EIT Culture & Creativity (EIT CC), established in Cologne in 2023, brings together 25 partners from 19 countries to tackle the global challenges faced by the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI). Despite employing 6.2% of the EU workforce, the CCSI struggles with issues like skills gaps, slow innovation, and limited scalability and growth.
The partnership’s mission is to build a sustainable ecosystem that enhances competitiveness, resilience, and long-term economic growth. By fostering collaboration, EIT CC aims to improve industry practices, drive innovation, and promote environmentally responsible strategies, all while strengthening the economic landscape for the future through a purpose-driven partnership.
EIT CC has set ambitious goals, including training 1,500 students, supporting over 90 companies (start-ups, scale-ups, and SMEs), and incubating more than 10 start-ups through its incubation and acceleration programmes. To achieve these objectives, EIT CC assists stakeholders in implementing innovation projects across diverse cultural and creative fields such as architecture, audiovisual media, fashion, cultural heritage, and the gaming industry. This support is offered through open calls, EIT grants, expressions of interest (EoIs), and long-term partnerships involving both financial and in-kind contributions.
EIT CC’s overarching goal is to secure a competitive advantage for the European CCSI on the global stage, while promoting ethical practices, preserving cultural heritage, ensuring architectural sustainability, bolstering the European gaming industry, and addressing challenges such as fast fashion and media ethics.
Through its innovation community, EIT CC will create new opportunities and revenue streams. By 2027, the aim is for EIT CC to evolve into a holding company, investing in 50 of Europe’s leading cultural and creative businesses. The goal is to transform the CCSI, advancing beyond publicly funded projects to deliver lasting impact through long-term partnerships. EIT CC’s programmes focus on creating jobs, enhancing resilience, and promoting responsible growth to meet its qualitative objectives by 2030.
