The meeting to strengthen the Creative Industry was extremely constructive
The Business and Cultural Development Centre (KEPA) and the One Stop Liaison Office of the Region of Central Macedonia, co-organised the working session on “Financial instruments to strengthen the Creative Industry in the programming period 2021-2027”, on Tuesday 21st of June 2022, at the Alexander Innovation Zone.
The aim of the meeting was to review the main results from the introspection and strengthening actions of the Cultural and Creative Industries sector in Central Macedonia that were implemented in the context of European and national programs to strengthen the ecosystem, as well as the participatory process of formulating final proposals for intervention in the context of the Regional Operational Programme of Central Macedonia 2021-2027: Strengthening the synergies of businesses and industry professionals with other sectors, as well as support structures to strengthen the ecosystem, designed under Policy Objective 1 “A smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation ».
The 32 participants (experts and representatives of ecosystem actors and potential beneficiaries) had the opportunity to exchange views in the context of a creative discussion on the framework of innovative actions to be designed for the Cultural and Creative Industries sector. Moreover, through interaction processes, their familiarity with the ecosystem was strengthened, encouraging the future development of partnerships and synergies.
Initially, important information was presented that has emerged from thematic workshops, educational activities, market research and studies, in the context of the assessment of the dynamics and challenges of the Cultural and Creative Industries sector in Central Macedonia, by KEPA (RegionArts and CCI4Tourism projects) and by the One Stop Liaison Office (results of the 2nd round of Entrepreneurial Discovery Process) followed by a dialogic discussion to validate the results.
This was followed by short presentations of projects related to the Creative Industries by the participants («Cultural Footprint», «ForMe HandMade Goods», «4Helix+», «INNOVEXPO», «TEX-MED Alliances», «MeDryDive»).
During the second part of the meeting, the attendees had the opportunity to share their views on the business support through state aid and through support structures, while they then worked in groups to propose the creation of a new or the strengthening of an existing structure (involved agencies, beneficiaries, actions, financing scheme, etc.).
The work meeting is considered extremely constructive, while the results and ideas that emerged will be used for planning the actions of the programming period for the development of the Cultural and Creative Industries sector in Central Macedonia.