European Union, European Regional Development Fund

Creative ports

Internationalisation of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea Region

Internationalisation of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea Region.

The project is finished.

Creative Baltic Sea Region

The Baltic Sea Region has a rich creative industries sector, characterized by strong and diverse national and regional cultures. The region provides an ideal model on how an economy based on knowledge and innovation can be developed. Yet it has not exhausted its export opportunities and potential for transnational cooperation.

In view of the high economic value of the Baltic Sea Region’s creative sector, public authorities, business development organisations, incubators as well as cultural institutes, transnational networks and NGOs all have a role to play. Supporting and facilitating the internationalisation of companies is a key priority. Internationalisation and transnational cooperation will enhance the economical possibilities of the creative industries. However, a lack of sufficient international contacts and experience in cooperation processes has significant impact on this being achieved. In addition, cultural institutes, transnational networks and NGOs – though familiar with working on the international stage – generally know less about the specific strengths, weaknesses and needs of the regional creative industries.

Joining Forces

Creative Ports brings all of these different groups together, allowing a bundling of their competencies to better achieve internationalisation goals. Fourteen partners from the countries around the Baltic Sea, funding agencies, municipalities, international cultural institutes, and universities, have joined forces in a consortium led by the Goethe-Institut (DE) and include:

City of Vilnius (LT), Creative Estonia (EE), Danish Cultural Institute (DK), European-Russian InnoPartnership (RU), Filmby Aarhus (DK), Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft (D) Westpomeranian Region (PL), Media Dizajn Szczecin (PL), Media Evolution City Malmö (SE), ARS BALTICA (GER), South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences SBC (FI), TalTech University (EE),Tallinn Business Incubators (EE).

Learn from each other and share

The Creative Ports project aims to improve and encourage collaborations between the actors of the participating countries and to further develop strategies and processes around internationalisation. A range of workshops and seminars will be held throughout 2019-2021, with the partners able to exchange experiences and best practices on internationalisation. The partners will exchange tools of internationalisation, test them in a transnational context, and create and organize lasting relations between actors in the CCI sector. These opportunities will allow space for joint development of training and networking formats, as well as discussions and analysis around methods of supra-regional cooperation. The partner organisations therefore work with local cultural and creative actors and SMEs and bring them to transnational cooperation with peers from other regions. Companies and other players in the cultural and creative industries thereby open up opportunities for internationalisation and initiate joint value creation.

The results of these collaborations and strategy sessions will be documented via a publicly accessible platform and provide learning modules to share lessons learned from the cooperation activities. Organisations beyond the partnership thus can learn and carry out the activities themselves.

Results

You can find the results of the project and learn more about Creative Ports on the project’s website.

Creative Ports is a project funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme of the European Union, running from September 2018 to October 2021. It is a flagship project of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). You can find more on Interreg Baltic Sea Region here.

Creative Ports Open Call: Sustainable Design Lab

Are you a designer with visionary ideas, who is into sustainable urban development? Would you like to transform your visions together with fellow designers from Finland and Latvia into captivating prototypes that tackle current problems our cities are facing? Then you should apply for our Sustainable Design Lab.

How does it work?

The Lab is a platform, where you can explore, test and implement ideas with talents from different design disciplines and different countries of the Baltic Sea region. Throughout the program we encourage you to experience new ways of working with skilled designers outside your bubble and to develop your own ideas in an inspiring environment. Moreover, you’ll be able to participate in circular design workshops led by experts and learn more about design markets in different countries.

Over the course of 3 months, you will participate in 3 different digital workshops and informal activities. At our closing event in June, you’ll present your results to a virtual audience open to the public – and celebrate with your teammates. Let’s toast to your ideas that make our cities more sustainable!

The workshops will be held in English and take place on the following dates in March, May and June:

  • Friday, March 19, 4pm – 7:30pm & Saturday, March 20, 10am – 4pm
  • Friday, May 7, 4pm – 7:30pm & Saturday, May 8, 10am – 4:30pm
  • Friday June 11, 1pm – 5pm, final event at 6pm & Saturday, June 12, 11am – 2pm

What’s in for you?

  • The chance to realize your own ideas and develop prototypes
  • Expansion of your (international) network
  • Inspiration from different disciplines and countries
  • Knowledge about sustainable/ circular design

Why the Sustainable Design Lab exists

In 2015, the United Nations committed to 17 global goals for a better future. One of them is goal number 11, and its message comes across quite clear: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The Sustainable Design Lab is our contribution to move a little closer towards this goal. To make it happen, we collaborate with Creative Ports, home of the Cultural and Creative industries (CCI) in the Baltic Sea region. Its humble goal: Working together to unlock the internationalisation potential of creatives in the Baltic Sea region through a variety of different programs. The Sustainable Design Lab is jointly hosted by three creative ports partners: Hamburg Kreativ GesellschaftDanish Cultural Institute in Riga and South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk).

Apply now

Apply by March 7, 2021 by sending us an email at piritta.parkkari@xamk.fi. Just tell us who you are, what you do and why you are interested in joining the Sustainable Design Lab.

By the way: it neither matters whether you are a student or professional nor which field of design you call your home – we are happy to welcome designers from various disciplines ranging from UX to fashion. Our only requirement is that you have a soft spot for sustainable cities and circular design. We are primarily looking for designers working in South-Savo area.

Piritta Parkkari

RDI Specialist

Xamk

+358405409370

piritta.parkkari@xamk.fi

Current

them into “traditional” organisations?  

Organisational conflicts, unappealing public transport, bad team work. Have you experienced any of these? These are just a few examples of everyday issues we might be experiencing in our every day lives. I can imaging you are thinking what do these have to do with one another? Nothing and a lot. The combining factor here is creativity, more specifically utilizing creativity to overcome ordinary everyday obstacles.  

Creativity helps overcome everyday obstacles

Imagine the use of gamification to boost the use of public transport. Could this make the use of public transport more interesting and help reduce car traffic?  

Imagine using art creation to teach expressing oneself. Art has been proven to be an outlet to express feelings, frustrations, desires. When given the space to be creative, your mind rests and you can find new surprising angles to your thinking. Sometimes it’s easier to paint what you feel rather than try to put it into words. Why not use this as a way to get your point out there?

combining different perspectives

Imagine going to an innovation camp in a remote location with people from different organisations and different levels of work life. CEOs with RDI specialists together with city employees all together in a safe space without titles. An open situation like this can bring down barriers of hierarchy and blocks in innovative thinking. Using the different perspectives of each individual you can find surprising solutions to challenges, and even find new directions to move towards.  

So perhaps you can take a moment, look at your organization and think if some of you current issues could be solved in untraditional ways.

All of the above mentioned scenarios can be done with the help of innovative and creative people by utilizing their expertise in different ways in regional and international contexts. So perhaps you can take a moment, look at your organization and think if some of you current issues could be solved in untraditional ways. If you feel stuck, contact a creative and bring them in to find new ways to begin solving the challenges and take your organisation to a new level.  

Getting cross-sectoral collaboration started

Don’t know any creatives? The CCI Secretariat can assist you in finding international contacts and cooperation possibilities and international networks such as the Creative Broker Network can help you get started! There is also plenty of material available for understanding and developing cross-sectoral collaboration, such as European Network of Living Labs’ knowledge material.

Author: RDI Specialist Annika Salmi (annika.salmi(at)xamk.fi). The author works for the Creative Ports project, which receives Interreg funding.

Short and simple. Fair compensation. What do these words bring to your mind? What feelings emerge as you hear them? I want you to pause for a moment and think about something.  

Imagine…

You have gone through years of business studies, educated yourself into your profession. You have worked in the field and gained also valuable practical expertise. You are working on projects, you have your own small company that you are building. Of course, competition makes it difficult to get your brand and name out there so you are looking into ways to make yourself known. You are getting invites to speak at conferences, take part in hackathons, share your knowledge, as your knowledge is respected. But you are expected to do all these pro bono, the only compensation being getting your name out there.   

Hold on, is this right?

Now you already probably feel there is a contradiction here. Why would someone in business speak for free, work for free or share expertise for free? It is a part of business yes and an invoive is sent after. Now change the word business studies to studies in the creative industries or art studies. Then this entire story feels normal, doesn’t it? It is “normal” for creatives to work for free to become known, to give art for free to showcase their work, give lectures to get their name out there. But why? Why is this a prerequisite for the creatives and not the other industries? The only distinguishing factor in this scenario is the industry. Not the amount of work and hours put into studies, building or running a business.

Call for fair compensation

Fair compensation should be taken into use in the cultural and creative industries as well. For every vision, idea, speech, session, hackathon that creates a product or business idea, there should be a price tag. Just like for all the other expert work that is done in other sectors.  

The Finnish Union of University Researchers and teachers has developed a Compensation Recommendation for academic workers. These kinds of guidelines are needed to enhance the creative and cultural industry’s situtation, on top of for example changing attitudes toward creative work.

Author: RDI Specialist Annika Salmi (annika.salmi(at)xamk.fi). The author works for the Creative Ports project, which receives Interreg funding.

Value of cultural and creative industries

The cultural and creative industries (CCI) are comprised of multiple sectors whose activities are based on cultural values or artistic or creative expressions. The CCI are at the heart of the creative economy and they drive innovation for change in other sectors. The companies are knowledge-intensive and generate considerable economic wealth. In cultural and creative industries, there has been growth and job creation, particularly for young people.

Supporting internationalization

A key issue within developing the cultural and creative industries in the Baltic Sea region is supporting their internationalization. One main challenge for this is the limited internationalization capacity as 80 % of CCI companies are small or medium sized companies, most of which are micro-enterprises.

Often everyday tasks take most of the entrepreneurs’ time and energy, leaving a little time for strategizing international activities. Hence, support in the process of opening up to foreign markets is crucial for small companies. However, even though internationalization support might be available, creative and cultural industry companies often find that their specific needs and interests are not met.

Role of policymaking

Policymaking plays an important role in supporting creative and cultural industry internationalization.  In order to have better policymaking, we need a better knowledge base to address any gaps in understanding the specific characteristics of CCI, its role in the regional economy and ways to support the industry’s internationalization in various ways.

This is exactly what we are doing with our partners from the countries around the Baltic Sea in an Interreg project called Creative Ports: bundling competencies, experimenting with internationalization tools and exchanging knowledge about well-functioning programmes and strategies.  We seek improvements at various policy levels. We believe this is best done together with different actors and stakeholders, such as CCI entrepreneurs, intermediaries and relevant authorities.

Join us in co-creating policy recommendations!

Please join us to co-create the best future for the cultural and creative industries in the Baltic Sea Region! If you want to have a say in what should be included in the policy recommendations for the internationalization of CCI, we will host local workshops on this topic. For more information, please contact project manager Maisa Kantanen (maisa.kantanen@xamk.fi). Check out our platform at creativeports.eu!

Authors: project manager Maisa Kantanen (maisa.kantanen(at)xamk.fi) and RDI Specialist, DSocSCi Piritta Parkkari (piritta.parkkari(at)xamk.fi). The authors works for the Creative Ports project, which receives Interreg funding.

This post is part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (#GEW2020), which is organized this year between November 16th and 20th, 2020. The week raises up information about different kinds of entrepreneurship and encourages people to try out entrepreneurship. This year’s themes include #ecosystems, #education, #inclusion and #policy. Global Entrepreneurship Week’s events are organized as part of fully digital digiSYKE working life event.

Laaja Itämeren alueen luovien alojen kansainvälistämishanke, Creative Ports, tarjoaa mukana oleville eteläsavolaisille luovien alojen yrityksille laajat mahdollisuudet verkostoitua kansainvälisesti ja ideoida uudenlaista liiketoimintaa. Interreg-hanketta koordinoi Goethe-Institut.

Vuodesta 2008 Pienyrityskeskuksessa yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja yrittäjyyden hankkeita ja valmennuksia toteuttanut KTM Maisa Kantanen on innoissaan Creative Ports -hankkeen mahdollisuuksista, vaikka moni asia onkin koronakriisin myötä avoimena.

Kaikissa Itämeren maissa luovien alojen yritykset ovat tyypillisesti pieniä tai freelancereiden pyörittämiä yrityksiä, jotka toimivat paikallisesti tai alueellisesti. Itämeren alueen valtioista monet ovat pieniä, joten niissä luovien alojen yrityksillä on rajallinen potentiaalinen asiakaskunta. Siksi yrityksellä voisi olla paljon voitettavaa, jos se onnistuisi kansainvälistymään.

Saksan kaltaisilla markkinoilla suurissa kaupungeissa taas voi olla niin paljon tarjontaa, että pieni toimija ei pääse esille toivomallaan tavalla omin voimin, vaan hyötyisi laajentumisesta uusille alueille.

Tulossa tapahtumia

Etelä-Savosta pystyy kansainvälistymään tätä kautta reilut 10 luovien alojen yritystä. Valtaosa niistä on yksinyrittäjien pyörittämiä tai verkostoja, joissa on useita yrityksiä. Yritykset kehittävät muun muassa erilaisia digitaalisia tuotteita ja järjestävät tapahtumia.

”Mukana on yrityksiä koko maakunnan alueelta, mikä on hieno juttu. Tavoitteemme on rohkaista pieniä yrityksiä kansainvälistymään ja verkostoitumaan”, Maisa Kantanen kertoo.

Vaikka hankkeen keväälle suunnitelluista tapahtumista kaikki on jouduttu perumaan, eikä syksynkään aikataulusta ole vielä varmuutta, on suunnitelmissa jossain vaiheessa järjestää tilaisuus myös Mikkelissä.

”Ideana on järjestää pop up lab eli tuoda eri maista asiantuntijoita osallistumaan työpajaan, joka toteutetaan yhdessä paikallisten osaajien kanssa. Samalla pyritään järjestämään yleisötapahtuma englanniksi. Kaikki hankkeen tapahtumat pyritään toteuttamaan jo olemassa olevien tapahtumien kylkeen, jotta sillä taataan yrityksille näkyvyyttä ja yleisö.”

PYK luo politiikkasuositukset

Kunhan koronakriisi laantuu ja rajat jälleen avautuvat, hanke järjestää eri maissa toimenpiteitä ja pilotointeja, joiden kokemukset jaetaan ja siltä pohjalta räätälöidään luovien alojen kansainvälistymistä tukevia työkaluja ja malleja.

”Näitä testataan yhdessä eri maista tulevien yritysten edustajien kanssa. Kokemukset ja opit kootaan yhteiselle alustalle.”

Interreg-hankkeille on leimallista, että niistä saavat omaan työhönsä lisäarvoa eri maiden ns. välittäjäorganisaatiot, jotka tukevat yritysten toimintaa. Pienyrityskeskuksen kirjoittaa hankkeen tulosten pohjalta politiikkasuositukset eri maiden päätöksentekijöille.

”Näin halutaan varmistaa, että eri tahot oppivat hankkeesta ja tieto uusista oivalluksista ja malleista leviää. Samalla myös yhteistyö eri maiden toimijoiden välillä tiivistyy, kun luodaan yhdessä strategisia toimintamalleja kansainvälistymisen ympärille. Tämä kaikki hyödyttää mukana olevien yritysten lisäksi myös muita yrityksiä.”

Koronakeväälle on ollut tyypillistä, että monet aiemmin kasvotusten toteutetut tilaisuudet ovat siirtyneet verkkoon. Creative Ports -hankkeen kaltaisissa laajoissa verkostoissa se ei kuitenkaan välttämättä ole toimiva ratkaisu.

”Jos linjoilla on vaikkapa Skype-kokouksessa yhtä aikaa 40 osallistujaa, sujuva keskustelu ei enää ole mahdollista. Kehittämistyö kuitenkin jatkuu ja kansainvälistymistoimenpiteiden pilotointi pääsee täyteen vauhtiin, kun rajat jälleen avautuvat. Todennäköisesti tarvitsemme jonkin verran lisäaikaa aikataulun kirimiseen.”

Pienyrityskeskus lähti vanhojen kv. partnereidensa toivomuksesta mukaan hankkeeseen vuonna 2019. Hanke jatkuu vuoteen 2021.

Mukana ovat Vilnan kaupunki, Creative Estonia, Tanskan kulttuuri-instituutti, European-Russian InnoPartnership, Filmby Aarhus, Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft, Westpomeranian Region, Media Dizajn Szczecin, Media Evolution City Malmö, Ars Baltica Saksasta, Xamk Pienyrityskeskus, TalTech-yliopisto ja Tallinn Business Incubators.

Lisätietoja: projektipäällikkö Maisa Kantanen, sposti: maisa.kantanen(at)xamk.fi ja puhelin 040 569 7899.

Hankkeesta Goethe-instituutin sivulla englanniksi: http://www.goethe.de/ins/cz/prj/cre/enindex.htm

Xamk Pienyrityskeskuksen sivulla.

Teksti ja kuva. Päivi Kapiainen-Heiskanen

Project name:

Creative Ports – Internationalisation of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea Region

Project duration: 1.1.2019–31.10.2021

Info

Lead partner: Goethe-Institut
Partial partners: Goethe-Institut, including Danish Cultural Institute, Filmby Aarhus, Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft, Nordkolleg Rendsburg, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn Business Incubators, Creative Estonia, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, City of Vilnius, Media Dizajn Szczecin, Marshal’s Office of the Westpomeranian Region, Media Evolution City Malmö, and European-Russian InnoPartnership St. Petersburg
Focus area: Digital economy

Budget

Financier and main source of funding: Interreg Baltic Sea Region
Total budget: EUR 3,079,797.09

More information

Maisa Kantanen
Project manager
+358 40 569 7899
fisrtname.lastname@xamk.fi

Piritta Parkkari
RDI Specialist
+358405409370
fisrtname.lastname@xamk.fi