Estonia and Tallinn need to invest in culture as public infrastructure to sustain innovation, writes Alessandro Paciaroni.<\/p>\n
Estonia has built its reputation on digital efficiency, with Tallinn as its showcase. But innovation\u00a0does not\u00a0run on\u00a0technology alone; it requires a safe,\u00a0prosperous\u00a0and vibrant social fabric to sustain its energy. Sustaining that edge will take a pivot from both Tallinn and the state \u2014 to treat culture, specifically the grass-root night culture, as a primary pillar of innovation.<\/p>\n
The current trajectory in Tallinn treats culture as a private commodity or a luxury rather than essential public infrastructure, a move that jeopardizes the city’s long-term investments in innovation and creates a serious threat to the country’s prosperity and people’s wellbeing. Despite 84 percent of Estonians viewing arts and culture as vital for welfare and economic development, 49 percent say<\/a> that costs of admission\u00a0is\u00a0the main barrier to access\u00a0it.\u00a0Rising costs and fiscal pressures are decimating the grass-root culture-driven clubs \u2014 the critical infrastructure for creativity and innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first time I heard of Estonia was when my mum came on a work trip in the early 2000s. Once, at my parents’ home in Italy, I found a traveler’s guide of Estonia; the book is rather old, there’s photos of Viru Square from the 90s \u2014 quite a vibe \u2014 but for a moment it felt like my hometown and my home today connected. In 2019, I learned that I would have to come to Tallinn as part of my studies in digital governance and public sector innovation. At that point all I knew was that the recommended activity in Estonia was birdwatching.<\/p>\n As a student abroad, the Erasmus network is usually the first social anchor \u2014 and\u00a0often the only one. Integration requires stepping further. In\u00a0Tallinn\u00a0that step, for me, was the grass-root culture-driven club HALL. I arrived in September 2021 to study digital governance and, by July 2022, I decided to stay specifically because of Tallinn’s club culture scene. Going home for the first time since moving to Tallinn, I met an Estonian lady on my flight to Rome who explained how, in rejection of the hierarchies imposed during Soviet occupation, Estonia built an open, flat form of collaboration in the 90s. That, she said, was a key factor in Estonia’s innovation trajectory \u2014 what made the state efficient and people’s lives easier. Coming from Italian bureaucracy, I knew exactly what she meant.<\/p>\n Evidence suggests that a fundamental condition for this to happen is cultural spaces \u2014 particularly grassroots culture-driven clubs that highlight art and music instead of the business model. In these spaces, people from\u00a0different groups\u00a0of society interact using a common language: music. There is even a neuroscientific case for this: research<\/a> on music and the brain shows that rhythm engages the networks tied to prediction, attention and cognitive\u00a0flexibility. Estonia’s\u00a0history of innovation was fueled by this cultural vitality. Right\u00a0now\u00a0there is a new massive push to innovate, but we must ask: are there the cultural spaces left to sustain and fuel it?<\/p>\n Right now, the “doors” are closing. One in two Estonians reports that ticket costs are the main barrier to culture \u2014 11 percentage points higher than the European average. With a quick\u00a0search\u00a0one can see that tickets on sale for opera and ballets at the\u00a0national opera\u00a0range from \u20ac26 to \u20ac80. On average, when it comes to culture-driven clubs and grass root venues, a club night costs around \u20ac15\u201320 and early bird tickets<\/a> for three-day festivals with international lineups and live music acts start around \u20ac30 or \u20ac40\u00a0euros.<\/p>\n When it comes to financial policy, the standard VAT tax rate is the single heaviest pressure on culture-driven clubs.\u00a0Additionally, more than two thirds of people questioned reported<\/a> regional inequalities in terms of access to culture as well as artists not receiving fair and appropriate remuneration for their work.\u00a0This, combined with the lack of structural support, plainly and simply drains the city’s spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, this must not be a race to the\u00a0bottom\u00a0but an open and\u00a0evidence-based\u00a0conversation to design\u00a0structural reforms. The necessary reforms are split across two desks. Two of them \u2014 basic income for artists and VAT relief \u2014 sit with the state. Two \u2014 dedicated cultural spaces and a small tourist tax \u2014 rest with the city. The risk right now is that each desk\u00a0waits\u00a0for the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n Basic Income for Artists:\u00a0Following Ireland’s example, providing a basic income<\/a> allows artists to focus on creativity rather than side gigs. This pays off 1.39 \u20ac for every euro\u00a0invested.Dedicated Cultural Spaces:\u00a0We need initiatives like San Francisco’s Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) to provide security on rent and maintenance for culture-driven clubs.\u00a0Multifunctional Use:\u00a0We should encourage collaborations between institutions like KUMU or ERM and grassroots culture-driven clubs and record labels,\u00a0utilizing\u00a0parking lots or museums for new formats,\u00a0similar to\u00a0the Barbican Center<\/a> in\u00a0London.Fiscal Reform:\u00a0Lowering VAT and introducing a small tourist tax<\/a> (e.g., 1.00 \u20ac) would provide necessary oxygen to culture-driven clubs and the local\u00a0population.<\/p>\n When I think back to that flight to Rome, I remember what the Estonian lady told me: Estonia’s open and collaborative culture made innovation possible. Recently, Sten Tamkivi \u2014 early executive at Skype and former advisor to President Ilves \u2014 made a similar point<\/a> when speaking about AI.\u00a0He said the real question is not whether we can build advanced systems, but whether we are ready to confront the complex social questions that come with them. Technology alone does not\u00a0determine\u00a0the future. The surrounding culture does.<\/p>\n Culture-driven spaces like clubs create exactly those conditions. They are spaces without titles, without rigid hierarchies where people from\u00a0different parts\u00a0of society interact through a shared language: music. These spaces train mental flexibility,\u00a0creativity\u00a0and collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n If we neglect these spaces, innovation will not\u00a0immediately\u00a0disappear. Startups will still\u00a0register\u00a0here. The state’s finances may even look strong. But if people come to Estonia for the incentives and build their lives somewhere else, then something essential is missing. We will remain digitally advanced. Yet we will slowly become a virtual state \u2014 efficient, but without people.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Follow ERR News on Facebook<\/a> and X<\/a> and never miss an update!<\/p>\n