IN SITU: place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas
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'IN SITU: Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas' was launched on July 1, 2022, with a 48-month duration. Coordinated by the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, the €4 million project is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme.
Despite the increased visibility and importance of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) based in non-urban areas of the European Union in the last decade, there is a noticeable lack of research and policy attention to their specific needs, characteristics, and potential. IN SITU brings together leading research approaches to economic evolution and diversification, processes of innovation, non-urban place-based planning, and entrepreneurship in CCIs. The project aims to contribute to increasing the capacity of CCIs to act as drivers of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability in their local context.
IN SITU seeks to provide in-depth knowledge on the effects of cross-sectoral connections, innovative strategies and systems, and the needs of CCIs' practitioners in non-urban areas, complementing this with proposals for cultural and innovation policies and frameworks. IN SITU includes also a capacity-building programme to enable CCIs to address some of the key issues in their communities/regions.
The core defining aspect of IN SITU is the interlinking of research and practice through place-based IN SITU Labs - hubs for networking, capacity building, and monitoring case studies in six non-urban regions across Europe, located in Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, and Croatia.
The project Consortium brings together 13 institutional partners in 12 countries: Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (coordinator); National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland); European Network of Cultural Centres (Belgium); Utrecht University (Netherlands); National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (France); MONDRAGON Innovation & Knowledge (Spain); Kultura Nova Foundation (Croatia); University of the Azores (Portugal); University of Turku (Finland); Latvian Academy of Culture (Latvia); Bifröst University (Iceland); National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts “Kr. Sarafov” (Bulgaria); and University of Hildesheim (Germany).
The IN SITU project is also accompanied by an array of Outreach Partners within Europe and internationally: Culture Action Europe; DigitalMeetsCulture.eu; EMES - Research Network for Social Enterprise; Creative Scotland; United Cities and Local Governments - Committee on Culture; Cultural Development Network (Australia); Creative City Network of Canada; SPARC: Supporting Performing Arts in Rural and Remote Communities (Canada); and Sustaining Theatre and Dance (STAND) Foundation (South Africa).
In addition, the project has an International Advisory Board of seven leading experts working on CCIs and culture-based work in non-urban areas.
The impulse for the creation of the project consortium originated directly from the exchanges, expertise and findings of the ENCC's Working Group on Territorial Development and Culture in Non-Urban Areas, a transectorial platform gathering ENCC members, partner networks, researchers, practitioners, policymakers and cultural policy experts.
Do you have questions on IN SITU? Contact Martina, our project manager, at martina.fraioli@encc.eu.