Online Workshop of the Cultural and Creative Regional Ecosystems (CCRE-S3) partnership

  • 14 Oct 2020 to 14 Oct 2020
  • Online event

In the framework of the 18th EWRC, the Cultural and Creative Regional Ecosystems (CCRE-S3) partners presented this new thematic area, recently launched under the S3P-Industry.

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Agenda and Presentations

The webinar was held online on Wednesday 14 October (16:30-18:00 CEST).

Speakers:

Moderated by Konstantinos Tzamaloukas, Project Manager, Region of Western Greece, Greece.
 

Session summary

The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) organised an online workshop to present - together with its Member Regions actively involved in the elaboration of the Cultural and Creative Regional Ecosystems (CCRE-S3) thematic area, Aragon (ES), Tuscany (IT) and Western Greece (EL) – this newly established partnership.

The CCRE-S3 thematic area under the Regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3) Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation (S3P-Industry) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, aims to stimulate new insight and opportunities related to cultural and creative experiences for local communities and residents, making peripheral territories more attractive for economic activity.

The session was an important step in raising awareness of the opportunities that the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) sector may offer to a wide range of stakeholders to promote cooperation and address contemporary challenges such as the post-crisis recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak in the short, mid, and long-term future.

The regional-focused part of the session illustrated the CCRE-S3 priorities not only from a regional perspective covering both the public and private sectors, but also from a macro-regional perspective since the CCRE-S3 is the first thematic area under the Industrial Modernisation platform having a specific focus on a macro-region, and in particular the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR).

Sergio SEBASTIÁN FRANCO from the Aragon Agency for Development (IAF) and the SEBASTIAN ARCHITECTS presented concrete examples of different uses of CCIs showing citizens that it is possible to live with their own history acquiring not only a cultural identity but even a future.

Irena KREGAR ŠEGOTA, CEO of RIJEKA 2020 LLC, shared the experience of a European Capital of Culture in the time of COVID-19, a long-elaborated project, a programme designed under the slogan ‘Port of Diversity’ and inspired by three main topics: water, work and migrations; that describe Rijeka and link them with current trends that concern us globally, such as climate change, work in the future and artificial intelligence, and migration. The COVID-19 crisis led the organisers of the Cultural Capital of Europe to reconsider how culture and creativity help us to live together in this new normal situation.

The technical-focused part of the session discussed the opportunities offered by CCIs from the point of view of the EU institutions. Isabelle SEIGNEUR from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) highlighted that the 2021-2027 will be the S4 period (S4: Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainability) and the support activities of the Smart Specialisation Platform on Industrial Modernisation.

Laurent DE MERCEY and Valentina PINNA from DG REGIO explained how Cohesion Policy can continue to support the cultural and creative sectors, especially through the COVID-19 crisis, and the new Interregional Innovation Investment Instrument under development.

The workshop closed with the testimonies of the three Leading Regions of Western Greece (EL), Tuscany (IT) and Aragon (ES). Given the specific macro-regional focus, the workshop also welcomed the viewpoint of a youth organisation representative from the Adriatic and Ionian Region.

Participants’ interest throughout the duration of the workshop was vivid, exchanging via the chat and exploring ways to further implement the objectives of the CCRE-S3 thematic area.
Take away message

Regardless of the unforeseen circumstances faced due to the COVID-19 outbreak, what matters is the capacity to adapt, to listen to the needs of the community at local, regional, national and macro-regional levels, to continue working intersectorally with the partners from both EU and non-EU countries and exploring synergies for the future. Lessons learnt should be carried on and built into new cultural policies and strategies to encourage further development and growth for the regions.
 

Quotes

“We want the ecosystems to deliver a pipeline of investments (private or public-private), presented in a form of a decent investment plan.”, Valentina PINNA, DG REGIO

“It is important to think intersectorally. We have to explore possible cooperation with other existing partnerships, exchange experiences on project activities, share ideas on potential cooperation and identify concrete joint activities for exploiting synergies in the future.”, Isabelle SEIGNEUR, JRC

“Our commitment is high, and together with our partners in Italy and Spain, the Region of Western Greece will try to bring in together on the research field the creative industries, a new and challenging sector.”, Fokion ZAIMIS, Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation, Region of Western Greece (Greece)

“It is important to find new ways to manage the important heritage in our regions and boost innovation in it.”, Roberto FERRARI, Director of Culture & Research Directorate, Region of Tuscany (Italy)

“We need to transform the great potential of our cultural heritage into jobs. The different technological tools we have at our disposal will allow us to do that!”, Fernando FERNÁNDEZ, Manager at Aragón Agency for Development (IAF), Region of Aragón (Spain)

“Young people are trying to do something beautiful for our society. With the support of the EU and its member countries and donors, we can bring a lot of good practices to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans.”, Ismail ŠEHIĆ, Director of Bosnian Representative Association for Valuable Opportunities (BRAVO)

Practical Information

When
14 Oct 2020 to 14 Oct 2020
Where

Online event

Description

Online Workshop – “Cultural and Creative Regional Ecosystems (CCRE-S3)” organised in the framework of the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities

Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), through the use of new technologies, may contribute to innovation and job creation and provide sustainable solutions to peripheral territories, making them more attractive for economic activity.

Cultural and Creative Regional Ecosystems (CCRE-S3) is a newly supported thematic area under the S3 Platform for Industrial Modernisation. It aims to stimulate new insights and opportunities related to cultural and creative experiences for local communities and residents, through public-private investments involving related groups of professions that use, apply and implement new technologies for the sector. 

CCRE-S3 is the result of collaboration in the field of CCI between three active member regions of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), namely Aragon (ES), Tuscany (IT) and Western Greece (EL).

The workshop used the example of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) as an area with different territorial challenges and great potential for the CCI sector and as a way of bringing macro-regional strategies closer to smart specialisation strategies to make their partners think innovatively. Furthermore, special emphasis was put on the role that CCI could have in the post-crisis recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak and updated priorities for the short-, mid- and long-term future.

The experience of Rijeka (HR), European Capital of Culture 2020, was also presented during the workshop.

The event closed with a debate involving the panel of experts and the audience.

Contact

Konstantinos Tzamaloukas ktzam@ilia.pde.gov.gr