News & Updates News,People of ekip Congratulation Kristiina Urb to your doctoral thesis!

Congratulation Kristiina Urb to your doctoral thesis!

By Bodil Malmström

Kristiina Urb, Creativity Lab team member at ekip, following the completion of her doctoral thesis on cross-sector collaboration.

Kristiina Urb

Kristiina Urb, Creativity Lab team member at ekip, following the completion of her doctoral thesis on cross-sector collaboration.

Kristiina Urb

Advancing cross-sector collaboration research

Kristiina Urb is part of the Creativity Lab team in ekip and contributes to the work of the ekip network, policy formulation, and capacity building.

Her doctoral thesis focuses on optimising interorganisational activities between managers of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) and non-CCIs, with a strong emphasis on promoting cross-sector collaboration. The research analyses connections between interorganisational activities and social constructs that influence decision-making and behaviour.

From practice to academic insight

“My motivation came from years of practical experience and observations of creative entrepreneurs and their struggles, for example when working with other sectors,” says Kristiina Urb.

Building on this experience, the thesis proposes the Three Cs model as a potential managerial tool for fostering cross-sector collaboration.

The Three Cs model

The Three Cs model is operationalised through guiding principles and consists of:

  • Cooperation – Managers should understand CCIs’ entrepreneurial motivation to enhance cooperation
  • Value co-creation – Implementing developed value co-creation enablers can further strengthen shared value creation
  • Collaboration – Recognising underlying cognitive mental models within CCIs can improve long-term collaboration with non-CCIs

Together, these principles provide a structured approach to improving collaboration across sectors and strengthening innovation ecosystems.

Research contributing to policy and practice

Kristiina Urb’s doctoral research contributes directly to ekip’s work on policy formulation and ecosystem development by offering practical tools for managers, policymakers, and organisations seeking to improve collaboration between creative and non-creative sectors.

Read more: https://rb.gy/roex7t

 

Latest ekip News and Updates

October 18, 2026

By Lena Holmberg

AI scraping hits heritage

Cultural heritage institutions are struggling with a surge of commercial AI scraping....

October 1, 2026


Europe has the pieces. In Eindhoven, ekip shows how to connect them.

On 23 October, during Dutch Design Week, three years of European work on the cultural and creative industries changes hands ...

September 17, 2026

By Michalis Stangos

Four things Europe needs to get right on the creative industries, and one that is still missing

Europe is losing the technology race, but it still leads on creativity. ...

September 3, 2026

By Lena Holmberg, Lund University

AI and CCI: Shaping Europe’s Next Step

Across Europe, cultural and creative actors are asking a similar question: how can artificial intelligence be shaped in ways that strengthen creativity, cultural diversity and democratic innovation, r...