ekip Events

This ekip Policy Lab focuses on innovative financing and funding mechanisms (F&F) for Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), addressing a long-standing mismatch between the sector’s value and its access to finance. Despite their contribution to innovation, economic growth, and social cohesion, CCIs continue to face structural challenges such as intangible assets, fragmented funding systems, and reliance on short-term project-based support. These constraints limit their capacity to scale, innovate, and contribute fully to Europe’s green, digital, and social transitions. 

At the same time, the financing landscape is evolving. New approaches, such as blended finance, impact investment, participatory models, and digital monetisation, are opening opportunities to diversify revenue streams, attract mission-aligned capital, and strengthen long-term sustainability. This Policy Lab takes place at a critical moment, as EU frameworks increasingly emphasise resilience, measurable impact, and cross-sector collaboration, while traditional funding models are no longer sufficient to support complex, innovation-driven ecosystems. 

Bringing together policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and financial actors, the lab will explore key challenges and emerging opportunities, with the aim of co-developing actionable policy insights and recommendations. The focus is on building more inclusive, flexible, and outcome-oriented funding ecosystems that better reflect the specificities of CCIs and enable their role in Europe’s future innovation landscape. 

TARGET AUDIENCE:

The event is open to the following stakeholders:

• Policy-makers and public authorities at EU, national, and regional levels (e.g. ministries of culture, economy, innovation; managing authorities of EU funds; regional development agencies) responsible for designing and implementing funding frameworks for CCIs
• Financial actors and intermediaries, including public and private investors, banks, venture capital funds, impact investors, philanthropic organizations, and financial advisory bodies interested in developing or adapting instruments for CCIs
• Cultural and creative sector organizations, such as creative enterprises, cultural institutions, heritage organizations, and creative hubs seeking sustainable and diversified funding models
• Innovation and ecosystem intermediaries, including clusters, incubators, accelerators, and cross-sector platforms supporting entrepreneurship, collaboration, and capacity-building in CCIs
• Researchers and academic experts working on cultural policy, innovation ecosystems, creative entrepreneurship, and financing models, contributing evidence-based insights and evaluation perspectives
• Representatives of EU initiatives and programs (e.g. InvestEU, Creative Europe, Horizon Europe projects) engaged in shaping or piloting new financing mechanisms
• Civil society and community stakeholders, including organizations involved in social innovation, participatory governance, and community-based financing approaches.

About ekip

ekip is an EU-funded flagship-project implementing principles of open innovation to establish a policy recommendation engine driven by partners and the active involvement of 40+ CCI-networks. The main goal of ekip is to promote the development and adoption of policy recommendations for CCIs.  This enables CCI actors to participate in and contribute to the impact the recommendation has on complex innovation processes. 

How to take part?

When: 19 May 2026, 13:00 – 16:00 CEST

Where: Online

Registration link is here.