Transforming Europe’s Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries with the European Institute of Innovation & Technology
EITToday, the EIT opens a Call for Proposals to create a new sustainable innovation partnership to strengthen Europe’s Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI).
The Call for Proposals invites consortia of organisations and CCSI industry and sectoral leaders bringing together education, research and business to put forward their vision and strategy for EIT Culture & Creativity, the new Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) that will drive the competitiveness and sustainable development of Europe’s CCSI. With the possibility to leverage more funds from the private and public sector, approximately EUR 300 million of funding under Horizon Europe is available for two new EIT KICs to be launched during the 2021-2027 EU funding period.
‘Culture is the soul of Europe. European cultural and creative industries have the power to improve lives, transform communities, generate jobs and growth, and create spill-over effects into other sectors, ensuring that Europe becomes the powerhouse of innovation in the world. Our ambition is indeed to lay the foundations for a European innovation ecosystem based on culture and creativity. This new EIT partnership will help fuel this ambition. It will also support creativity across Europe and turn skills and knowledge into cutting-edge innovations.’
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
By covering the entire innovation journey, from student to entrepreneur, from idea to product, and lab to market, the EIT has been able to train more than 100 000 students, launch 1 400 products on the market and support 3 800 new businesses who have gone on to raise EUR 3.9 billion in external funds. Through the EIT’s proven innovation model, eight KICs have already been established and now the Institute is launching a competition to form its ninth KIC, EIT Culture and Creativity. The new partnership will help accelerate CCSI’ recovery and unlock untapped economic opportunities in creative fields such as architecture, cultural heritage, design, fashion, film, music, publishing, performing arts and video games. Through successful innovations and contributions from third parties, the partnership is expected to become financially sustainable over time beyond the period supported by EIT funding.
‘It is only by investing in innovation and entrepreneurship that we will be able to build resilient, competitive and inclusive societies. EIT Culture & Creativity must be born from a strong desire to do things differently, with highly creative and ambitious people and organisations from the CCSI who are ready to experiment and challenge the status quo. EIT Culture & Creativity will become a self-sustaining ecosystem, that will deliver and advance the EIT’s ability to boost Europe’s innovation capacity.’
Gioia Ghezzi, Chair of the EIT Governing Board
CCSI are among Europe’s leading job providers, with the potential to provide solutions to some of society’s most pressing socio-economic issues. Blocking the way are regional gaps, structural challenges and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. EIT Culture & Creativity will help unite cultural and creative organisations from business, higher education, and research in a sustainable pan-European innovation partnership. It will train the sector’s future entrepreneurs, power its cutting-edge ventures, and deliver innovative products and services to the challenges facing the sectors. The new community also aims to boost integration of the cultural and creative sectors into regional and local development strategies, thereby stimulating the development of creative businesses, supporting investment in human capital and bringing spill-over effects into wider local markets.
Check out the CCSI Call for Proposals page here
To provide interested applicants with more information about the upcoming Call for Proposals, the EIT is hosting a series of webinars in November and December 2021. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the EIT’s innovation model and gain insight into how an EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community fosters innovation. Interested organisations are also invited to connect on the designated networking platform.
The deadline for submitting applications for the call for proposal for EIT Culture & Creativity is Thursday 24 March 2022 17:00 CET.
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