About ekip

Unlocking open innovation together with ekip

ekip is a collaborative platform designed to boost the development of innovation capacity in ecosystems to include the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI).

The CCIs being the missing piece in ecosystems.

Creatives are not just “nice to have” they are essential for driving progress on major challenges like the green and digital transformation and social inclusion. Their competences and skills are crucial for tackling complex innovation processes involving diverse stakeholders.

Rooted in open innovation, ekip brings together broad stakeholder groups to co-create and deliver evidence-based policy recommendations. Together, we’re shaping smarter innovation policies for ecosystems where collaborative processes and cross and open innovation are standard practice. We believe this will empower the CCIs to become drivers of innovation, creating a better and brighter future.

The ekip Engine

Our “ekip Engine” is an elaborated process where we co-create policy recommendations with broad groups of stakeholders. Built on open innovation, it sparks engagement, builds awareness, gathers feedback, and empowers people to shape policies that drive societal change through innovation. It creates opportunities for the CCIs, giving rise to a “swarm” of many organisations working together for innovation and prosperity rather than focusing on a single unicorn.

Identification phase

In ekip’s IDENTIFICATION phase, we gather insights from across sectors—through engagement activities, data analysis, trend mapping, and expert input—to spot policy needs and develop capacity in ecosystems to include Creatives.

Here you find our method with social media listening, where we track real-time conversations across sectors to understand shifting trends, priorities, and emerging jobs in the CCIs. This helps stakeholders anticipate change and respond with better policy and innovation strategies.

We also work with prioritisation methods, where Policy Corner is one example of outlining emerging innovation areas. The prioritisation work combines evidence from research, stakeholder input, and EU agendas to cluster, rank, and map key priorities.

Prioritisation phase

In ekip’s PRIORITISATION phase, we focus on identifying which policy areas are the most timely, diverse, and capable of driving innovation.

This ensures not only a balanced mix of topics but also the strongest potential for real-world impact. By approaching policies through different “lenses,” we can combine essential building blocks in ways that strengthen innovation capacity and lead to more resilient and dynamic ecosystems.

Investigation phase

Going deeper into selected policy areas in the INVESTIGATION phase, we use observatories, trend reports, and qualitative research to map the landscape around each area its challenges, stakeholders, gaps, and opportunities. We produce a Policy Poster, a visual presentation of policy areas that integrates knowledge and allows stakeholders to quickly engage with the challenges and opportunities it entails.

Formulation phase

In the FORMULATION phase, mappings, analyses, conversations, and ideas turn into action shaping recommendations on how ecosystems can be developed and how their building blocks can fit together to support the creatives. For each policy area, we arrange a Policy Lab a collaborative environment where multidisciplinary teams tackle complex policy issues.

We also prototype recommendations by engaging with stakeholders around innovation portfolios in ecosystems. Through City Prototyping, we test which building blocks an ecosystem needs to support and catalyse an innovation topic and how they can be developed to enable cross-innovation work with the Creatives in real-world contexts.

The ekip Knowledge Bank

The ekip Knowledge Bank is Europe’s go to platform for practical cross-sector innovation knowledge that puts Cultural and Creative Industries at the heart of policy transformation.

The ekip Community

The ekip Community is a digital space where creatives, experts, and policymakers come together to engage in dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge exchange. It allows creatives to connect with like-minded individuals, share ideas and insights, and contribute to shaping policy decisions at the European level.

Contact

Åsa Grunning, coordinator

asa.grunning@fsi.lu.se