ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses how key international organizations define the ‘creative economy’ and the implications of these definitions for aid, funding, collaborations and policies. It examines culture in the European Union (EU) aid programme for the Mediterranean region and links it to the EU discourse on culture since 1995. The book aims to assess why projects have been funded, and discusses their short-, medium- and long-term impacts on the ground. It also assesses whether these projects created relations of power and inequality between stakeholders of aid funded projects and how these have manifested on the ground. The book also aims to determine whether and how donor-funded cultural projects help to address global challenges. It covers an issue that has rarely been addressed in academic literature: the integration of playfulness and laughter in humanitarian responses through artistic and interactive interventions targeting children.
