The first Exchange of Experience of the project CCSI4CCSI (Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries for Collaboration, Competitiveness, Sustainability and Innovation) took place in Krakow – Poland from 17th to 19th of September 2024. The excellently organised programme, hosted by the Małopolska Regional Development Agency (MARR) combined presentations from local creative ecosystem actors, good practices from CCSI4CCSI participating regions, an interactive co-creation workshop and study visits.
More specifically, Day 1 was held in the impressive Aviation Museum, starting with an overview of CCSI4CCSI by the lead project partner. This was followed by an introduction to the cultural and creative sector of the region, through particularly interesting talks on collaborative design and community involvement in the Wesoła district by the Krakow Festival Office(KBF) and on “Why we cooperate?” by the Polish Heritage Foundation (FPH).
This 1st transnational meeting focused on the exchange of good practices related to the synergies between the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries and other sectors. Representatives of stakeholders from each participating region in the project shared very interesting cases, such as the Agrodesign Cluster from the Creativity Platform (Central Macedonia – Greece) which facilitates the collaboration between CCIs (designers) and Agrifood ecosystems (producers), Design Thinking at the Department of Media Design of North University (Koprivncia – Croatia) as a method that empowers collaboration and innovation with students and civil institutions, the study and exploitation of the relationship between people’s habits and their spatial experiences from interior design (Smil Lab, Kolding – Denmark), the Innowiz creativity methodology from Howest University (Kortrijk – Belgium), the Smart Specialization Strategy in the Malopolska Region including creative and leisure industries (Poland).
In the afternoon of the same day, the participants had the opportunity to visit the Krakow Technology Park (KPT) and learn about its different actions and programmes.
Day 2 took place at Design Pharmacy, which is housed in the pharmacy of the premises of the old city hospital that was reformed, as part of the revitalization strategy of the Wesoła district. The representatives of the CCSI4CCSI project partners and their local stakeholders worked together in a workshop to co-design a common methodology and tools for assessing the needs of the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries. Utilizing the collaborative method of Design Thinking, they went from the stages of sharing the existing situation in their areas and analyzing / synthesizing the expectations and priorities of the various users, to the stages of generating ideas and building prototypes.
Day 3 was dedicated to the meeting of the project’s Steering Committee, during which the actions of the first semester were reviewed, issues of preparation and submission of the first progress report were discussed, and the next actions were planned.
