Nesta and The Lisbon Council have today launched The Creative Economy in Europe: Why Human Beings Remain the Economy's Key Asset.

This policy brief highlights the pivotal role of creativity and creative work in the economy and argues the urgent need for European policymakers to grow the creative workforce and retain the most creative, talented people.

This report builds on a decade of creative economy research at Nesta, including: The geography of the UK’s creative and high–tech economies, A Manifesto for the Creative Economy and The creative economy and the future of employment.

It is authored by Hasan Bakhshi, Senior Director of Creative Economy and Data Analytics at Nesta; Ian Hargreaves, Professor of Digital Economy at Cardiff University and senior fellow at The Lisbon Council; and Paul Hofheinz, President and Co-founder of The Lisbon Council.