CREATIVE COMPANIES IN ALPINE SPACE - Lessons learned and ideas for policy makers from the CCAlps European Project
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CREATIVE COMPANIES IN ALPINE SPACE Lessons learned and ideas for policy makers from the CCAlps European Project
Summary
Premises: Cultural and Creative Industries, Cultural Creative Sector and CCAlps towards
Europe 2020
1. Introduction
1.1 The EU framework as starting point for CCAlps- Creative Companies in Alpine Space
1.2 CCAlps: an overview
1.3 Aim of the document and methodological approach
2. Support
2.1 The analysis of the needs of Cultural and Creative Industries (SMEs, start-ups, freelancers)
2.2 Creative camp
2.2.1 Selection criteria of innovative project ideas in Creative and Cultural Sector
2.2.2 The mentoring activities for the collaborative projects
2.2.3 Creative Camp 2014: support the “Pre-Seed” phase of new start-up companies and
projects in Creative and Cultural Sector
2.2.4 Creative Camp monitoring and tools of customer satisfaction
2.3 Support lessons learned
3. Networking
3.1 Definition of hub
3.2 Mapping the hubs
3.3 Network of the hubs and CCAlps web platform
3.4 Transnational events
3.5 A feedback from the investors
3.6 Networking lessons learned
4. Awareness
4.1 Definitions and data collection on Creative and Cultural Industries
4.2 Best practices of the partners
4.3 Awareness lessons learned
5. Policy recommendations
Conclusions
Edited by: Arianna Vignati - Politecnico di Milano - Dipartimento di Design
CCAlps Project Leader: Ninfa Cannada Bartoli - Regione Lombardia
CCAlps Coordinator: Daniela Protti - Regione Lombardia
With the collaboration of: Alessia Cappellini - Politecnico di Milano - Dipartimento di Design
Graphics: Federico Cauro - Politecnico di Milano - Dipartimento di Design
Thanks to: Eupòlis Lombardia (Federico Rappelli, Valentino Necco, Laura Fossi)
Premises: Cultural and Creative Industries, Cultural and Crea-
tive Sector and CCAlps towards Europe 2020
The CCAlps – Creative Companies in Alpine Space1 pro- partnership, infrastructures, business
ject was conceived and designed within the background advisory;
of the aims and objectives of the Alpine Space Program
2007-2013, and the main reference was the Green Paper - Thematic Objective 3 / Competitiveness of
of the European Commission. The aim of the Alpine Space SMEs: development of SMEs in emerging
Programme 2007-2013 was “to increase competitiveness areas such as CCIs, new forms of tourism;
and attractiveness of the cooperation area by developing
joint actions in fields where transnational cooperation is - Thematic Objective 6 / Environment &
required for sustainable solutions”. resources: diversification of rural & urban
CCAlps project focus on the first specific objective of the economies by protecting cultural heritage;
Program to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship rehabilitation of cultural infrastructure
and strengthen research and innovation capacities for (integrated urban development projects);
SMEs. The issue of the Cultural and Creative Industries
as flywheel of innovation and economic growth, however, - Thematic Objective 9 / Social inclusion:
was not explicitly included among the objectives of the Pro- promotion of intercultural activities;
gramme.
- Thematic Objective 10 / Investing in
The CCAlps project ends just at the start of the new Cohe- Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning:
sion Policy 2014-2020 that seems to be even closer to the promotion of creative skills and creativity.
CCAlps issues:
Moreover, Cultural and Creative Industry could also be
supported under other investment priorities (e.g. The-
in its 2010 Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in matic Objective 2 / Enhancing access to and use and
Europe 2020 Communication2, the Commission proposed quality of information and communication technologies:
that the potential of Cultural and Creative Sector is to rein- ICT applications; Thematic Objective 9 / Social inclusion:
force the creative and innovative potentials and social co- urban and rural regeneration). The challenge is how to
hesion in European regions being fully recognized; further integrate the cultural and creative sectors into
regional innovation strategies for smart specialization,
the guide to Regional Innovation Strategies for Smart Spe- which in the current Commission proposals will be an
cialisation3, drafted by the Smart specialisation platform - ex-ante conditionality to access funds.
S3Platform – aiming to assist regions and Member States
in developing, implementing and reviewing regional smart EU Member States and regions are therefore invited to
specialisation strategies, dedicates a priority line to cul- use Structural Funds to finance their own strategies in
tural and creative industries; this field through investment priorities such as “pro-
moting centers of competence; promoting clusters;
the policy handbook on “How to strategically use the EU developing ICT products and services; promoting
support programmes, including Structural Funds, to entrepreneurship; developing new business models
foster the potential of culture for local, regional and na- for SMEs in particular for internationalization; im-
tional development and the spill-over effects on the wid- proving the urban environment; developing business
er economy?”4 by the working group of EU Member States incubators; supporting the physical and economic
experts (open method of coordination) on Cultural and Cre- regeneration of urban and rural areas and commu-
ative Industries (April 2012) and the Communication from nities, etc.”
the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Also other programmes and instruments for the new
Committee of the Regions “Promoting cultural and crea- Multi-annual Financial Framework 2014-2020, can
tive sectors for growth and jobs in the EU COM(2012) 537 make a decisive contribution to support the further
final”, illustrates some of the opportunities for Cultural and development of the cultural and creative sectors and
Creative Sector in the context of the Cohesion Policy : strengthen their contribution to the Europe 2020 Strat-
egy for jobs and growth as European Territorial Coop-
- the Thematic Objective 1/RTD & eration at first.
Innovation/Capacity building for the
exploitation of new ideas: support for clusters, Creative Europe and Horizon 2020, present important
1
Hereinafter “CCAlps”
2
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/communic/smart_growth/comm2010_553_en.pdf
3
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-area/innovation-and-growth
4
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/library/publications/cci-policy-handbook_en.pdf 3
opportunities for Cultural and Creative Industries and focus
on cross-sectorial cooperation.
Creative Europe is a dedicated instrument aiming at sup-
porting the Cultural and Creative Industries sector: one of
its main objectives is strengthening the competitiveness
of the cultural and creative sectors with a view to pro-
moting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
in Horizon 2020 the creative and cultural sector is poten-
tially involved under the calls of the pillar “Societal Chal-
lenges” which is more focused on the cultural (even digital)
heritage, but also under the pillar “Industrial Leadership”,
with a special focus on the enabling and industrial tech-
nologies.
We can say that, in a way, the CCAlps project is in line not
only with the policy background of the closing program-
ming period, but also, and even more, with the new one.
Photo by Diego Ronzio
4
1 Introduction
1.1 The EU framework as starting point for CCAlps- Creative Companies
in Alpine Space
CCAlps has been conceived and inspired by the Green Pa- In the definition of the Green Paper “Cultural industries”
per of the European Commission (“The cultural and crea- are “those industries producing and distributing goods
tive industries, unlocking the potential”, 2010)5, that points or services which at the time they are developed are
out at first that if Europe wants to remain competitive in the considered to have a specific attribute, use or purpose
changing global environment6 it needs to: which embodies or conveys cultural expressions, irre-
spective of the commercial value they may have”.
put in place the right conditions for creativity and innova-
tion to flourish in a new entrepreneurial culture Besides the traditional art sectors (performing arts,
visual arts, cultural heritage – including the public sec-
identify and invest in new sources of smart, sustainable tor), they include film, DVD and video, television and
and inclusive growth drivers to take up the baton7. radio, video games, new media, music, books and
press8. “Creative industries are those industries which
pioneer new ways of creating added value, but also of liv- use culture as an input and have a cultural dimension,
ing together, by building on the rich and diverse European although their outputs are mainly functional”.
cultures.
They include architecture and design, which integrate
The Green Paper underlined, also how “the cultural and creative elements into wider processes, as well as
creative industries represent highly innovative com- subsectors such as graphic design, fashion design or
panies with a great economic potential and are one of advertising.
Europe’s most dynamic sectors” and how “cultural con-
tents play a crucial role in the deployment of the infor- Being at the crossroads between arts, business and
mation society, fuelling investments in broadband infra- technology, cultural and creative sectors are in a stra-
structures and services, in digital technologies, as well tegic position to trigger spillovers in other industries,
as in new consumer electronics and telecommunication such as:
devices. Beyond their direct contribution to GDP, Cultur-
al and Creative Industries are also important drivers of ICT applications, creating a demand for sophisticated
economic and social innovation in many other sectors”. consumer electronics and telecommunication devices.
5
Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries”, European Commission (Bruxelles, 2010)
6
As expressed by President Barroso in his Political Guidelines for the next Commission. Full text: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/president/pdf/
press_20090903_EN.pdf.
7
See Communication from the Commission “Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” - COM(2010) 2020.
8
This concept is defined in relation to cultural expressions in the context of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of
cultural expressions. 5tourism, fashion and high-end industries, where their im-
portance is increasing.
The economic performance of the cultural and creative
sectors is recognised: in the EU they account for 3.3% of
GDP and employ 6.7 million people (3 % of total employ-
ment). Figures are also important if one considers the
fashion and high-end industries, which rely on a strong
cultural and creative input. They account for 3% of the
EU GDP each and employ respectively 5 and 1 million
people, with employment in the high-end industries
expected to reach 2 million by 2020. Between 2008 and
2011, employment in the cultural and creative sectors
proved more resilient than in the EU economy as a whole
with growth rates varying however between subsectors.
This tendency is all the more interesting because some
sectors have a higher percentage of youth employment
than the rest of the economy.9
To enhance the role of Cultural and Creative Industries is
necessary that policy makers at any level pay specific at-
tention “to promote entrepreneurship, access to finance,
to improve framework conditions and foresight, to identify
research and skills needs, to develop new cluster concepts
and better business and innovation support”.
Based on these assumptions, the Green Paper indicates in
cultural diversity, globalization and digitalization the main
drivers for the future development of Cultural and Creative
Industries and suggests some lines of action and/or tools
to facilitate this development, which can be summarized
as follows:
1. New spaces for experimentation, innovation and entrepre-
neurship in the field of Cultural and Creative Industries;
2. Better respond to skill needs of the cultural and creative
industries;
3. Improve access to finance;
4. Encourage the integration of Cultural and Creative Indus-
tries into strategic regional and local development;
5. To promote cultural exchanges and international trade.
The CCAlps project has attempted to address all these is-
sues, some more directly, others more indirectly. Being
conceived as a “laboratory for policies” addressed Cultural
and Creative Industries at regional and local level, the whole
project and especially the experience of its pilot projects
(Creative Camp), can be seen as a practical test and a “fine
tuning” with regards to 1) the European guidelines and
2) the advices and recommendations developed by many
Photo by Diego Ronzio
others European projects, within different EU programs (in
particular under the European territorial cooperation pro-
grams)10, which put the Cultural and Creative Industries at
the center of their action or of their investigations.
9
Communication from the commission to the European parliament, the council, the European economic and social committee and the committee of the
regions Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU (COM 2012 537 FINAL)-
10
Projects like CREA.RE, SEE, ORGANZA, Creative Metropoles and InCompass (2012), all funded by the program INTERREG IVC, provided policy recommen-
dation as well as (also within INTERREG IVC) the project Creative Growth (2011). 61.2 CCAlps: an overview
CCAlps co-financed by the European Union Alpine Space
program, aimed to improve the competitiveness and the The focus
attractiveness of Alpine regions by promoting cultural and To promote regional competitiveness
creative industries. The partners are Lombardy Region, and attractiveness
Piedmont Region, University of Haute Alsace, MFG Baden-
Wurttemberg, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of The aims
Lyon, ITG Salzburg, Chamber of Commerce and Industry T➢ o raise awareness about the role of Cultural and
of Nice Cote d’Azur, Regional Development Agency of Lju- Creative Industries for European development
➢
bljana Urban Region, CRT Foundation and SUPSI.
To strength and support Cultural and Creative Indus-
tries in the Alpine Space
Six countries and nine partners, with complementary mis- ➢
sions and competences: To realize a network and virtual platform to connect
Cultural and Creative Industries and service centres in
Two chambers of commerce and one university in France Alpine Space
Two regions (Piedmont and Lombardy) and a private bank The “core business”
foundation in Italy Creative Camp: a system of activities enable Cultural
and Creative Industries to develop ideas and young
Three development agencies focused on regional devel- creative to connect them with investors, SME and
opment, innovation, media and technology transfer in institutional partners
Baden-Württemberg, Slovenia and Austria.
One university of applied sciences and arts in Switzerland The project included six main actions:
Lombardy Region, the lead partner, has cooperated with Definitions and transnational mapping: regulation,
the Politecnico di Milano university and with the regional policies, funding and perceived needs for Cultural and
association of the Chambers of Commerce. Creative Industries and Hubs
The partners dealt with specific competences and diver-
sified contents related to each region, which enriched the Transnational model for services focusing the Cultural
mutual knowledge and the project experience. and Creative Industries needs and business model for
a transnational network of cooperation for Hubs;
The main objective of CCAlps, started in October 2011 and
Virtual platform www.ccalps.eu
completed in December 2014, was to create an internation-
al network where Cultural and Creative Industries could Transnational events to promote: awareness about
fulfill their potential with the support of service centers the role of Cultural and Creative Industries, the results
(such as incubators, institutions, universities, research of the project, networking activities and new strategic
centers). partnerships
The project also strives to raise awareness among deci-
sion-makers to the importance of Cultural and Creative Pilot project: the Creative Camp, to develop ideas of
Industries and to realize pilot projects especially tailored Cultural and Creative Industries and young creative and
to the sector, placing creativity and innovation at the center connect them with investors, SMEs and institutional
and developing innovative products and services to sup- partners
port the competitiveness in the Alpine Space.
Evaluation of the results of the pilot projects
CCAlps facts and figures 240 involved institutions
9 partners 600 CCIs involved
10 regional Creative Camps 3 international events
6 countries 300 start-ups
1 international Creative Camp 64 collaborative projects
4000 participants 100 supported innovative ideas
71.3 Aim of the document and methodological approach
The main goal of this document is to summarize the ex- views, participation in meetings etc.) and through
perience of the project, focusing on the principals results knowledge exchanges with other European projects on
of CCAlps as lesson learned to be shared with public and the same topics11.
private institution, decision and policy makers. The scheme above outlines the whole project, observes
The dossier take in account the researches, the surveys through three conceptual dimensions related to the
and the monitoring activities realised during the projects, main CCAlps goals: support, networking and aware-
with special attention to: ness. Each of these dimensions is structured in goals,
objectives and results.
the analysis of the perceived needs for Cultural and Crea- Hereunder are briefly described the project’s results,
tive Industries and Hubs; according to this scheme, connecting to the lessons
learned as input for the policy recommendations, which
the best practices and policies of the partners; are synthetized at the end of the dossier as a “Deca-
logue”. The aim of the ten tips for policy makers is to
the evaluation of the results of the pilot projects and their share knowledge and an innovative pilot action meth-
exploitation and dissemination plan; odology (Creative Camp) that should be replicable at
local, regional and transnational level. The value pro-
the in-depth interviews to the managers of the Creative posed by the CCAlps approach lies on the bottom up
Camp; approach and on the learning and doing method: pilot
actions, structured on a tested methodology, should be
the investors contributions during the final event in Milano, a good practice that municipalities, regions and local
June 2014. authorities can use to activate Cultural and Creative In-
dustries and stakeholders in actions able to generate
Useful information has been collected also through un- new start-ups, to improve local economies and to cre-
structured channels (direct observation, informal inter- ate new jobs and perspectives of growth.
Projects like CREA.RE, SEE, ORGANZA, Creative Metropoles and InCompass, all funded by the program INTERREG IVC, provided (2012) policy recommen-
11
dations, as well as (also within INTERREG IVC) the project Creative Growth (2011). But also ECIAP The European Creative Industries Alliance Policy Learning
Platform (ECIAP)
82. Support
2.1 The analysis of the needs of Cultural and Creative Industries (SMEs,
start-ups, freelancers)
The preliminary analysis of the needs of Cultural and Creative invest both on calls for proposal tailored on the needs
Industries was realized by the partners through different tools of CCIs and on services that can facilitate the birth
and methodologies by adopting, primarily, qualitative tools. and development of Cultural and Creative Industries
There were two aims: designing the Creative Camp process (vouchers to use physical spaces and training services;
taking into account the needs expressed by creative people digital platforms, assistance to increase financial reli-
and collecting proposals and suggestions for public policies. ability and to strengthen the capacity of Cultural and
The investigation had also more general effects, external to Creative Industries to cooperate independently; support
the project it-self, by providing a precious fact-finding tool to to the business competition and to the internationaliza-
start specific actions for Cultural and Creative Industries, as tion).
happened for Lombardy Region.
From the analysis it emerged a substantially homogeneous There are also common needs of support services
framework for all the partners’ countries, with some differ- addressed to:
ences due to the specific local contexts or to the topics dealt.
The analysis involved on one side, established creative cross-sectorial cooperation with traditional business
companies, early stage start-ups and free-lancers and on fields and the third sector, perceived as a good way to
the other side, incubators, service and research centers apply creative services in order to stimulate demand.
and universities. There is a lack of collaboration between creative com-
panies and other industries or institutions, so B2B
At the same time, some partners conducted a SWOT meetings with companies and institutions could be an
analysis that gave other useful policy indications espe- effective instrument;
cially, but non only, at local level.
In the following pages we are going to sum up the main networking activities at different levels and
results, trying to highlight the common features, which with different purposes:
were found.
- among creative and cultural companies,
All the actors involved underlined at first the importance researchers and SMEs from various branches
to raise awareness about cultural and creative industries
pointing out the features that make them different, almost - between the local creative themselves and
unique on the market. To observe afterward, a relevant other local/national stakeholders, to connect
difference between the needs of established creative and multi-disciplinary ideas and funding
early stage start-ups.
The firsts are experiencing increasing difficulties in the - addressed to international networking such as
acquisition of clients and of talented workforce. Financing information, meeting, partnership development.
still represents a problem for them, at the same time they
ask for the identification of good strategies to clearly com- improve communication and relationship: communica-
municate their specific features in order to face high com- tion skills are one of the biggest obstacles to the rela-
petition in the national and international market. tionships among institutions, stakeholders and Cultural
The second has a much wider spectrum of needs, and in and Creative Industries. Often these actors use different
particular they ask for targeted actions and targeted sup- languages or different communication registers. Often
port services to respond to the lack of managerial skills these differences in “language” are related to the ex-
and abilities (business models and business plans, access cessive bureaucratization of the public administration’s
to forms of financing, effective communication, marketing procedures;
strategies and distribution services, intellectual property
protection and legal issues, equipped spaces, to develop financial support: even if it is not the most quoted need,
their ideas and to exchange ideas and information with the financial support has also been mentioned in the
other professionals). research. It emerged as crucial need and the possibil-
ity to find help in bureaucracy connected with financial
Private service centers (incubators, co-working centers, support tools as public calls, funding program etc.
centers for arts) focus on funds dedicated to support ser-
vices. They ask for a specific attention to the pre-startup To conclude: all the actors involved in the analysis un-
phase (pree-seed), which isn’t enough covered by private derlined the importance to face the challenges of the
investors, which requests “strong assurances” for the re- support addressed to strengthen international net-
turn of investments. In this contest, the suggestions are to working and cooperation.
92.2 Creative Camp
Creative Camp is the pilot action designed, promoted and to cultural and creative start-ups. It was the occasion to
conceived by the CCAlps partners. It’s a model of activities test the final methodology including the following ac-
with the aim to support the innovation capacity of com- tivities:
panies in the creative and cultural sectors. The Creative
Camp methodology works on a set of different combined scouting: each partner selected projects and start-up
elements that can support the creation of an enabling en- ideas by observing criteria of public transparency and
vironment (ecosystem) for the development of innovation the local needs and interests (in terms of area of in-
projects generated by Cultural and Creative Industries: novation, number of projects, aims of the activities etc.);
- scouting of innovation ideas and projects; international mobility: one international workshop was
- development of international mobility; organized on Lake Constance. The networking activi-
- mentoring to support the development ties and the knowledge sharing were amplified through
of start-ups the cohabitation for two full days of creative people from
- networking among public events partners all over the states;
During CCAlps this methodology was tested and improved. design thinking+business development mentoring:
A first set of Creative Camps (8) was realized between April after the 2 day-workshop, each partner supported the
2013 and November 2013. They were organized as a local projects with mentoring activities able to fill the gap of
series of events which involved different stakeholders of a the idea and could work and could be feasible in a spe-
specific sector of the creative industries (e.g. design, film, cific market or territory;
games etc..) in order to allow an intensive exchange of ex-
perience and the final creation of collaborative projects. A networking: during the international Cross Creativ-
Creative Camp could therefore take the shape of different ity Event. The event has brought together early stage
kind of activities according to the thematic focus of each start-ups, advanced stage start-ups, investors, institu-
region and to the need expressed by the stakeholders. tions and public stakeholders.
After a fist evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of this In the first edition of Creative Camps (2013) the follow-
experience, it was decided to prorogue the project in order ing topics have been explored: multimedia and com-
to organize a second edition of the Creative Camps dur- munication for tourism and cultural heritage, fashion,
ing the spring 2014. Thanks to the lessons learned from service design, green city, sustainable innovation for
the experience held in 2013, it was possible, therefore, to culture and tourism, production and transmedia story-
improve the model of Creative Camp and to develop the telling, audiovisual for tourism, applications for mobile
methodology conceived at the beginning. devices, “the book of the future.”
The second edition of Creative Camp 2014 was designed The international edition of June 2014 was based on a
and planned as an international set of activities dedicated unique cross-sectorial theme: service innovation.
Photo by Carla Sedini
102.2.1 Selection criteria of innovative project ideas in Creative
and Cultural Sector
A team of experts composed the jury that worked on the selec- then the path dependency is one of the most relevant issues
tion criteria and evaluated the ideas presented for the local and in the value chain.
transnational public calls.
Replicability: tthe idea has to be replicable. Scalability is one
Apart from the evaluation of curricula and portfolios, which had of the most important values for innovation in technology
a relevant importance for the selection, the evaluation criteria field. At the same time in Creative and Cultural Sector the
proposed by the experts and approved by the partners, were: scalability of projects is related to the possibility of replay
projects in different contexts, locations and places and the
Innovation: the idea has to constitute an element of change of adjustment of services, activities and events.
already used practices. We are in the area of meaning-driven
innovation where the change is focused on meaning, processes, Sustainability: the idea must be sustainable according to
interaction and experiences in the definition of new products or three different areas: 1) economic; the project optimizes as
services. much as possible resources and investments available,
by providing management of economic processes 2) the
Focus on specific needs: the idea has to answer to a question, environment; the idea is to have a low impact or a positive
a demand, to specific needs of people, communities etc. Ideas impact on the land and environment, without the need
have to be focused on specific targets of users and customers for over-exploitation of natural resources or even helping
and to answer to their needs with a value proposition. Sometimes saving these resources 3) social; the idea takes into account
ideas are focused on specific needs of local communities and the fairness in the possibility of being and inclusion of each
11type of user (from a point of view of gender, age, origin, etc.).
Other relevant information for the evaluation and selection of
ideas in the field of culture and creativity has emerged through
interviews conducted with investors during the Cross Creativity
event. In particular, it was asked what characteristics they have
sought and evaluated for a possible investment. The results are
quite similar and somehow coincide with the criteria used by the
juries of CCAlps also for the evaluation of project ideas. Specifi-
cally, some of the interviewed refer to:
Quality and heterogeneity of the team: this criterion has to be
applied with the evaluation in the strict sense of the idea, but it
is extremely important on decisions whether to invest or select.
Credibility, motivation, passion and expertise are important
elements.
“The entrepreneur we are looking for must be someone who
wants to make an impact and must have the ability to do so,
it must then vigorously carry forward his plan, there must
be a manic detail in deepening the difficulties that separate
success and a sense of humility that comes from knowing at
first, not wanting to ever leave anything to chance, feeling all
the bells, experiences, points of view before making strategic
decisions”. (Innogest)
Knowledge of markets: attention to the market and knowledge
on it. Ideas or projects must have a market research and analysis
that support the value propostion.
Investors interviews have confirmed that the business plan is
not (so) relevant for the evaluation of business ideas and pro-
jects in Creative and Cultural Sector.
“Therefore, be based on the business plan in the early stages
means to look for something that will definitely change in
the future, we prefer to evaluate the idea, the market and the
people and since we cannot know alone we rely accelera-
tors”. (Italian investments Club 2)
2.2.2 The mentoring activities for the collaborative projects
During the first edition of the Creative Camp each partner adopted by the CCAlps partners:
organised a mentoring activity to support the collaborative
projects. The aim was to improve the entrepreneurial Qualification13: starting from the analysis of the skills gaps
capabilities in the “pre-seed phase”. Mentors were selected in for the teams selected, “ad hoc” qualification activities were
order to find the right experts for the typology of business ideas planned;
come out from the Creative Camp.
Business Model Generation14: the business model
The supporting activities were focused on aspects that are pe- generation was proposed to all the teams as a useful tool to
culiar for the Creative and Cultural Sector in the area of Mean- develop the projects proposed
ing-driven innovation (Norman, Verganti, 2012). Users needs,
personal aspirations and abilities were the starting point and Cross Disciplinary mentoring: the mentoring activities
focus of innovation activities and business models for the new were developed by using a cross disciplinary approach.
companies12. Two mentors with complementary skills: Design Thinking
and Design Management and Business development
Three different tools were at the base of mentoring activities per- (marketing, finance and business plan).
formed by Politecnico di Milano and subsequently shared and
12Cross disciplinary Mentoring “Design Thinking+Business Model Generation”
Mentors supported business idea development under
different aspects:
1. Filling gaps in team skills. Mentors helped teams to fill a what business challenges they had. Mentors have worked
skills gap or an expertise that they didn’t have. specifically on helping to parse and attack these challenges
with the teams in order to set up methods and tools they
2. Circumventing mistakes. Mentors have supported with their could use in the start-up of companies.
experiences of the evaluation of problems and situations.
7. Motivation. Mentors have also offered motivational support.
3. Sequencing actions for the development of business ideas. Personal motivation in fact appeared as the main value ele-
The plan of activities is a determining factor in the success of ment of the business ideas developed in the Creative Camps.
business ideas. In the Creative and Cultural Sector, an innovative environment
for the improvement of entrepreneurial capabilities should
4. Expanding the Network. Mentors have facilitated the rela- consider the motivational component as one of the most im-
tions among partners, stakeholders, sponsors, public institu- portant assets to be valued.
tions, other companies, experts etc.
8. Development of a Value Proposition with a Systemic Ap-
5. Processing Market Signals. Mentors, thanks to their experi- proach. The design-thinking method was suggested in order
ences, were experts in the interpretation of the market sig- to improve the strategic vision and the development of all the
nals and in the clarification of targets (users and clients) and elements of the product service system. Most of the start-ups
value proposition for the business ideas. work in the area of service innovation and in the design man-
agement that was one of the most important elements they
6. Helping with Challenges. Teams sometimes didn’t know had to stress in order to build a feasible business model.
At the end of the activities the project team had developed:
the business model and the value proposition (model
of costs and revenues);
the network of partners and the stakeholders to develop
the feasibility phase;
the investments required for the start-up of a new company
in the Cultural and Creative Sector.
The innovation proposed was not radical or disruptive as that
happened in the technology-driven innovation, but based on
the development of new services routed on personal motiva-
tion and on the sensibility for the generation of new value for
market and users.
Photo by Anna Consolati
12
The areas of innovation explored started from the comprehension of subtle and unspoken dynamics in socio-cultural models and results in radically new meanings
and languages, often implying a change in socio-cultural regimes (Norman, Verganti, 2012).
13
Different activities of qualification were developed: - management skills improvement: business plan development, business model generation application, market-
ing strategy etc.; - technical skills improvement: workshops and seminars focused on the improvement of technical skills in digital communication tools production.
14
Business Model Generation is a practical innovation techniques used today by leading companies worldwide. It supports how systematically to understand, design
and implement a new business model – or to analyse and renovate an old one. The most important tool proposed for the Business Model Generation is the Business
Canvas. It is a strategic management template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm’s
value proposition, infrastructure, customers and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs. This tool was used by all the
teams for the projects presented in the June 2013 event “Culture, Creativity, Growth
132.2.3 Creative Camp 2014: support the “Pre-Seed” phase of new start-up
companies and projects in Creative and Cultural Sector
The second edition of Creative Camp 2014 was designed and After the Lake Constance Creative Camp, the mentoring ac-
planned as an international set of activities dedicated to Cultural tivities were developed with the aim to set up the network of
and Creative start-ups support. The selection procedure was fo- partners for the collaborative projects and the improvement
cused on scouting of projects in the “pre-seed” phase or rather of an international perspective of the Business Model.
in the pre start-up phase.
The results of this work have been:
The supporting activities for the International Creative Camp was
focused on three fields: First prototyping of platforms and services;
international mobility; Fund raising for small investments required for the start up:
legal costs, brand protection, investments for rent of spaces,
set up of a specific format of contents for Elevator Pitch costs of small equipment, investments for communication.
presentations; The total amount necessary for the first start-up of the com-
pany was always in the range of 30.000 – 50.000 Euros;
connection with Investors.
Institutional support in the networking activity: relations with
The Lake Constance Creative Camp was an important oppor- SMEs, experts and institutions were facilitated by the pres-
tunity for the development of an international point of view for ence of institutions in the Consortium. The trust in the start-
the start-up ideas and for the knowledge sharing (problems, up was increased by the reliability of the institution that was
market opportunities and technology development for the sin- in charge for the mentoring activities.
gle business idea).
2.2.4 Creative Camp monitoring and tools of customer satisfaction
At the conclusion of each Creative Camp a questionnaire was up to 3 collaborative projects developed in the framework of
distributed to the participants to measure the satisfaction about the camp;
organization, the quality of the workshops and seminars, the
network opportunities and the presence of stakeholders. Anoth- at least 1 service tested during the camp;
er form was submitted to each manager of the Creative Camps,
in order to collect qualitative and quantitative information about up to 5 media appearances.
them (organization, participation, communication). In addition,
it was realized a series of in-depth interviews with managers The answers to the final web-survey seem to confirm the
of the Creative Camp in order to bring out the strengths and idea of a good result of CCAlps in terms of services provided,
weaknesses of the actions and discuss the possibility and the although, the satisfaction about the Creative Camps as in-
opportunity to replicate or improve the model. Finally, it was con- strument to conceive or improve ideas is very high.
ducted a web-survey, targeted to the manager of the collabora-
tive projects originated and selected within the different Creative The most recurrent terms used to describe both the semi-
Camps. The survey was open only after a reasonable interval, in nars and the workshops of the pilot projects are inspiring
order to assess the effectiveness of the support provided by pilot and helpful. Of course, the level of satisfaction varies accord-
actions in terms of mentoring, training, coaching, networking ing to different subjects and experts who attended the semi-
and other services15. nars and/or workshops. It has to be highlighted that the ex-
pectations also influence relevantly the level of satisfaction:
The eight Creative Camps realized in the year 2013 helped to in some cases the participants in the pilot projects perceived
test a model of support to the Cultural and Creative Industries the Creative Camp and the selection process as first step to
(prevalently to the pre-seed phase). After the evaluation of the receive a funding (as grant or investment). This led to a cer-
first session, the model has been perfected to realize a unique, tain disappoint in a few cases: the misunderstanding must
conclusive Creative Camp in June 2014. be a lesson for the future, which should help to improve the
communication plans.
The CCAlps Methodological Dossier states 4 indicators
to evaluate the effectiveness of each Creative Camp: One of the most important results of the project consists of
the improvement of the relationships with the local/regional
up to 20 stakeholders trained within the Creative Camp; Cultural and Creative Industries.
13
See the Dossier summarizing the results of the evaluation of the pilot actions 14On the other hand, the interviewees ultimately agree about
some weaknesses related to the transnational dimension of the
project, since the transnational mobility was limited to a reduced
number of participants in each Creative Camps, mostly free-
lancers, coming from the counties of other partners. So, to get a
stronger internationalization, the second generation of Creative
Camp was conceived. Creative Camp 2014 had a unique macro-
theme as a general framework for all the activities, the organi-
zational pattern was much better defined than in the previous
edition and each CCAlps partner has worked in a more tightly
connection with the others, organizing a common international
coaching for startups and young companies.
2.3 Support lessons learned
The relevant lessons learned in the field of SUPPORT were:
Scouting: ideas, skills and motivation of teams are an Mentoring: supporting activities focused on particular
essential aspect. The selection process should also include an aspects of innovation in the cultural and creative sector,
interview aiming to bring out motivation and attitudes to project with three different instruments: skill building, with ad-hoc
development. The centrality of these issues also emerged from skills development paths; business Model Generation, that
the opinions of the investors. The identification of creative and is the most appropriate tool to support the development of
innovative ideas is an unavoidable requisite of whatever process a clear and sustainable value proposition; cross-disciplinary
or policy that aims to foster Cultural and Creative Industries. The mentoring, with two complementary skills, design-thinking
experience of CCAlps (as well as the statements of the experts and design management with business development
invited to the “reverse pitching” during Cross Creativity)16 has (marketing, finance and business plan).
showed that selecting ideas and project proposal means to
select team as well. The quality of team should be carefully Timing: to maintain a high level of motivation in the
assessed. development of an innovation path, activities must be
concentrated in a limited and defined period of time.
Skill-building vs funding: we found a significant difference
between the needs of freelancers and those of early stage Collaboration: the idea behind the Creative Camp was to
start-ups. In the first case are required actions and targeted select and support collaborative projects. The collaboration
support services (business models and business plans, access emerged especially as exchange of knowledge, sharing
to forms of financing, effective communication, marketing and of experiences and expertise regarding the development
distribution services, intellectual property protection and legal of the innovation process (related to a service or events).
issues) and B2B meetings with companies and institutions, in The relations among Cultural and Creative Industries,
the second one a wider access to finance. SMEs, institutions and associations have showed a “fluid”
dimension. The open question, even on the basis of other
Targeted actions: mature enterprises, start-ups and young experiences, is whether and how to rearrange this phase in
freelancers have different features in terms of capacity and system.
vision. A clear identification of these needs allows exploiting
more effective supporting tools: targeted calls for ideas and Evaluation: the participants gave a positive evaluation to the
support services in line with the needs. The design phase of Creative Camps.
these tools is an important aspect.
Efficacy of the process: data on the efficacy of the process
Communication: by adopting an ad-hoc communication in terms of starting-up and financing of the projects carried
is possible to reach a broad panel of Cultural and Creative out within the pilot actions were collected; the connection
Industries especially in contexts with a high concentration of between the two phases of pre-seed and start-up business,
companies; by avoiding bureaucratic language and using new requires further study.
channels (such as network of accelerators/incubators, social
networks, web radios, digital media, communities) it is possible International mobility: the Creative Camp, in parallel
to alert and make aware a large number of enterprises and with other experiences, highlighted the importance of
freelancers. international mobility in this sector.
14
Cross Creativity was the international event held in Milan on 19-20 June 2014, focused on Innovation, Creativity and Start-Ups and developed in partner-
ship with Lombardy Region and the Creative Companies in CCAlps. 153. Networking
3.1 Definition of hub
As one of the preliminary activities of the project, the partners that it delivers to the rest of the members), their services
defined the idea of “Hubs”, the selected criteria and guidelines and activities (events, trips, coaching/consulting, etc.), their
in order to engage them in the course of the project’s life-time. Members/Partners (start-ups, micro-enterprises, econom-
For the purpose of the CCAlps project, a hub has been defined ic or cultural institutions, SME’s, etc.) and their funding (mix
as a space-based and online community to access innovation, of private and public support; project-oriented financing).
knowledge, market opportunities, inspiration and experience
that brings together people who want to make a change, and are So, Hubs are Service Centers. They are physical or virtual
willing to take the risk – a space that will help make the change places that offer services to companies in order to support
easier and less lonely. their business and competitiveness. Service centers are:
Hubs can be characterized by their thematic focus on Cultural incubators, virtual platforms, development agencies, co-
and Creative Industries (Design&Media, Movie, etc.), their terri- working centers, research centers, residence for artists,
torial focus (urban or rural areas), their organizational FabLab etc.
structures (flexible in size and structure), their aims (the value
3.2 Mapping the hubs
Contextually with the definition of Hub, project partners went ment, the Summary Report on the mapping activities. The
on towards the identification of the regional Hub structures. The situation of the hubs identified in each partner’s region is
mapping activities have been summarized in a specific docu- summarized hereunder.
163.3 Network of service centers and CCAlps web platform
One of the objectives of the CCAlps project was to identify a vir- 2. a transnational workshop that involved the CCAlps partners
tuous model of transnational network of entities (public or pri- in developing a business model appropriate for the interna-
vate) that offer services to support the growth of the Cultural and tional network of hubs (in synergy with the projects Incom-
Creative Sector. pass and Tavolo Mi.Lo ).
The role, function and operational model of this network (first The result was the development of a working model based
local and then transnational) has been defined through a series on the sharing of knowledge, experience and tools through
of activities: the web platform CCAlps www.ccalps.eu. The platform has
been implemented as a showcase and a place for sharing
1. workshops and round tables that allowed local partners of CCA- and exchange, available to Hubs and enterprises of the Cul-
lps to map these subjects and to involve them actively in the de- tural and Creative Sector.
sign of the network model;
3.4 Transnational events
The transnational events have represented another tool for the participants of the Creative Camp Lombardia where 24
networking. They were the moment of discussion on the topic innovative projects in the Cultural and Creative Sector were
of Cultural Creative Industries, an opportunity to share CCAlps presented. It involved a panel of experts and investors to
projects results and exchange good practices with the project evaluate the projects and 300 guests between companies,
partners and local stakeholders, besides being a place of test- institutions and stakeholders.
ing the contest between the Cultural Creative Industries imple-
mented as part of the Creative Camp. The international events Cross Creativity (2014): it saw the participation of the start-
were three, all held in Lombardy: ups supported in the second edition of the Creative Camp,
from all the partner’s countries. Cross Creativity has been an
It’s a start (2012): a first trial of the process of scouting and “Expo of start-ups”, based on a series of events dedicated
pitching for young start-uppers. It involved more than 200 to the Cultural and Creative Sector (pitching, presentations
international guests including many institutions. to investors and hubs, speeches by experts) where creative
people could meet and talk with investors. About 300
Culture, Creativity, Growth (2013): it brought together creatives and 1000 people attended the event.
3.5 A feedback from the investors
In the program of Cross Creativity (see section 2.2.5) a reverse system that often, especially in the countries of Roman law,
pitching was included where investors were presented to young is not flexible enough to follow the changes of sectors that
freelancers and start-ups. The presentations of investors (mu- are very innovative.
tual funds, ventures, business angels etc.) were followed by a
discussion in which they described their mission and philoso- Role of policy makers: they must not replace private
phy. Investors gave not only indications about the type of ideas investment decisions. The selection of the most promising
and people on whom they tend to invest but also suggestions ideas or business must be left as much as possible to those
to the public institutions in terms of public policies for Cultural who have developed experience and expertise in this area.
Creative Industries. Some of the most interesting elements
emerged during this second part of the reverse pitch are sum- Tax relief: in Italy but also in other European countries
marized hereunder. They are elements that express, of course, tax-free investments in innovation structures should be
the point of view of the investors. It is because they come from established.
a privileged observatory that they represent a very interesting
input for the formulation of policy recommendations. It’s to un- Motivation: it is an aspect not measurable and difficult to
derline that most of the investors, participating to Cross Creativ- define, but it is also a key factor for the public administrations.
ity especially the venture capitalists, were still more focused on In the relationship between enterprises, particularly those
high-tech innovation than “soft tech” or high-end innovation. that innovate, and public administrations. The interaction
with a motivated person or with a bureaucrat makes the
Deregulation: in addition to the recurring theme of the excessive difference in an even more decisive way than in other sectors.
bureaucratic burden on businesses (start-ups included), An efficient and modern management of human resources
investors also touched the structural issue of the regulatory would allow giant progress, even without changing the laws.
15
http://www.incompassproject.eu 173.6 Networking lessons learned
The relevant lessons learned in the field of NETWORKING were: - connections with Cultural Creative Industries and
freelancers for the identification of needs
Service centres: incubators, co-working centres and (antennas on the territory);
accelerators represent a growing sector, which is very attentive - points for collection and selection of ideas in the
to Cultural Creative Industries and social innovation. Several pre-seed phase; location of support paths,
service centres already have an international organization that including international mobility;
can be strengthened within the Alpine Space. The support of - spaces for networking activities with investors
Cultural Creative Industries include different kind of services (in view of further steps of the company
related to the start of a business, such as the development of a development);
business plan, the communication strategy and the identification - actors that encourages the creation of a
of the right location, etc. community of creative professionals that can
operate through the exchange of expertise
Service centres: have good availability to the exchange and and services (incubators, innovation centres, etc.);
sharing of information and experience reduced the availability of
a structured collaboration; Transnational public events are important moments of net-
Resources: service centers can be an important resource for the working and facilitate the construction of virtuous relation-
public institutions, as: ships among institutions, Hubs, and investors, while com-
munication to citizenship should be further intensified.
4. Awareness
The increased awareness of the role of Cultural Creative The monitoring of good practices at local, regional and
Industries as factors of innovation and economic growth for national level was part of this process, showing how the
the whole Europe is another important goal of the project. This policies for the Cultural and Creative Sector have been
goal was constantly pursued during three years, starting from spread and consolidated in all partners countries with
the definitions and taxonomy (Cultural Creative Industries, different intensities, but with common ways and means of
hubs etc.), through data collection done by every partner, to intervention, summarized below.
the design of international and local events that involved It must be stressed that, among the three main dimensions
public and private stakeholders at different levels. These events of CCAlps, awareness is the one that, more than others,
highlighted the potential role of Cultural Creative Industries as ensures a long-lasting impact after the end of the project,
flywheels for social and economic development. irrespective of any kind of external conditions.
4.1 Definitions and data collection on Creative and Cultural Industries
The first step was consisted in sharing some important defini- Industries. Each partner carried out an analysis of the
tions for the realization of the project. This phase has created local scenario in terms of numbers of Cultural Creative
a common knowledge basis and more awareness among all Industries, size, economic sector, employment, turnover,
partners about the topics dealt. Starting from a wide definition geographical distribution, which confirmed the impor-
of the sector: “Creative and Cultural Industries are activi- tance and the characteristics of the sector’s structures,
ties which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and with a high proportion of small, medium sized and micro
talent”, partners chose to adopt the Green Paper definition enterprises.
“Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries”, As well as the collection of the perceived needs of the
European Commission (Brussels, 2010), confirmed by the fol- Cultural Creative Industries, the analysis of the regional
lowing one “Communication from the commission to the Eu- data about this sector represents a fundamental base of
ropean parliament, the council, the European economic and knowledge for any kind of policy in the Cultural and Crea-
social committee and the committee of the regions Promot- tive Sector, even if the statistics of the different partners
ing cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the countries are not always comparable.
EU (COM 2012 537 FINAL)”, that changed the title of the sector In fact, also at European level the line between the ar-
from Cultural Creative Industries to Cultural Creative Sector, eas covered by the Cultural and Creative Sector has not
including and recognizing the role and the economic value of yet to be clearly defined18, the multiple definitions of
the traditional cultural sector. the sectors that exist – including those of WIPO, OECD,
The mapping activities carried out in the initial phase of the UNCTAD, UNESCO and the Council of Europe – mean
project included also a regional analysis of Cultural Creative there are no clear bases or internationally comparable
European Statistical System Network on Culture, ESSnet-Culture - Final Report 10/2012.
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