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November 8 2024
ekip’s analysis examined how the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and other EU policies support cultural and creative industries (CCI) in the green transition, and how policymakers can further enhance their role.
In 2019, the European Union set the green transition as a key priority through the introduction of the European Green Deal. This ambitious framework aims to foster a sustainable future by addressing critical environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, cleaner oceans and water, regenerative circular economies, sustainable mobility, and clean energy. Achieving the Green Deal’s objectives requires a radical restructuring of existing production and value chains and a redefined relationship with nature. Central to this transition is the principle of fairness, ensuring that the shift towards sustainability is inclusive and equitable for all.
The following year the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative was launched to connect the EU Green Deal with the daily lives of citizens, inspiring them to envision and build a future that is beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive. What sets the NEB apart is its unique approach of merging science and technology with art and culture, fostering collaboration across diverse fields. By incorporating the expertise of cultural and creative industries (CCI), the NEB leverages creativity as a key driver in shaping a more sustainable and resilient future for all.
ekip´s focus was to analyse to what extent NEB – together with other EU policy initiatives – indeed provides a supportive framework for CCI actors to participate in the green transition, and how policy makers can further strengthen the role of the CCI in the green transition.
The CCI commonly have a great willingness and proactive attitude to take up a prominent place in accelerating the green transition through innovation, by translating the complex issues to society and make it inherent to everyone. CCI actors across Europe have shown that this can be done in many ways by (re)imagining, narrating, experiencing, anticipating, and reflecting on human experiences. Based on our analysis, we find that NEB particularly provides a fertile framework for CCI to take up the following transformative roles:
There are local ‘NEB chapters’, Labs and working groups across the EU who freely discuss and adapt NEB principles to their own local/regional context and innovation ecosystems, and in which CCI actors participate.
But despite the commitment and exemplary activities, a systemic approach to fully include CCI actors in the green transition is lacking. Many governments at a national and regional level are looking for more policy guidance and incentives.
From the policy side, in general the green transition innovation focus has been mainly on technological, industrial, and economic aspects. The awareness on the potential of the CCI in this transition is not always there. Furthermore, the NEB’s close association with living spaces has led to a focus on the built environment, which prioritises architects, physical heritage, and designers to be involved. It implicitly excludes CCI that do not directly connect with the built environment, such as e.g. the music sector.
ekip´s findings suggest a need for a broader and more inclusive approach to integrating CCI into the NEB initiative and other policy initiatives stimulating the green transition, to ensure that all forms of creative practice are recognised and leveraged to contribute to a sustainable future.
To fully harness the potential of the CCI in innovation for the green transition, ekip has formulated a set of recommendations for policy makers to strengthen open innovation with the CCI in the context of the green transition. The recommendations are based on the discussions during the ekip Policy Lab and further substantiated with analysis and good practices.
ekip recommend a vision/goal setting of an open innovation ecosystem for the green transition. ekip partner Isabelle De Voldere from IDEA Consult, Belgium, explore further:
What is the core of the recommendation?
“Our analysis pointed out that CCI actors are rarely invited by policy makers or other innovation agents, to participate in the process of goal setting and strategic decision taking on innovation strategies related to the green transition. Their involvement is mostly limited to project work, such as in NEB. We recommend that policy makers lead by example and actively engage CCI actors also in strategic discussions on innovation roadmaps and policy instruments supporting the green transition, and not solely in short term projects”.
Why is the recommendation important?
“With their ability to challenge the status quo, foster transdisciplinary innovation thinking, and enhance the overall effectiveness and inclusivity of green innovation strategies, the CCI can contribute their insights and expertise to shape a more dynamic, inclusive and responsive innovation ecosystem”.
What can the CCI sector benefit from the recommendation?
” Fully integrating the CCI in vision and goal setting, allows the CCI to develop an equal voice in innovation ecosystems relating to the green transition, bring in alternative perspectives on innovation for a green and fair transition, and to develop innovation partnerships and collaborations on a more equal foot. It also provides opportunity to involve and fund CCI actors in a more sustainable manner, rather than only through short-term project funding”.
ekip recommend a development of skills and competencies. Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, coordinator for ekip from Lund University and Future by Lund in Sweden explains:
What is the core of the recommendation?
“CCI have unique competencies to bring into open innovation processes like storytelling, art-based interventions and circular design methodologies. These skills and competencies are currently underestimated and sometimes even unknown to other innovation actors and policy makers. As a consequence, they are often overlooked by policy makers as valuable innovation partners in the green transition. We recommend that policy makers explicitly recognise also those types of skills as indispensable for the green and just transition”.
Why is the recommendation important?
“Thanks to their ability to communicate in an unconventional, creative, and engaging way, the CCI can translate complex content into comprehensible language and as such critically convey research results to society and its sub-target groups like young people, adults, students, elderly people etc. As well as give voice to reflections, doubts or other emotions in society that come with new knowledge and innovations. In that sense, they are a valuable complementary partner to the traditional triple/quadruple helix innovation actors”.
What can the CCI sector benefit from the recommendation?
” The CCI’s unique skills get strategic recognition as part of the skills sets that transformative innovations – such as innovations for the green transition – need and that go beyond scientific and technological skills. Developing and cultivating these skills can become an integral part of CCI professionals’ education and training and thus part of curricula. A next step would be the real integration of art in STEM and active promotion of STEAM in education systems at large”.
ekip recommend better Infrastructure for open innovation. ekip partner Rasa Bocyte from The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision explains:
What is the core of the recommendation?
”CCI actors such as creative hubs, socio-cultural centres or libraries can play a meaningful role as innovation infrastructures in relation to the green transition, especially in neighbourhoods or rural areas. But this role often goes unrecognised and lacks structural financial support. We recommend to leverage EU funds for the development and maintenance of such innovation infrastructures at the regional/local level where CCI actors can gain access to resources and test innovative ideas based on cultural values and community local needs”.
Why is the recommendation important?
“Providing more sustainable funding, contrary to solely project funding, allows the CCI to develop social testing grounds to implement and evaluate sustainable practices. These testing grounds can foster the emergence of bottom-up initiatives with close involvement of citizens and communities, which can be accelerated into successful sustainable practices”.
What can the CCI sector benefit from the recommendation?
” The more structured funding and cross-sectoral collaborative approach can enhance the scalability and impact of creative practices, driving a more profound and integrated green transition both within the CCI and wider”.
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