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EIT Culture & Creativity
In July 2022, the ICE consortium (Innovation by Creative Economy), in which the Bavarian Center for Cultural and Creative Industries is also involved as a partner, won the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) tender to establish a knowledge and innovation community (KIC) for the European cultural and creative industries.
How did the Bavarian Center for Cultural and Creative Industries come to be involved in EIT Culture & Creativity? In January 2023, we founded the Association for Research and Innovation in the Cultural and Creative Industries in Germany together with various German cultural and creative industry stakeholders and universities. The association became the leading partner of the consortium called Innovation by Creative Economy (ICE), which in March responded to the EIT's call for visions and projects to promote innovation and sustainable development in the cultural and creative industries. The consortium of over 50 partners from 20 European countries was able to convince with its ideas: "ICE" won the tender and can now call itself "EIT Culture & Creativity".
The EIT
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an EU body set up by the European Union in 2008 to strengthen Europe's capacity for innovation. The EIT is an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation, and is a unique EU initiative to promote innovation across Europe. The aim is to generate solutions to urgent global challenges by involving companies and educational and research institutions.
KIC
The EIT supports the development of dynamic, long-term pan-European partnerships between leading companies, research laboratories and businesses. These partnerships are known as Communities of Innovation (KICs), each dedicated to a specific global challenge, such as climate change, sustainable energy or healthy living and food, and developing solutions for it.
A KIC is therefore a highly integrated, creative and excellence-oriented network that brings together partners from the fields of education, research and business. Together they inspire ideas, accelerate innovation and bring products and services to market.
Existing KICs
There are currently eight active innovation communities, "EIT Culture and Creativity" is the ninth:
- KIC InnoEnergy: thematic area: sustainable energy;
- Climate-KIC: thematic area: climate change - adaptation and mitigation;
- EIT Digital: Thematic area: next generation of the information and communication society;
- EIT Health: Thematic area: Innovation for healthy living and active ageing;
- EIT Raw Materials: Thematic area: Raw materials - sustainable exploration, extraction, processing, utilization and substitution;
- EIT Food: Thematic area: Food for the future - sustainable food chain from raw materials to consumers;
- EIT Urban Mobility: Thematic area: Urban mobility;
- EIT Manufacturing: Thematic area: Added value in manufacturing;
- NEW: EIT Culture and Creativity: Thematic area: Strengthening and shaping the European culture and creativity sector.
The creation of the EIT KIC Culture & Creativity is an enormous development step on the way to further establishing the sector as an important resource for renewal and transformation (green, social, digital) and opens up great scope for both the Bavarian cultural and creative industries and the center. These now need to be used sensibly in conjunction with German and European partners.
"Culture is not only our common language, it also provides an innovative environment. The EIT's new 'Culture & Creativity' innovation community will capitalize on Europe's unique diversity and ensure that the creative scene becomes part of the pan-European innovation ecosystem. I look forward to seeing the sector's innovators and start-ups thrive under the EIT's innovative approach, which has had a significant impact on the lives of Europeans over the past decade."
Mariya Gabriel
EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth