop, Jardin urged school representatives to consider integrating arts education in their management curriculum to complement a “whole-brain” approach learning that will enable students to become innovative
thinkers.

With the demand for events managers today, for instance, professor Mario Antonio Lopez of AIM said that colleges and universities may want to develop programs for students who want to go into the profession.

“But before mounting new units or programs, we have to understand first what the (creative) industry is,” he said.

Jardin said that the global creative industry that encompasses cultural, scientific, technological and economic aspects is expected to earn $6.1 trillion in 2020 from $3.04 trillion in 2005.

He cited China and Singapore as among the Asian countries that are “way ahead” in the creative industry after taking huge advances, such as transforming old factories into works of art and building successful creative parks.

Jardin pointed out that export of cultural goods globally had increased from $227 billion in 1996 to $424 billion in 2005 while export of creative services grew by 8.8 percent per annum for the same period.

“We have to ride on this global trend. We (should) address the creative industry as an integral part of the academe,” he said.

He said indicators that support this trend include favorable global trends, manageable capitalization needs, growth in local consumption, availability of Filipino talents and abundance of unique natural resources.

Cebu-based artists, the government and nongovernment groups have taken steps in formalizing the local creative sector and helped the province’s economy amid the global financial crisis.

Jardin also urged concerned stakeholders to come up with a study that will determine the potentials and impact of the creative industry in the country. These are needed when drafting funding proposals to politicians, he added.