THE

SMART
GUIDE
TO
CREATIVE
SPILLOVERS

TO ASSIST CITIES IMPLEMENTING

CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. FOREWORD

03

2. INTRODUCTION

04

3. KEY CONCEPTS

05

3.1. INNOVATION

05

3.2. CULTURE-BASED CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

05

3.3. WHAT IS CREATIVE SPILL-OVER?

06

3.4 CITIES - THE MAIN DRIVER OF CREATIVE SPILL-OVER

07

3.4.1 CITIES AS SPACES TO INNOVATE

07

3.4.2. CITIES TO MAKE THE MOST OF LOCAL CULTURE AND CREATIVE RESOURCES

08

4. REQUIREMENTS TO GENERATE CREATIVE SPILL-OVER IN A CITY

09

4.1. ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE SKILLS EMBEDDED IN CCIs

09

4.2. THE ROLE OF POLICY MAKERS IN SUPPORTING CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS

10

5. STEPS TO SUPPORT CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS

11

5.1. CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS REQUIRE POLICY ACTIONS

11

5.2. THE VARIOUS STEPS

12

5.3. POLICY TOOLS

14

6. ANNEX I - SHORT GLOSSARY

17

02

1. FOREWORD
Creativity comes from the combination of ability and
environment. It relates to the capacity of people to
think with imagination and challenge the existing.
This aptitude is characterised by unpredictability,
divergent thinking combining cognitive elements
with the expression of human senses and emotions.
In combination, both context and place are important
elements in the emergence of creativity. As a result
cities provide an ideal environment conducive to
the expression of creative abilities. They provide the
container of creative expression.

expresses the idea that art and culture are essential

resources for innovation. These resources can be
mined everywhere. The more they are localised, the
more valuable they are as the expression of (much in
demand) singularities.
Cities are the ideal places to foster creative interactions and enable the experimentation that drives
innovation. The guide is clearly a practical manifesto
for a wider usage of art, culture and creative industries in economic and social development.

Without creativity there would not be music, poetry,

paintings, literature and all activities associated with
art, culture and creative industries (CCIs). Creativity
contributes to the making of culture. In turn culture,
art and creative talents are a powerful source of
creativity and innovation. Culture-based creativity
is creativity that finds its source in art, culture and
creative industries. This form of creativity is essential
in modern economies driven by differentiation,
meanings, ethical or aesthetic values beyond
products functionalities.

Philippe Kern,
Lead Expert URBACT2

The Smart Guide (the Guide) considers new ways

to look at art and culture to explore the contribution of the latter to economic and social changes. It

1. From KEA European Affairs (2009). The Impact of Culture on Creativity - study prepared for the European Commission.
2. Philippe Kern is founder and managing director of KEA European Affairs, [Link]

03

2. INTRODUCTION
This Smart Guide is about empowering cities as
brokers of interdisciplinary activities involving art,
culture and creative industries. Its objective is to provide cities with simple guidelines to support and
maximise the innovation potential of culture and
creative industries (CCIs).
The Guide is intended to help city authorities to:
Clarify the concept of creative spill-overs.
Show how creative spill-overs contribute to innova-
tion.
Highlight the role of cities in generating innovation.
Consider assets and tools for local creative spill-
over strategies.
Provide a step-by-step guide to implement creative
spill-overs.

stimulate partnerships and spill-overs between CCIs

and other sectors of the economy. It is about
encouraging CCIs contribution as a creative sector
to innovation and considers policy tools that can
support this objective. This process is inherent to
innovation policies developed by local authorities
to help make local industries more competitive and
territories more attractive.
Therefore this Guide aims to assist cities in the
development of an ecosystem enabling the mobilisation of the numerous local cultural and creative
resources (heritage, institutions, artists, creative
industries) with a view to encourage cross innovation
for economic and social modernisation.

The preparation of this Guide is not only the result of

Creative SpIN3, a three-year URBACT project gathering nine cities in Europe, but also of the expertise of KEA in managing a wide range of European
creative spill-over projects.
Creative spill-over is the consideration of means to
3. Led by Birmingham City Council, Creative SpIn gathers Rotterdam City Council, Mons City Council, Bologna City Council, Essen City Council, Kortrijk City Council, Tallinn
Creative Hub, Koice 2013 European Capital of Culture and bidos City Council, with the objective to define and test tools and methods to connect culture and creative industries (CCIs) with other sectors of the economy to stimulate creative spillovers and contribute to innovation. [Link] [Link]
4. Such as KiiCS ([Link]), an FP7 project aimed at developing and testing original processes, methods and tools to incubate arts, science and technology for innovation
(outcomes and final recommendations by KEA can be found at [Link] Creative Clash ([Link]
[Link]/), an European policy grouping supported by the Culture programme and aimed to promote cooperation and links between the arts and private and public
organisations; see: [Link]

04

3. KEY CONCEPTS
The cultural and creative industries are important drivers of economic and social innovation in other sectors
European Commission in An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era - Putting Competitiveness and
Sustainability at Centre Stage (2011)

3.1. INNOVATION
Whilst in the XXth century innovation was mainly
called upon to improve productivity, today innovation
is of paramount importance both to improve
productivity and to help companies differentiate from
their competitors.
Innovation is fostered by connected networks,
collaboration, knowledge exchange, learning and
spill-over benefits nurtured by the development of
new connections across sectors and disciplines.

3.2. CULTURE-BASED
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

SCIENTIFIC
CREATIVITY

TECHNOLOGICAL
CREATIVITY
ECONOMIC
CREATIVITY

CULTURAL
CREATIVITY
Figure 1 - Creativity is a multidisciplinary
process - Source: KEA (2009)

I think that artists and engineers are alike: both of them have the desire to express themselves. Incredible artists
such as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo were also great scientists.
Steve Jobs, Apple.
Culture-based creativity is creativity that comes from artists, creative professionals and the cultural and creative
industries. It is linked to the ability of people, notably artists and creative professionals, to think imaginatively or
metaphorically, to challenge the conventional and to call on the symbolic and affective to communicate.
Culture-based creativity is the capacity to break the natural order, the usual way of thinking and to allow the de-

05

velopment of a new vision, an idea or a product.

The nature of culture-based creativity is closely
linked to the nature of artistic contribution as expressed in art or cultural productions.
The spontaneous, intuitive, singular and human
nature of cultural creation is enriching.
A business needs more than an efficient manufacturing process, cost-control and a good technological base to remain competitive.
It also requires a strong brand, motivated staff and
a management that respects creativity and understands its process.
It also needs the development of products and services that meet citizens expectations or that create
these expectations.
CCIs feature a number of characteristics which prove
to be highly conducive to innovation.
Those include:
(Culture-based) Creativity as the main input in the
production process
Key importance of human capital, entrusting creati-
ve talent
Flexible, mobile and multidisciplinary networks
Project-based working routines
Positive attitude towards (multidisciplinary) collabo-
rations.
The innovation capacity of CCIs notably relies on the
individual creativity and unique skills/competencies
of artists and creative professionals and their ability

to create novelty, question routines and develop new

meanings and contents.
As a result, artists and creative professionals play a
crucial role as main agents of spill-over phenomena.

3.3. WHAT IS CREATIVE

SPILL-OVER?
Innovation of this industry is always from other
industries. Stones from other mountains may serve to
polish the jade of this one
Jak Ma, Chairman of Alibaba
Creative spill-over is defined as benefits arising from
the activities of CCIs, including artists and creative
professionals, which determine positive effects on
other sectors of the economy or society.
Those positive externalities result from processes
through which culture-based creativity spreads out
from the CCIs, across economic sectors and industries, thus contributing to innovation in the wider
economy.
Generating creative spill-overs is therefore about
enabling culture-based creativity to interact with other
forms of innovation and processes (which may be
scientific, technical or commercial) with a view to break silos between disciplines, introducing intuition and
imagination in business or organisational processes,
to help innovate.

06

The benefits of interacting with CCIs skills are as

follows:
Development of new products and services by
combining new ideas, designs or expressive components such as symbols or aesthetics enabling companies to engage with customers sensibilities and
create a unique relationship.
Better management of human resources by
enabling creativity to flourish in companies and public
organisations also improving social relations within an
organisation through play or the practice of art.
Improve organisational processes by contributing to creative production or delivery methods
that directly involve and/or better take into account
consumers needs in a user-led fashion.
Support branding and communication strategy
by adding a creative or artistic dimension as part of
a brands distinctive identity. CCIs contribute also to
brand territories, in general to storytelling.
Apple - the emblematic creative spill-over
Steve Jobs felt that the main challenge of the 21st century
was to marry creativity and technological innovation. The

3.4. CITIES - THE MAIN

DRIVER OF CREATIVE
SPILL-OVER
Cities have become major creative and innovation
centers. Local cultural and creative resources are
essential elements to foster innovation.

3.4.1. Cities as spaces to innovate

Traditionally innovation processes unfold at the level
of firms and individual organisations, increasingly
cities play the role of R&D laboratories making available the spaces for innovation to emerge.
Cities are todays laboratories of tomorrows world,
promised to be connected, smart, providing plenty of
joyful experiences.
They are fun places to live, with attractive cultural
offers, plenty of spaces for social networking and
co-working including bars and restaurants.
They provide learning facilities in art, design as well
as engineering or business.
The spatial organisation facilitates crossovers
between disciplines, the sharing of new skills enabling the emergence of new mindsets and innovative
economic and social projects.

companys strength lies in combining technology with the

human and the artistic. It built brand empathy with culturebased creativity with design and content given as much
consideration as engineering. Today Apple is the largest
capitalised company in the world.

Cities have the most appropriate size to act as R&D

centres by connecting intellectual, technological and
cultural resources, enabling knowledge flows and
unexpected encounters.

07

3.4.2. Cities to make the most of

local culture and creative resources

The cultural and creative resources are diverse:

Local cultural resources include cultural institutions

and organisations, tangible and intangible heritage,
festivals and cultural events, CCIs as well as artists
and creative professionals (such as designers, architects and communication professionals).
They are key resources for a creative ecosystem as
providers of:
Creative people and ideas.
Artistic traditions and know how on which to build
distinctiveness.
Creative management capacities and experience.
Conviviality, knowledge, tradition and fun.

CULTURE
& CREATIVE
INDUSTRIES

CULTURAL
ICONS

HERITAGE

CULTURAL
RESOURCES

ARTISTIC
INTERVENTION

TERRITORIAL
CULTURE

CULTURAL
INSTITUTIONS
& OPERATORS

Figure 2 - Cultural resources in cities - Source: KEA (2013)

Cultural resources are an essential source of authentic differentiation contributing to singularities, distinctiveness and attractiveness. They help pursue a wide range of policies:
CREATIVE SPILL-OVER

URBAN DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC PROMOTION

HERITAGE PROTECTION
CULTURE-BASED CREATIVITY

CULTURE
ART & CCI

TOURISM

SOCIAL COHESION

ATTRACTIVENESS
LAND DEVELOPMENT
CULTURAL GOODS AND SERVICES
ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE

COMMUNICATION
BRANDING
QUALITY OF LIFE

EDUCATION

Figure 3 - Cultural resources to reach wide-ranging impacts - Source: KEA (2013)

08

4. REQUIREMENTS TO GENERATE CREATIVE

SPILL-OVER IN A CITY
Cultural and creative industries, which flourish at the local and regional level, are in a strategic position to link
creativity and innovation. They [] have important spill-over effects on other industries and enhance the attractiveness of regions and cities. Creative industries are therefore catalysts for structural change [].
Communication from the European Commission on Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe
2020 (2010)

4.1. ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE SKILLS

EMBEDDED IN CCIs
Foremost cities have to acknowledge that creativity is fostered through a number of different creative skills that
artists, creative professionals and industries, cultural operators and organisations can bring to other sectors of
the economy to stimulate innovation.
Table 1 - CCIs skills capable of supporting innovation

CCIs

SKILLS

Artist and Creative

Professionals

A critical and disruptive vision of situation, space and time.

The capacity to question progress.
A capacity to give non-functional meanings.
The ability to generate emotion.
A capacity to transform society as drivers and leaders of changes (politi-
cal, economic, social).
The capacity to create a fan base community (networking).
An aptitude to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
Ability to work in teams (at least in some sectors) and in a flexible and
collaborative way.
Ability to think laterally and express abstraction and symbolism.

09

Cultural Institutions
and Operators

Attract and gather people and enable socialisation.

Reinvent/rehabilitate (unused) places.
Entertain and stage experiences whether individual or collective.
Transmit culture and knowledge.
Promote common history and cultural values.

Culture and Creative

Industries

Entrust artists and creative professionals.

Manage risk and failure.
Create trends as critical brokers between creativity and the market.
Generate experience and emotions whether individual or collective.
Promote user-led and sustainability values and working practices.

Numerous studies show how CCIs skills benefit different sectors (from ICT to healthcare) and business process areas (from product development to branding)5.

4.2. THE ROLE OF POLICY MAKERS IN SUPPORTING

CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS
Local public authorities play a decisive role in sustaining the local cultural environment through direct public
investments in culture, without which many cultural institutions and organisations would not be in a position to
create. At the same time, mainstreaming culture and creative industries across diverse policy areas (e.g. economic development and innovation policies) creates the preconditions for a more holistic ecosystem.
To support creative spill-overs, cities need to identify the culture and creative resources available locally and
assess the readiness of such structures to contribute to economic growth, social development and innovation.
There is no need to generate creativity from scratch. It is rather about capacity building.
Local authorities have to mediate new relationships, initiate new connections between different competences,
fields and sectors. They have to show the example of transversal thinking and decision making. The local social
fabric and the infrastructure provide the basis for testing new ideas, developing new interactions leading to
the invention of new forms of urban planning, new services and jobs as well as the empowerment of citizens.
Supporting creative spill-over is an integral part of innovation policy. Supporting creative spill-over is an integral
part of innovation policy.
5. See notably [Link]

10

5. STEPS TO SUPPORT CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS

[] closer cross-sectoral cooperation can boost creativity and innovation in companies. The potential for these
contacts between different sectors needs to be further explored and translated into policy responses.
EC Communication on An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era Putting Competitiveness and Sustainability at Centre Stage (2011)

5.1. CREATIVE SPILL-OVERS REQUIRE POLICY ACTIONS

There are numerous bottlenecks in the implementation of a creative spill-over strategy:
Limited understanding of artistic and creative skills and their value beyond cultural productions and enter-
tainment
Scepticism in the cultural sector as well as the business sector - different mindsets and vocabularies
Siloed visions and working methods (at business as well as university or administration levels)
Lack of evaluation tools showing impacts of creative spill-overs.

There is no recipe to successfully generate creative spill-overs. There are, however, a series of tools, including
policy tools, which can contribute to their emergence. Policy makers play a role in setting up the right atmosphere conducive to creative interactions, in encouraging unlikely encounters, in teaming up local creative, technical, business or administrative resources.
Creative spill-over: a policy priority in the EU
The contribution of the CCI sector to achieving competitiveness goals is acknowledged in EU policy in the
context of the EU 2020 Agenda:
CCIs are at the forefront of the ICT and media convergence creating spill-over opportunities;
Business services are going to be taken into account in the design of industrial policies and CCIs are es-
sentially service industries, notably business support services;
As EU companies cannot compete on low price and low quality products, added value services from CCIs
are required to generate experience, entertainment, aesthetic, value and meanings.
Important EU funding is available as part of various EU Programmes (URBACT, INTERREG, Creative Europe, Horizon 2020, COSME, Structural Funds, Erasmus +).

11

5.2. THE VARIOUS STEPS

The Guide does not provide a magical formula. It
intends to describe useful steps to support the development of creative spill-overs. The policy approach
is about encouraging mind shifts, disruptive visions to
challenge conventions and ways things are done. It
is about empowering creative people, artists, cultural
institutions and creative companies to contribute in
economic and social regeneration.
Step 1 - Capture and understand your local cultural and creative resources
What are the cultural and creative resources available on the territory? Where are they located? What
is their creative spill-over potential and readiness?
Before embarking in any spill-over experimentation,
a mapping and strategic diagnosis of the local environment can help cities identify the local resources
(going from individual creative talents to cultural
entrepreneurs, creative companies, clusters and incubators, including training and education facilities) and
understand their creative spill-over potential. These
are the assets to be mobilised to encourage innovative encounters and boost culture-based creativity.
Step 2 - Raise awareness on the potential of
creative spill-over and its benefit to the culture
and creative sector
This is a key step as culture and creative industries
are often marginalised or relegated in their traditional functions assigned to them by convention and

traditional cultural policy. Today digital technology and

multi-disciplinary skills are contributing to blur the
lines thus contributing to increased creative interactions between culture, art and other sectors.
Creative spill-over is to be considered by artists and
creative professionals as:
An additional source of revenue
A way of capturing new interest in art and culture
production
A way of empowering creative, artistic and cultural
management skills for wider economic and social
benefits.
Step 3 - Raise awareness on the creative skills
and competences of the CCIs to other sectors
Due to the prevalence of intangible assets, projectbased work as well as the existence of different
set of values and vocabularies, the sector is often
perceived as high risk (it is not more high risk than
investing in a new technology) or unreliable. There is
a need to dispel these stereotypes to foster a necessary mind-shift in business and public sectors circles
towards valuing all forms of creativity and innovation.
Incredibol to support creative skills and raise awareness on their innovative potential
Incredibol is an initiative developed by the city of Bologna to
support creative entrepreneurship. Incredibol supports creative entrepreneurs working with companies in other sectors,
thereby contributing to raise awareness on creative skills
and their contribution to innovation.

12

Step 4 - Identify local creative mediators able

to bridge the gaps between culture and creative
sectors and other sectors of the economy
Mediators will enable the different sectors to communicate and understand each others languages.
Vocabulary can create dividing lines between skills
and competences.
Creative mediators are those who translate the different languages and perceptions to enable collaboration.
A Creative Mediator in the Port of Rotterdam
Maartje Berendsen working for the Port of Rotterdam as
Strategic Advisor is a good example of creative mediator.
She is in charge of developing an innovation dock in an
abandoned shipyard. The Port authority hired a creative director from the cultural sector to disrupt the traditional vision
of port management.

Step 5 - Encourage accidental encounters

Today, innovation rarely happens in closed laboratories.
Instead, it is interdisciplinary collaboration that holds
the promise of successful creation.
This step invites local authorities to set up dedicated spaces and/or organize events (matchmaking,
training session, conferences, workshops, cultural
cafs, etc.) that facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge and ideas between various actors,
entities and disciplines by favouring an environment
of sociability and conviviality.

Budafabriek (Kortrijk) and [Link] (Essen)

examples of dedicated places to stimulate creative
spill-overs
Budafabriek is a dedicated place to enable spill-overs
between artistic, creative, engineering and business disciplines. The place intends to stimulate experiments and
accidental encounters.
[Link] is an initiative whereby the city of Essen
incentivises artists and culture entrepreneurs to contribute to
urban regeneration in the City North district.

Step 6 - Establish a light structure responsible

for overseeing the implementation of creative
spill-overs, under the transversal authority of
both the economic and cultural departments
Creative spill-over does not necessarily happen by
itself.
A coherent and thoughtful cooperation of many partners in setting up processes, projects and activities
may be required to stimulate spill-overs between
creative industries and the rest of the economy.
A dedicated coordination structure could help create
new linkages across sectors.
This structure would be composed of representatives of the business world as well as the culture and
creative industries.
It would contribute to define strategies, identify good
practices, raise awareness on creative spill-overs,
propose concrete actions and enable transversal
communication between various public departments
and authorities.

13

Creative Valley to foster the creative economy in Mons

The Hub Creative Valley is an initiative of the city of Mons
(European Capital of Culture 2015). The structure is responsible forcoordinating culture and creative industry initiatives
to foster a creative economy.

Step 7 - Designate a creative director at city

level
The role of the creative director would be to orchestrate creative thinking in policy making and policy
implementation. Reporting to the local mayor, the
director would share his vision and contribute to
disruptive thinking.
Step 8 - Set up monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms to understand the impact of policy
measures on supporting creative spill-overs

5.3. POLICY TOOLS

The city administration should be in a position to
understand, observe and consider emerging trends.
It should identify the local polymaths able to mediate
between the various competences and skills.
Instruments of policy intervention (public procurement, urban planning, incentives, training, etc.)
should be revisited to integrate the goal of creative
spill-over.

The guiding principles should be to promote:

Interdisciplinarity/ out-of-silos thinking to encoura-
ge new encounters
Openness and boldness to empower creative
people
Collaboration and participatory co-production
approaches, to support grassroots initiatives whe-
ther entrepreneurial or social to encourage convi-
vial and inclusive approaches.
Policy tools that can contribute to creative spill-overs
include:
1. Preparatory and capacity building actions
such as:
Mappings of local creative resources
Workshops, training, conferences to raise aware-
ness in the different sectors
Communication campaigns
Creative processes (e.g. design-thinking) to foster
imaginative thinking in administration or to foster
interactions. The box on page 16 illustrates some
processes tested during the Creative SpIN project
Identification of creative mediators through perso-
nal contacts or calls for ideas/talents
Participation in EU funded initiatives to share and
learn from good practices in Europe, under diffe-
rent programmes (URBACT, INTERREG, Creative
Europe, Horizon 2020, COSME, Structural Funds,
Erasmus +).

14

Playful Creative Processes - some examples

CREAX brainstorming consists of three steps facilitated by an innovation expert: a) Identify the DNA and
functions of your products/service/etc.; b) look for analogies by thinking of products/services/etc. with similar characteristics but performing better in another environment; c) think of how you can transfer solutions
from similar products/services to the products/services you want to improve.
The Innowiz method is intended to make processes to develop innovative ideas more effective. It consists
of four steps: a) Problem definition; b) Idea generation; c) Idea selection and d) Idea communication. A number of techniques can be used at each step of the process to better structure thoughts and facilitate group
work, such as: Problem Analysis, Mindmaps, Prefer Matrix or Forced Ranking.
Lego Serious Play is a method based on thinking provoked by making (instead of the usual brainstorming
method based entirely on neuronal interactions). This aims to provoke interactions and group dynamics
under guidance of an agent. It helps representation of concepts through Lego (metaphors). After the representation process, a collective harvesting of outcomes takes place to enable expression of thoughts through
language and to provoke sharing.
The Lunar Dinner is a dinner format inspired by The Lunar Society of Birmingham, a dinner club of prominent intellectuals and industrialists such as Erasmus Darwin, James Watt and Matthew Boulton, who met
regularly between 1750 and 1830. It consists of an animated meal during which a given topic is discussed
with the contribution of experts and practitioners coming from different disciplines and backgrounds.
Speed dating is a matchmaking process or dating system that encourages encounters. Usually, advance
registration is required for big speed dating events. Participants are rotated to meet each other over a series
of short dates usually lasting from five to ten minutes.
The Walt Disney creative thinking method applies three different strategies for generation and implementation of ideas (the dreamer, realist, and the critic strategy) with a view to come up with an original, yet
feasible, idea. The Dreamer spins innumerable fantasies, wishes and outrageous ideas without limit or
judgment. Nothing is censored. Nothing is too absurd or silly. The Realist transforms the dreamers ideas
into something realistic and feasible. The Critic reviews all the ideas and tries to punch holes in them by
playing the devils advocate.

15

2. Incentives to collaborate such as:

Dedicated places for people to work on joint projects, collaborate and share equipment (co-working spaces,
co-sharing space, clusters, incubators, etc.);
Financial incentives by:
- Reviewing public procurement documentation to integrate CCIs and smaller structures
- Reviewing the mandate of clusters to encourage inter-clustering - inter-clustering is promising between
CCIs and ICT or Health sectors
- Making public subsidies dependent on minimum interaction efforts with urban or economic projects
- Introducing design-thinking obligations in call for tenders
- Providing grants through calls for projects embodying interdisciplinary skills
- Establishing innovation vouchers, namely small grants to encourage companies to access creative services
(design, advertising, artistic intervention etc.).
3. Dedicated management structure such as:
A transversal structure to oversee the development of creative spill-overs and related policy measures
A creative director reporting to the highest authority in the city.
Table 2 - Dos and donts to develop creative spillovers.
DOS

DONTS

Prepare the ground, identify local resources and strengths

Focus only on technological innovation and R&D

Identify the creative mediators

Support culture only for its sake

Empower cultural and creative professionals

Follow a narrow sectoral approach

Gear policy tools to embed spill-over opportunities rewarding

cross-disciplinary projects

Ignore the local cultural specificities

Apply for EU Funding under innovation programmes

Discourage experimentation by being too prescriptive

Consider the appointment of a creative director and a light

structure to advise on spill-over

Use a siloed approach in policy making

16

6. ANNEX I SHORT GLOSSARY

Artistic intervention in organization: Artistic intervention is an original form of counselling to help improve
organisations (including businesses) involving artists6.
Creative spill-over: benefits arising from the activities of CCIs, including artists and creative professionals,
which determine positive effects on other sectors of the economy or society.
Culture-based creativity: creativity that comes from artists, creative professionals and the cultural and creative
industries. It is linked to the ability of people, notably artists and creative professionals, to think imaginatively or
metaphorically, to challenge the conventional and to call on the symbolic and affective to communicate.
Culture and Creative industries (CCIs): encompass the core arts such as visual arts (paintings, sculpture,
crafts and photography), the arts and antique markets, performing arts (opera, orchestra, theatre, dance and
circus) and heritage (museums, heritage sites, archaeological sites, libraries and archives); the cultural industries such as publishing, music, audiovisual, film and videogames; and the creative industries that refer to design,
advertising and architecture.
Creative director: a professional with an artistic, design, architecture or cultural management background contributing to propose new visions.
Creative mediator: an intermediary/broker between creative people and professionals from other disciplines
that build bridges across disciplines and fight stereotypes.
Design-thinking: a process characterised by a new way of addressing problems (user-centred), proposing
solutions and implementation.
Innovation voucher: a grant (from a few thousand to 15.000 euros) provided to companies from any economic sector to access cultural and creative services (usually design, advertising or artistic intervention).
Polymath: a person with varied and deep knowledge across disciplines in particular in arts and science. Famous polymaths include: Copernicus, Descartes, Leonardo Da Vinci, Averros, Darwin or Goethe.
User-led innovation: refers to innovation centered on users needs.

6. See KEA report for Creative Clash - [Link]

7. From KEA European Affairs (2006). The Economy of Culture in Europe - study prepared for the European Commission. [Link]

17

When art and technology come together, magical things happen

Ed Catmull - CEO, Pixar

We are going back to the Renaissance model in which artists could work in any discipline
Franck Gehry, Architect

18

Lead City:

APRIL 2015
EDITOR:
Philippe Kern

[Link]
[Link]/creative-spin