Profile of the month: Katerina Kalimera

As Policy Communications and Strategy Lead, Katerina Kalimera at MSCOMM shapes how ekip communicates its mission, outcomes, and policy relevance. Her core task is to ensure that communication isn´t an afterthought but a structural part of how ekip deliver impact. 

” I work across teams to translate policy work, research outputs, and ecosystem-building efforts into coherent narratives that resonate with diverse audiences—policymakers, cultural actors, researchers, and cities,” says Katerina Kalimera.

This includes leading strategic messaging, developing campaigns like Open Innovation, aligning communication goals with policy priorities, and equipping partners with the tools they need to communicate effectively.

”I also focus on engagement strategy—bridging internal insights with external visibility and uptake.”

Strategic clarity from complexity

At the crossroads of culture, systems, and storytelling, Katerina Kalimera crafts strategic clarity from complexity. With a career rooted in EU-funded initiatives, UN agencies, and academic institutions, she has become a specialist in translating dense, multilayered issues into narratives that resonate.

”What I bring to ekip is a blend of structured thinking, creative direction, and psychologically-informed insight. I’m highly organised and output-oriented, but I also design for meaning—ensuring communications are not just well-produced, but aligned with purpose and perception,” she says.

ekip is complex by design—intentionally non-linear, dynamic, and ever-evolving. It defies traditional structures, which is precisely why it demands a narrative-led, systems-aware approach to communications.

”My role is to make that complexity visible, navigable, and engaging—through messages that resonate, frameworks that support our ecosystem logic, and campaigns that help our work land where it matters most,” Katerina Kalimera explains.

Innovation starts with people

At the heart of ekip´s Open Innovation campaign is a simple but powerful message: innovation starts with people.

Moving beyond buzzwords and tech jargon, the campaign seeks to spotlight the human spark behind new ideas—collaboration, curiosity, and shared purpose.

” Our goal is to highlight that creatives are the missing piece in how Europe understands and supports innovation,” says Katerina Kalimera.

But the campaign are not just saying ”include the creatives.”

”We’re showing how they contribute to ekip’s specific open innovation model—especially in the early stages of innovation where things are undefined. In the yellow zone of our model, creatives help frame challenges, test ideas, build trust across sectors, and create the conditions for deeper collaboration.”

ekip´s messages are layered:

1. Core message: Creatives are the missing piece. Innovation is more than tech.
2. Clarification: We’re talking about innovation policy, not cultural policy.
   ekip supports CCIs not for cultural expression but for their ability to unlock cross-sector innovation.
3. Campaign goal: Shift perception. Policymakers and stakeholders should see CCIs as core actors in building innovation ecosystems, not as an add-on.

Katerina Kalimera emphasises:

”This isn’t a one-off message. It’s part of a broader rollout grounded in ekip’s zone model, our policy engine, and the real-world cases and labs we’re supporting across Europe. We want to create recognition, alignment, and pressure for change by showing what happens when creatives are included from the start.”