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The Universitat Politècnica de València will participate in the new EIT Culture and Creativity, an innovation community that brings together 50 entities from 20 countries -including universities, research institutions, companies, investors and associations- and will start operating in 2023 with the mission of boost the competitiveness of European cultural and creative industries.
This initiative has been carried out within the UPV jointly between the Office of the Vice President for Art, Science, Technology and Society and the University Institute for Heritage Restoration.
The Board of Directors of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology selected this proposal, presented by the ICE association –Innovation by Creative Economy–, coordinated by Fraunhofer and chaired by the interim general director, Bernd Fesel, among five other finalists in a process that ended on June 22 in Budapest (Hungary).
More than 150 million euros
The winning proposal is designed to unlock the latent value of the cultural and creative sectors and industries and boost Europe’s green, digital and social transformation. The initiative will receive more than €150 million of support from the EIT over two seven-year periods, before becoming self-sustaining.
The Universitat Politècnica de València collaborates as an associate of EURECAT, an organization that acts as coordinator of the Co-Location Center for Southwest Europe (CLC South West). In addition to the UPV, other Valencian institutions support this project, such as the Las Naves innovation center of the Valencia City Council, or IVACE, the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness.
Key industry made up mostly of SMEs
“Diversity is the gateway to innovation. We are proud to have created a diverse group in many ways. Ours is a sector made up of many SMEs and very small players,” says Bernd Fesel, interim CEO and spokesperson for the winning team.
The cultural and creative industries are a key driver of economic growth and job creation across Europe. They represent 5.5% of the total GDP of the EU and 6.2% of the European workforce; 80% of the 2.9 million companies in the sector are small and micro-enterprises.
Based in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)
The new EIT Culture and Creativity will be key to supporting Europe’s recovery and cohesion. “It will be an open innovation community: open to entrepreneurs, artists, freelancers, social innovators, cultural agents. Innovation and change are possible when all actors – big and small, for-profit and not-for-profit – come together at the same time. height in collaborative spaces to address the pressing challenges of society”, concludes Fesel.
Headquartered in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), the EIT Culture and Creativity will have six subsidiary offices, called Co-Location Centres, in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bologna, Helsinki, Kosice and Vienna. These regional hubs will channel the needs and expectations of local ecosystems, including students, startups, venture capitalists and policymakers.
About knowledge and innovation communities
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) strengthens Europe’s capacity for innovation, driving solutions to pressing global challenges – from climate change to health to renewable energy – and nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe.
The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s Framework Program for Research and Innovation. Together with its partners, the EIT community offers:
- Business education degrees and courses across Europe that transform students into entrepreneurs, such as Dora Palfi of imagiLabs helping to introduce coding to young women and girls, with the support of EIT Digital.
- Business creation and acceleration services that take ideas and start-ups to the next level, such as Northvolt, which makes the world’s greenest lithium-ion batteries, with support from EIT InnoEnergy.
- Innovation-driven research projects that turn ideas into products by connecting partners, investors and experts, such as Diabeloop or D4Kids, an artificial intelligence system to improve the management of type 1 diabetes in children, supported by EIT Health.
In short, the EIT is the largest innovation ecosystem in Europe and brings together nearly 3,000 partners from the main business, research and educational organizations spread over more than 60 centres. The EIT has promoted 3,800 start-up companies, and has generated 1,400 new products and services that have raised 3,900 million euros in external capital. Nearly 3,800 students have graduated from EIT-labeled Masters and PhD programs and some 100,000 have taken part in EIT community business training courses.
