Profiles of the month: Katarina Scott and Birgitta Persson

Birgitta Persson and Katarina Scott, ekip partners

Bridging innovation, policy, and city ecosystems

Katarina Scott and Birgitta Persson play a central role in developing and applying ekip’s approach to city ecosystem assessments, working at the intersection of innovation policy, cultural and creative sectors, and urban development.

Their work focuses on understanding how innovation and cultural ecosystems function at city level where funding, governance, and implementation most often converge.

Katarina Scott – Innovation portfolios and ecosystem growth

Katarina Scott is a trained economist and project manager with extensive experience across cultural and creative sectors and sustainability initiatives in private, municipal, institutional, educational, NGO, and entrepreneurial contexts.

She has managed an innovation fund dedicated to the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCSI), led an incubator, and worked extensively with cultural grants, events, and European Capital of Culture applications. At Future by Lund, she develops innovation portfolio methodologies and has contributed to the creation of the LIEPT model, designed to monitor change and foster growth within ecosystems.

“I believe that this mix of experiences has helped me understand different aspects, challenges, and opportunities. The innovation field is complex it’s not just about what we do, but equally about how we do it,” Katarina Scott says.

Birgitta Persson – International collaboration and cultural ecosystems

Birgitta Persson has been active in the cultural and creative sector since 1994. She brings decades of international experience, including 12 years as Secretary General of Trans Europe Halles (TEH), where she built extensive cross-border networks and developed a deep sensitivity to cultural differences.

“With substantial experience in leading and implementing European projects, I am well-versed in navigating dynamic and international collaborations. ekip, however, operates on another level in terms of scope and ambition,” Birgitta Persson explains.

“You need to understand both innovation policies and the CCSI sector, and discern what truly makes a difference at local, regional, national, and international levels.”

Working with cities as living ecosystems

Both Katarina Scott and Birgitta Persson focus on developing and conducting assessments within city ecosystems.

“It’s about testing what works and gaining a clear understanding of context and goals. Cities operate at the local level where much of the essential work happens and where innovation and cultural ecosystems are funded, organized, and sustained,” says Katarina Scott.

Birgitta Persson highlights the collaborative nature of this work:

“We have an amazing assessment team with CIKE, Rotterdam, Saint-Étienne, HUMAK, and TU Delft. Katarina and I spent much of the first year developing and refining a method for policy assessments within city ecosystems. It has been rewarding to see this approach applied in cities like Košice, Bratislava, and Lund.”

Creating impact through clarity and inclusivity

Asked about the main challenge of their work, the answer is simple but telling:

“Building the road as we travel on it. It’s challenging but also exciting.”

The Cultural and Creative Sectors are diverse, spanning private, public, and NGO actors, most of them small-scale and deeply embedded in local ecosystems. Creating real impact means integrating innovation and policy work directly into these contexts.

“To do this, we adapted a portfolio canvas and the LIEPT model traditionally used in innovation ecosystems to function within the CCSI and policy spheres,” Katarina Scott explains.

The key challenge lies in inclusivity: making complex systems understandable and usable without losing critical nuance.

“But the CCSI sector is resilient and creative. If we can create clarity and shared understanding, impact will follow,” she adds.

Looking ahead, both see a growing emphasis on resilience and societal robustness.

“Given the state of the world today, complexity will only increase and the need for CCSI-driven innovation will become even more essential,” Katarina Scott concludes.