Humak is the Finnish partner of the European consortium contributing to the Horizon Europe project ’ekip’ (The European Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Policy Platform), which aims to demonstrate how collaborative and systemic open innovation led by creative professionals can bring about change in regions and cities. The project aims to revolutionise innovation policies for cultural and creative sectors (CCS) by providing access to tools and instruments that were previously only used by technology and business actors. The project includes fields such as audiovisual, performing and visual arts, fashion, crafts, games or cultural heritage with the aim of exchanging experiences and knowledge for the European Commission’s work on future policies for CCS to put them on a stable path of innovation.
CCS have culture or creative processes at the core of their mission. Their value creation depends on artistic, cultural or aesthetic competence and new inventions, cross-sectoral experiments and solutions that are constantly emerging in CCS. However, the sector often lacks structured innovation or full access to innovation policies. When medical researchers make new discoveries, an innovation system with resources, models, incubators and funding is ready to capitalise and scale up these inventions. Such a structure doesn’t exist for CCS.
Bridging the gap in innovation policies
Ekip is working to radically change the way cultural and creative professionals in Europe’s cities and regions move towards open innovation. Innovations that function as a public good and need to be seriously supported. The impact is direct for the citizens who will benefit from the effects of scaled-up innovative CCS solutions.
Ekip defines the critical components of an innovation ecosystem for CCS: infrastructure, working models, expertise and funding to facilitate the open innovation process. It aims to bridge the gap between different types of policies. It requires the joint efforts of networks of creative professionals and communities, higher education institutions and policy makers in cities and regions.
A Collaborative open innovation in action
Collaborative innovation policies are essential for CCS to thrive. They are also needed to successfully address major challenges such as the Green Deal, digital transformation and social inclusion. The ekip tools could for example suggest how local innovation ecosystems can use policies to support the development of sustainable clothing.
Two policy recommendations processed by ekip can be given as examples from the immersive media sector. First, bridge another gap. While ecosystems of talent, investment and expertise exist, they remain fragmented and unable to fully align and amplify their collective potential. If intermediaries were empowered to bridge this gap, everyone could focus on their strengths: creators on creation, researchers on innovation and developers on scaling. This alignment would allow the ecosystem to flow more effectively and ensure that discoveries don’t stall in isolation. The various resources need to be consolidated so that more money can flow back into the sector and ideas can benefit a wider audience
The second recommendation relates to the evidence-based observation that the rapidly evolving field requires a mindset rooted in lifelong learning and dynamic knowledge exchange. This recommendation applies directly to universities of applied sciences. Tools, techniques and audience expectations are constantly changing, so immersive media professionals need flexible, on-demand learning pathways: micro-credential programmes, tailored training initiatives and upskilling workshops. These learning models, most often applied in cities and regions, would accommodate individuals but also help the sectors remain competitive on a global scale.
Creatives in local and regional innovation ecosystems
Policies often take time to be implemented, but ekip is pushing to make the policy process part of an innovation process and the policy recommendations a tool for innovation. The regional and local levels have a special role to play in this. Local projects can provide CCS with access to funding, help them to implement initiatives quickly and flexibly, and connect them with their communities.
Ekip also provides the tool to measure impact by monitoring portfolios of activities rather than individual projects. It can help to see how a collection of smaller actions at a local ecosystem level can contribute to long-term impact. What is currently lacking is a forum to support communication between instruments operating at all the different policy levels: EU, national, regional and local, to ensure that they complement and reinforce each other without duplicating, so that Europe can have a strategic impact.
Hopefully, in the future we will see policies evolve to provide more unified support across sectors, moving away from the old-fashioned silo approaches of cultural and economic departments dealing separately with cultural and creative professionals. Ekip is currently working to develop recommendations in 13 policy areas that are critical for CCS.These include, for example, immersive technology and AI in CCS, craft and innovation, inclusivity in the games industry, cross-innovation with the performing arts, artificial intelligence and fashion transition, and eco-design for circularity.
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Marcin Poprawski, PhD, is a senior lecturer and researcher at Humak University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, School of Arts and Cultural Management. He is a leader of the Finnish team in the Horizon Europe ‘EKIP European Cultural and Creative Industries Policy Platform’ 2023-2027 led by Lund University