Today, 26 January 2026, the founding event of the 1st Forum on Culture and Impact Investment took place. The initiative is promoted by Gabeiras, in collaboration with The Pipe and SpainNAB, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

The Forum was created with a clear purpose: to build a stable community, generate shared knowledge, and move towards a model in which impact investment contributes effectively to a cultural sector that is stronger, more diverse, and more sustainable.

Participants and key contributions

• Carmen Páez Undersecretary of State for Culture · Government of Spain

  Addressed the main challenges in cultural financing and the role of the Ministry of Culture, with a particular focus on impact investment and the implications of recognising culture as a basic, essential and fundamental good.

• Andoni Iturbe Vice-Minister of Culture · Basque Country

  Argued for organising culture under a “System” approach, similar to healthcare or education, and highlighted the role of a public cultural system in providing the institutional and financing framework.

• Pau Rausell Economist and Associate Professor · University of Valencia

  Shared insights on the specific features of the cultural sector from a cultural economics perspective, including methodologies to measure impacts and externalities and distinguish between intrinsic and instrumental value.

• Alfonso Santiago CEO · Last Tour

  Presented the challenges currently faced by the music creative industries and the ongoing processes of concentration and vertical integration, with implications for diversity and cultural rights.

• Mariela Besuivesky CEO · Tornasol

  Shared her view on the audiovisual sector and the risks of not implementing measures to guarantee financing for the independent industry across all creative stages.

The Forum also builds on the commitment made by Gabeiras in 2023 during the 2nd Autumn Conference on Cultural Law, organised by Fundación Gabeiras together with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Since then, several actions have been carried out, including the report Towards the creation of an impact fund for culture (2023), sector meetings in 2024 (BIME Bilbao or Bogotá), and the Classrooms on Culture as an Impact Sector programme (2025).

At present, we are finalising the Report on the demand for financing in the cultural sector, developed together with Econcult and the University of Valencia.

Gabeiras is the organisation driving this initiative and has promoted work aimed at building a framework that connects culture with new financing pathways, including an impact investment approach.

Econcult is the research group at the University of Valencia specialising in cultural economics and creative industries, and it contributes to this report by providing analysis and expertise on the cultural sector’s financing needs.