Faces of Our CommUNAty: “We’re connecting a network of networks across countries and disciplines.”

Caroline: Since the beginning, the purpose of EIT C&C has been to drive innovation in the creative industries and how creative industries drive innovation in other sectors, looking at how to support creators and innovators from diverse sectors and leading to cross-fertilisation across those sectors. In Una Europa, we spoke to colleagues in the alliance working in creative industries and also from our Cultural Heritage Focus Area, which led to us joining the consortium and developing a proposal for the Call.

Una Europa took an active role in supporting the development of the proposal, which took place in 2020 during the pandemic. I remember sitting at my first home working desk, talking online to all these Europeans and thinking, “Oh my goodness, this is incredible, we’re going to create this amazing thing!”. In the alliance we developed a core group to work on EIT C&C, inviting anyone who wanted to actively participate in contributing to the proposal, and later, once awarded, to the KIC [Knowledge and Innovation Community] itself. During the proposal phase we conducted an online workshop of all 11 universities where we mapped our specialties, industry connections, network relationships, and industrial partnerships linked to specific programmes, as well as what we have achieved as Una Europa, such as the Doctoral Programme in Cultural Heritage. This is what we brought to the consortium, to highlight how we would be a good strategic partner.

For four years we have had this informal group working on EIT C&C in Una Europa, following the initiative from proposal-writing stage through the start-up phase to today. We have refreshed the group at certain points, as it is quite a long time for people to be so intensively engaged, but as an alliance we have remained involved to understand our place in the KIC and what we can do moving forward. In the start-up phase, we acted as a supportive, helpful, creative, constructive, sometimes critical friend to the KIC, offering help, people and expertise right through the four years.

Caroline: I think that this is the biggest investment in the cultural and creative industries from the EU that we have seen. The promise of a seven-year commitment and millions of euros is one thing, but also that the aim is to connect a network of networks, across all these countries and disciplines that form the creative industries and cultural sectors. We can all learn from each other, share with each other, and cross-innovate. That potential has really kept everyone engaged and motivated, and wanting it to be a success.

Jermina: In the workshops, which are only for our Una Europa members, we aim to take a highly targeted, structured approach to building and strengthening our capacities for collaboratively developing research project proposals. The format is really hands-on – we sit together, review the work plans and identify shared interest among partners, then split into focused working groups to tackle this together. Our colleagues are very happy with the results and consistently praise the efficiency of the approach, as these calls are usually something very foreign and cumbersome to tackle alone. So doing that in a group, over two days in a very structured way helps them to dive into the work.

The workshops are indirectly related to the work of EIT C&C by contributing to its Key Performance Indicators, but also towards Una Europa. Our main aim is to fully engage with one another and leverage our in-person collaboration for maximum impact.

Jermina: For me, the meaningful in-person exchange remains irreplaceable as it generates the kind of insight and inspiration that simply cannot be replicated online. All the brilliant ideas and exchanges that we make, especially during breaks and lunches – I like to call them 'spillovers'. As someone who naturally connects ideas and people, I find these spillovers, which help spark new projects beyond the scope of our current workshops, emerge most often during informal gatherings. Although their impact may not be immediately measurable, in the long term I think they are the foundation of what we are trying to build at Una Europa, both in the EIT C&C group and in the Self-Steering Committees [the alliance’s academic bodies aligned to our six Focus Areas].

Jermina: Collaboration has to become essential. We need to avoid duplicating efforts. Within both the Core Group and the Self-Steering Committee, each composed of different representatives from diverse disciplines, I have noticed a tendency to gravitate towards similar proposals, developments and tools. Our discussions frequently overlap, yet many colleagues remain unaware of one another’s work. That is something to be bridged. It presents a challenge, but I think it’s getting closer.

Interested in learning more about Una Europa and EIT C&C? Explore the partnership further by visiting our dedicated webpage.