NEWS AND UPDATES

The Latest News

By Mats Benner

Building innovation ecosystems – the case for intermediaries

July 2, 2026

Recent EU policy debates—captured in the Letta and Draghi reports—have sharpened a familiar concern: Europe needs to better orchestrate its innovation resources. The ambition is clear. ...

Policy Spotlights

Policy areas under investigation

July 2, 2026

By Mats Benner

Building innovation ecosystems – the case for intermediaries

Recent EU policy debates—captured in the Letta and Draghi reports—have sharpened a familiar concern: Europe needs to better orchestrate its innovation resources. The ambition is clear. ...

July 2, 2026

By Lena Holmberg

Creatives Are in Europe’s Strategies. Now Comes the Hard Part.

Cultural and creative industries are finally visible in national strategies across Europe....

July 2, 2026

By Bodil Malmström

Europe’s Creative Innovation Gap: Why Cities Are Turning to ekip

From Stockholm to southern Italy, a growing number of cities are seeking answers to the same question: how do you actually build innovation systems for the Cultural and Creative Industries?...

June 11, 2026

By Bodil Malmström

ekip amplifies Creative Industries in Namibia–EU partnership talks

The Namibia–EU Business Forum 2026, held from 11–13 May in Windhoek, marked a significant step forward in strengthening economic cooperation between Namibia and the European Union. ...

Tools of Change

Practical methods and outputs

September 8, 2025

By Gabrielle Aguilar van Gend, Rasa Bocyte, Siepke van Keulen

Hacking futures for cultural and creative industries: sustainable models for innovation funding

Public funding models tend to priorities short-term projects, market-driven KPIs, and highly ambitious results produced from relatively small investments. ...

September 1, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Reinventing the live music experience – through collaboration

Kalaudioscope aims to open up concert halls to far more people than those who can be physically present. ...

January 30, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Immersive Tech: Revolutionizing Creativity, Yet Out of Reach for Many CCIs

Immersive media like virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) are revolutionizing how we...

January 27, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Immersive media: a pathway to keeping stories alive

Immersive technologies are reshaping how people experience media, weaving their way...

City Stories

Local case studies and experiments

People of ekip

Profiles of contributors, validators, and practitioners

June 18, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Profile of the month: Laura Galante

Laura Galante is a part of the coordination team for the ekip policy labs....

April 15, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Profile of the month: Katerina Kalimera

As Policy Communications and Strategy Lead, Katerina Kalimera at MSCOMM...

February 28, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Meet Jeroen van der Aa and Davide Parrilli – profiles of the month

Jeroen van der Aa trained as an Industrial Designer at TU Delft, with a focus on business ...

January 29, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Meet ekip’s Validators: Empowering Creatives to Shape the Future of Innovation Ecosystems

Insights, knowledge and trendspotting on how ...

From the Lab

Insights and takeaways from policy labs and community dialogues

January 20, 2026

By ekip

Call for participation – ekip Academy: Building Open Innovation Ecosystems for Cultural & Creative Industries

The European Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Policy Platform consortium (ekip) is proud to launch the ekip Academy: Building Open Innovation Ecosystems for Cultural & Creative Industries. ...

December 17, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

“Today’s innovations are about creating meaning rather than functionality”

Through the performing arts, complex research and new technologies can be turned into experiences people don’t just understand, but actually feel. ...

December 5, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

DPP could be the spark for a more responsible market

The fashion and textiles ecosystem, one of 14 strategic sectors in the EU’s Industrial Strategy, sits at the heart of Europe’s push toward green and digital transformation. ...

November 20, 2025

By Bodil Malmström

Games are culture gold

From independent studios to classrooms and libraries, a quiet revolution is underway. A new wave in the gaming industry is reshaping the conversation around inclusivity. ...

Big Ideas & Perspectives

Opinion-led pieces that frame the wider debates

February 18, 2026

By Lena Holmberg

Open Innovation: A Game-Changer

At ekip, Open Innovation is more than a principle—it is a strategic principal positioning cultural and creative industries at the forefront of Europe’s innovation cycle....

February 18, 2026

By Bodil Malmström

Boosting Europe’s creative future: inside ekip’s prioritisation phase

In Brussels and beyond, cultural policy is often accused of reacting too late to technological shocks or market shifts. ...

February 18, 2026

By Kelly Hazejager and Bodil Malmström

Bringing communities together to tackle complex challenges

Cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) – such as archives, libraries, museums, and heritage sites – have significant potential to act as drivers of innovation and connectors across sectors....

February 9, 2026

By Bodil Malmström

Europe has the talent—what it lacks is smart activation

Data is not merely about outcomes; it maps behavior. ...