Lund University is the leader of the work with team (European Culture and Creativity Innovation Policy Platform) together with Future by Lund for the EU Commission.

Future by Lund is also responsible for a work package, where a developed LIEPT model is the basis for what is known as “City Prototyping”, where the actors use the materials and knowledge from the policy work and insert and test these in a local context, in order to further strengthen the policy work with the new experiences.

- We contribute our methodology to connect concrete experience of building transformation and innovation spaces at local level to the EU, says Katarina Scott, project developer at Future by Lund. By practically testing the ideas and prototypes developed and seeing what really works, we can time and time again refine policy work but also launch new innovation portfolios.

The CCIs being the missing piece in ecosystems.

The Creatives are not just nice to have, they are essential for driving progress on major challenges like the green and digital transformation, and social inclusion. The Creatives competences and skills are crucial to tackle complex innovation processes involving diverse stakeholders.

Rooted in open innovation, ekip brings together broad stakeholder groups to co-create and deliver evidence-based policy recommendations. Together, we’re shaping smarter innovation policies for ecosystems where collaborative processes, cross- and open innovation is standard practise: We believe that this will include and make the CCIs drivers of innovation creating a better and brighter future.

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The ekip Engine

Our “ekip Engine” is an elaborated process where we co-create policy recommendations with board groups of stakeholders. Built on open innovation, it sparks engagement, builds awareness, gathers feedback, and empowers people to shape policies that through innovation drive societal change. Creating opportunities for the CCIs having the character of a swarm of many organisations working together for innovation and prosperity rather than focusing on one unicorn growing up.

In ekip´s IDENTIFICATION phase we gather insights from across sector – through engagement activities, data analysis, trendmapping, and expert input – to spot policy needs in order to develop capacity in ecosystems to include the Creatives.

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Here you find our method with social media listening where we track real-time conversations across sectors to understand shifting trends, priorities, and emerging jobs in the CCIs. This helps stakeholders anticipate change and respond with better policy and innovation strategies.

We also work with prioritisation methods where Policy corner is one example on how to outline emerging innovation areas. The prioritisation work combines evidence from research, stakeholder input, and EU agendas to cluster, rank, and map key priorities.

In ekip´s PRIORITISATION phase we focus on identifying which policy areas are the most timely, divers and that can drive innovation.

This ensures not only a balanced mix of topics but also the strongest potential for real-world impact. By approaching policies through different “lenses,” we can combine essential building blocks in a way that strengthens innovation capacity and leads to more resilient and dynamic ecosystems.

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Going deeper into the selected policy areas in the INVESTIGATION phase, we use observatories, trend reports, and qualitative research to map the landscape around that area; its challenges, stakeholders, gaps, and opportunities. We produce a Policy Poster, a visual presentation of policy areas integrating knowledge that allows stakeholders to quickly engage with challenges and opportunities that it also entails.

In our next phase, FORMULATION, is where the mappings, analysis, conversations and ideas turn into action—shaping recommendations on how ecosystems can be developed and how its building blocks can fit together to support the creatives. For each policy area we arrange a Policy Lab. This is a collaborative environment where multidisciplinary teams tackle complex policy issues. We also prototype recommendations by interacting with stakeholders to innovation portfolios in ecosystems. Through City prototyping, we test what building blocks an ecosystem needs to support and catalyse an innovation topics. How they can be developed to support cross-innovation work with the Creatives in real-world contexts.

The ekip Knowledge Bank is Europe´s go-to platform for practical cross-sector innovation knowledge that puts Cultural and Creative Industries at the heart of policy transformation.

The ekip Community is a digital space where creatives, experts, and policymakers come together to engage in dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge exchange. This community offers a platform for creatives to connect with like-minded individuals, share their ideas and insights, and contribute to shaping policy decisions at the European level.

The project uses The Liept model that Future by Lund and Lund University have developed together.

The project, which runs for 3.5 years, is part of EIT Culture & Creative, which is the ninth KIC project in the EU. At Lund University, KIC projects are managed through the EIT office at LU Samverkan.

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‍Facts team (European Culture and Creativity Innovation Policy Platform)

Financier: European Commission

Financing: 68 million SEK

Project Time: June 2023 — December 2026

Project Manager: Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth

Project partners: Lund University, Creative Business Network, Beeld & Geluid,The University of Edinburgh, Delft University of Technology, Creativity Lab, MSCOMM, Politecnico Milan, Technopolis grupa, Idea group, Humak, Next Atlas, Gemeente Rotterdam, Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava, Creative industry Kosice, Cite de design, Nuovo momento.

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