EIT Culture & Creativity
EIT Culture & Creativity is the newest of the nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Its purpose is to help all players in the European Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) to turn innovation into societal impact.
Una Europa has been involved in EIT Culture & Creativity as a core partner since the very beginning of the KIC in 2021, and is one of its founding members.
Una Europa's journey with EIT Culture & Creativity
Our alliance has been deeply engaged in key strategic development and activities since its proposal and start-up phase. This included playing a core role in the start-up grant, which enabled us to contribute:
1. Two co-creation workshops in Leuven (March 2023) and Bologna (June 2023) attended by 41 staff members from across our alliance and EIT Culture & Creativity.
The objective of the workshops was to identify actors of diverse Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) ecosystems to which the 11 Una Europa university partners belong and create a dynamic, fluid and accessible online map. This was the starting point to investigate the scale of the Una Europa community that could be involved in the EIT Culture & Creativity during the following years. The workshops allowed academics to explore how to connect the different ecosystems of each university and increase the opportunities to collaborate. They helped participants to systematize and evaluate their existing stakeholders, approaches, experiences, methods and success factors of their CCSI ecosystems and beyond. This will be crucial in developing competitive bids in the future, and deepening the collaboration between partners across the alliance.
2. A summer school exploring cultural heritage and immersive technologies (XR) hosted by Una Europa partner Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie in July 2023.
The first pilot educational initiative from EIT Culture & Creativity, the summer school welcomed 28 student and doctoral candidates from all corners of Europe, from Portugal to Poland, Estonia to Cyprus. Students from Ukraine also participated with the support of NAWA’s Una4UA programme. The summer school featured workshops delving into the possibilities offered by extended reality (XR) technologies in terms of safeguarding, education and promoting cultural heritage.
3. Two interim co-directors for education:
- Valentina Gianfrate, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna.
- Marta Materska-Samek, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.
Una Europa has a core group of representatives that have been meeting monthly since the beginning of the KIC to discuss upcoming opportunities from the EIT and to find new ways to collaborate with each other across borders and disciplines, within and beyond academia.
Cultural Heritage is one of the five strategic themes for the KIC, and this aligns well with Una Europa’s Focus Area on the same area, enabling us to strengthen our collaborations and find new ways to work together.
Una Europa Secretary-General Emily Palmer participating in the EIT Culture & Creativity Partners' Meeting, December 2023.
Colleagues from Una Europa universities participate in a workshop at Università di Bologna to map our alliance's CCSI ecosystem, June 2023.
Marta Materska-Samek represents Una Europa and Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie at the first EIT Culture & Creativity summer school, July 2023.
Delegates attending the EIT Culture & Creativity Partners' Meeting at Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, December 2023.
Colleagues from Una Europa universities participate in a workshop at Università di Bologna to map our alliance's CCSI ecosystem, June 2023.
Colleagues from Una Europa universities participate in a workshop at Università di Bologna to map our alliance's CCSI ecosystem, June 2023.
Emily Palmer with Professor Stanisław Kistryn, member of the Una Europa Board of Directors at the EIT Culture & Creativity Partners' meeting, December 2023.
Una Europa students and staff participate in the first EIT Culture & Creativity summer school, hosted by Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie in July 2023.
About EIT Culture & Creativity
By fostering interdisciplinary and cross-sectorial collaboration for stakeholders from education, innovation, research, business and culture, EIT Culture & Creativity provides new connections and unique opportunities from its European innovation community across 15 sectors and 30 nations.
EIT Culture & Creativity's vision is to fundamentally change the CCSI towards new understandings of competitiveness, resilience, and sustainable economic growth. EIT Culture & Creativity empowers businesses, universities, research organisations and cultural institutions, NGOs or cities and regions through its supporting and co-financing programmes, for example by setting up innovative HEI education or professional training, implementing innovative products and services, incubating start-ups or scaling organisations to compete in global markets. These support programmes are launched openly and annually.
EIT Culture & Creativity offers a unique value-add that cannot be attained otherwise, for example, through its innovation ecosystem, services in markets, early insights in policy, and thought leadership. It helps empower stakeholders to transform projects into long-term partnerships with a societal purpose which are financially sustainable. Read about the EIT Culture & Creativity governance, its strategic objectives, activities and KPIs in the coming years in the EIT Culture & Creativity Strategic Agenda 2024–2027.
