ekip Events

Shifting how innovation actually works in Europe

Pre-event-briefing material developed by ekip.

Europe doesn’t lack ideas. It lacks systems that allow those ideas to move, connect, and scale. For too long, innovation policy and cultural production have operated in parallel, rarely intersecting, rarely compounding. And yet, it is precisely at this intersection that new value is created.

Creatives are not a sector to support. They are a capability Europe has yet to fully integrate.

On 4 May in Brussels, ekip brings together policymakers, cities, and ecosystem actors for a working day focused on one thing: What needs to change in how we design innovation systems, so they actually deliver?

This is not a conference. It is a structured moment to test, challenge, and move forward the work developed through ekip.

Across four sessions, we move from framing → to application → to future positioning.

AGENDA

09:30 – Arrival, coffee, and registration
10:00 – Session 1
11:00 – Session 2
12:00 – Lunch
13:00 – Session 3
14:00 – Session 4
15:00 – Closing reflections & networking
Key takeaways by Jens Nymand, Former Deputy Director-General, EC DG RTD

DETAILED PROGRAM

Session #1 – ekip Engine: Cross-innovation with the CCI, and Policy recommendations by ekip

Rethinking the foundations: innovation policy meets cultural production

The Cultural and Creative Industries are already shaping how innovation happens, yet policy frameworks continue to treat them as peripheral.

This session asks a fundamental question: What changes when we recognize cultural production as a core driver of innovation?

Key questions:

• What distinguishes the logic of innovation policy from cultural policy, and how can they work together?
• Can “innovation through cultural production” become a recognized policy pathway?
• What capacities are required for creatives to operate within innovation ecosystems?
• How do we move beyond unicorn-thinking to support distributed, creative-led innovation?

– ekip Moderator Isabelle De Voldere – IDEA

– ekip presenter Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth – Lund University

– With keynote Guest MARTIN HOJSÍK, VICE-PRESIDENT EP

– With panellist Friends MARIA PILAR AGUAR FERNANDEZ Director EC DG RTD, and Representative EAC and TONI ATTARD Founder and Director of Culture Venture

– ekip panellist Marcin Poprawski – HUMAK

Session #2 – Investable innovation Portfolios, City prototyping, and Ecosystem inventory

From ideas to investment: making creative innovation investable

Creative-led innovation exists, but it rarely fits traditional investment logic.

This session focuses on translating creative capacity into investable structures.

Key questions:

• How can a portfolio approach increase the investability of cross-sector innovation?
• How can cities mobilize intermediaries and ecosystem actors to support CCI-driven innovation?
• What differentiates a CCI ecosystem from a “standard” innovation ecosystem?

– ekip Moderator Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth – Lund University

– ekip presenter Katarina Scott – Future by Lund

– With keynote Guest FELIPE BUITRAGO Creative Economy at WIPO

– With panellist Friends Anette Schaefer CEO EIT CC, and MARK VAN ITERSON Chair of Association of Dutch Designers and former Design Director at Heineken Co

– ekip panellist Zora Jaurova – Bratislava

Session #3 – Ecosystem building blocks, and Open innovation a standard practice powered by S3 and CCI Strategies

From policy to practice: embedding CCIs in regional strategies

Policy only matters if it translates into action at regional and ecosystem level.

This session focuses on implementation: where policy meets reality.

Key questions:

• How can ekip’s policy work inform national and regional CCI strategies?
• How can Smart Specialization strategies better integrate creative capacity?
• What does it mean to treat open innovation as a standard practice, not an exception?
• How do we build ecosystems that deliver impact, relevance, and human value simultaneously

– ekip Moderator Paul Hekkert – ekip Validator

– ekip presenter Ragnar Siil – Creativity Lab

– With keynote Guest HARALD HARTUNG, author of “Unleashing the Potential of the CCI” and former HEAD OF UNIT DG RTD

– With panellist Friends WOLFGANG MÜNCH senior expert DG REGIO EC and Anna Spechtenhauser Stuttgart Region/ERRIN

– ekip panellist Lennart Stoy – Technopolis Group

Session #4 – Financing Europe’s most transformative asset, New funding models for creativity and innovation – ekip beyond 2026

Financing transformation: integrating creatives into Europe’s future frameworks

Europe’s most transformative asset remains underfunded, not because of lack of value, but because of misalignment in how value is understood.

This session addresses the structural question of funding and future positioning.

Key questions:

• How can creative capabilities be integrated into the next EU framework programs?
• How do we finance ecosystems, not just projects, to build long-term innovation capacity?
• What conditions are needed for creatives to be systematically included in innovation processes
• What role can ekip play beyond 2026 as a platform for policy, ecosystems, and adoption?

– ekip Moderator Valentina Aurrichio Politecnico di Milan

– ekip presenter Jeroen van der Aa – TU Delft

– With keynote Guest CHRISTIAN EHLER MP EP

– With panellist Friends Michiel Scheffer, President of the board at EIC,  and Alberto Mina CEO Milano Innovation District

– ekip panellist Michalis Stangos – MSCOMM

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

This is a moment to move from insight to alignment. To move from fragmented initiatives to shared system logic.

And to recognize that: Europe’s competitiveness will not be determined by how much innovation it funds, but by how well its systems enable that innovation to take hold.

Registration deadline: 24 April
https://lu.ungapped.io/Events/0e2b872c-e273-4cb9-bf04-0dbb9edc7d26 

Sign the Open Letter to the EC – 10 recommendations by ekip and the CCI community.