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New Innovation Platform Strengthens Cultural and Creative Industries

clothes
To cope with "fast fashion" innovation and creative skills are needed. Photo: Nick de Partee/Unsplash

Partners from across Europe gather in Lund on 1-2 June to launch the new European policy platform, ekip. The platform, commissioned by the EU Commission, aims to develop policy recommendations to promote innovation within the cultural and creative industries.

"We need cultural and creative competences to succeed in the green transition. This type of expertise plays a crucial role in creating radically new solutions to complex societal challenges," says Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, project manager for ekip.

The focus often falls on technology and economy, and that is not enough, according to Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth:

"To achieve radical shifts, such as the transition from fast fashion to slow fashion, a comprehensive approach and creative competences are required."

EU's textile consumption ranks fourth in terms of environmental and climate impact within the Union, making it a priority issue. There are already new laws and regulations in place at the EU level, such as the "right to repair" to facilitate product repair, the EU taxonomy that limits investments to sustainable alternatives, and the textile strategy that demands sustainability and traceability.

To address these and other challenges, as well as promote innovation within the EU, ekip will gather policy areas from stakeholders across Europe, prioritize them, and select five per year to be processed through ekip's policy engine.

An example where the policy engine can respond to current challenges is the expected new legislation within the EU, which will require almost all products launched in the European market to have a product passport. Ekip can use its policy engine to develop policy recommendations that support the development of labeled and traceable textiles.

In essence, it is about looking at innovation in new ways so that more actors can benefit from innovation support. As the current structures are set up, it is often difficult for cultural and creative industries to access existing support.

"We need new policies that enable financing and access to facilities and demonstration labs for different types of projects. The interaction between knowledge, business, research, and society is crucial to solving Europe's problems," says Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth.

 

Contact

Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, Project manager ekip

charlotte [dot] lorentz_hjorth [at] fsi [dot] lu [dot] se (charlotte[dot]lorentz_hjorth[at]fsi[dot]lu[dot]se)

 

About ekip

Lund University, along with partners, has received a grant of 68 million SEK from the EU Commission for ekip, the European Culture and Creativity Innovation Policy Platform. The purpose of ekip is to facilitate complex innovation processes within the cultural and creative industries. The project, running for 3.5 years, is part of EIT Culture & Creative, which is the EU's ninth Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) project. Lund University manages KIC projects through the EIT Office at LU Collaboration.

Read more about ekip (ekipengine.eu)

In connection with the kick-off for ekip, the Unexpected forum is organized. During Unexpected, ekip will invite participants to a policy corner.

Read more about the forum