Supporting Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through Culture-based Innovation: Expanding the Saudi National Festival for Culture and Heritage into a National Project for Innovation and Design
Fawaz Abid Bakhotmah (2020)
To facilitate strategies and reflect the nation's culture and heritage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Culture-Based Innovation (CBI) was launched in 2010 as the outcome of a creative initiative under the name Bellagio Mandala Group of Culture-Based Innovation. This research aims to stimulate this initiative and highlight its reputation concerning (1) the historical correlation between culture and development; (2) the innovation benefits from the advancement of cultural development, and (3) the challenges faced in Saudi Arabia due to the unclear creative cultural production model in practice. This research analyses the findings from field observations and promotes the Saudi national cultural and heritage festival to be a development platform through cultural-based creativity, innovation, and design on a practical level. Four hypotheses have been proposed, and the study summarises three comprehensive models that assist development decision makers, educators, and programmers.