Developing Inclusive & Sustainable Creative Economies

Project Information

DISCE

Grant agreement ID: 822314

DOI

10.3030/822314

Project closed

EC signature date 5 November 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 30 June 2022

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Europe In A Changing World - Inclusive, Innovative And Reflective Societies

Total cost

€ 2 940 495,00

EU contribution

€ 2 940 495,00

Coordinated by

TURUN YLIOPISTO
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DISCE (Developing Inclusive & Sustainable Creative Economies)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2022-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Given the socioeconomic and cultural origins in Europe when facing globalisation and digitalisation, the development of inclusive and sustainable creative economies in Europe is high in the EU policy agenda. The DISCE Developing Inclusive & Sustainable Creative Economies project was set to investigate opportunities for growth, inclusivity and sustainability in the sector. DISCE addressed the challenges by focusing on five broad themes and related tensions identified in the state-of-the-art literature on academic research and policy documents on the CCIs. The five themes included: 1) CCIs identification, mapping and statistics, 2) employment and skills development, education and training, 3) business models and innovation, 4) cultural diversity and social inclusion, and 5) policies and stakeholder participation. These themes formed the basis of the DISCE project and its work packages dedicated to solve the identified tensions.

Overall, the ambitious objectives of DISCE were twofold: 1) to support the development patterns of the CCIs within the EU through research on new value creation models and inclusive growth; and 2) to re-shape understanding of what ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’ consists of in this context, shifting the CCIs (and CCIs policy) towards strategic goals of ‘cultural development’ that encompass both GDP and human flourishing. More specifically DISCE work Packages were designed to address the overall aims with more specific objectives. The objectives of DISCE included (see WP descriptions more in-detail):

• Developing a comprehensive understanding of CCIs and their performance and contribution to economy and society through improved indicators and characterizations at national and at EU level;
• Understanding career perspectives, challenges and training needs of creative workers across CCIs sectors in EU;
• Mapping the creative HE and the training provided to future creative workers in EU;
• Exploring issues of inequality and exclusion in the CCIs and how they could be addressed through training;
• Gaining deeper insights in barriers to and enablers of new value creation models, innovations, employment, and growth at the firm/individual level in the CCI sectors across EU;
• Understanding earning logics between labour markets and entrepreneurship and the role of independent agents as a new disruptive force in renewing the CCIs in EU;
• Providing a new and encompassing framework through which to examine and support the role of the CCIs within processes of ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’ – addressing ‘growth’ not only as GDP, but also as cultural development (understood in terms of human flourishing.

Furthermore, all these objectives were designed to unlock the potential of the CCIs in Europe by providing more effective policy responses and recommendations for promoting CCIs to contribute to growth, inclusivity, sustainability and cultural development at regional, national and European level.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

DISCE builds around statistical analyses and regional case study methodology executed in ten case study regions around Europe. Work in DISCE involved literature reviews, collection of extensive amounts of data (e.g. interviews, workshops, statistics and surveys) and their in-depth analysis utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, writing scientific publications as well as policy reports, and numerous communication and reach-out activities (e.g. co-creation labs, webinars, stakeholder events, social media) were constantly and proactively integrated to the project to engage relevant stakeholders and creative professionals with DISCE.

The deliverables of the WP2 (D2.1 D2.2 and D2.4) particularly evidence better understanding of CCIs development and opportunities. The major results are:
• New taxonomy of CCIs as a cross-sectorial systems
• Production of a novel and rich database for CCIs covering Europe at different spatial scale
• Production of novel evidence on the association between CCIs and relevant dimensions for inclusive and sustainable growth.
• Suggestion for new data to be collected for improving CCIs mapping

The deliverables of the WP3 (D3.2 and D3.3) particularly evidence the main knowledge/research results:
• A new framework to study, understand and support creative and cultural work (CCW)
• A better understanding of CCW across education, livelihoods and fostering
• Care, ecological leadership and capabilities.

The deliverables of the WP4 (D4.2 and D4.3) particularly evidence the main knowledge/research results:
• A new framework for value creation and business modelling in creative economies
• A better understanding of creative portfolio work and ‘unsustainable creative deal’
• A better understanding of innovation and digitalization in creative economies
• Entrepreneurial and innovative behaviour of creative freelancers and entrepreneurs as well as the related resources

The deliverables of the WP5 (D5.2 and D5.3) particularly evidence the main knowledge/research results:
• A ground-breaking and innovative conceptualisation of people’s opportunities with attention to cultural opportunity, care, and connectivity.
• New framework for ‘growth’ as cultural development and producing a new Cultural Development Index (CDI)

DISCE produced a set of clear targeted policy recommendations as presented in Policy Recommendations reports D2.3 D3.4 D4.4 and D5.4 and in the Policy Briefs D6.5 and D6.6.

DISCE results have been disseminated widely in various outlets, such as scientific articles, conferences, policy meetings, workshops, and social media. DISCE consortium is committed to continue exploiting the data and results e.g. in the form of scientific publications.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

DISCE was able to develop a comprehensive understanding of CCIs and their performance and contribution to economy and society through improved indicators. The achieved impacts included:
• Better understanding of CCIs development and opportunities to identify needs and trends in the CCIs;
• Clearer articulation of the value of CCIs for broader economy (growth) and society;
• A more collaborative and responsive HE sector engaging with CCIs on multiple levels (from education to research);
• A more sustainable, inclusive, innovative and growing CCIs sector with new value creation models and earning logics;
• A more holistic understanding of CCIs as part of society, including their role in ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’, human flourishing and well-being;
• A more connected, inclusive, sustainable and networked CCIs sector;
• A strong policy framework to support CCIs and its workforce.

DISCE provides new evidence for decision makers at different levels and forms, thus, a solid ground for DISCE to make an impact. The collection of research data in the case studies engaged numerous stakeholders, such as creative workers, companies, entrepreneurs, community and network managers, educators, students, volunteers, and policy makers with the DISCE interventions providing, thus, an excellent platform for creating more inclusive and sustainable creative economy. Combining the multi-disciplinary theoretical lenses and robust quantitative and qualitative analyses in producing the research deliverables have significantly improved the knowledge base on creative economies. This makes it possible for all stakeholders to make better informed decisions in order to develop more connected, inclusive and sustainable creative economies.

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