The Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) in Europe are navigating both challenges and opportunities in today’s landscape. The COVID pandemic, with its lasting impact, and global crises, such as the war on Ukraine, have exposed longstanding systematic problems, revealing the sector’s vulnerability, precarious working conditions, and the pressing need for a stronger support system. At the same time, the sector has received wide recognition for its economic, societal and innovative importance.
Creative FLIP addresses these challenges by supporting the entire CCSI ecosystem, working across silos, with a specific focus on project’s key areas of: Finance, Learning & Innovation, Working Conditions, Transformation & Sustainability, and Intellectual Property Rights.
Finance
The existence of a variety of finance models is crucial for the CCSI to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Building on the "So You Need Money" tool from the previous phase of Creative FLIP, we will update and expand it with new content, case studies, and databases. This revamped tool will highlight new financing trends and instruments tailored to the CCSI, alongside innovative EU projects and programs that effectively leverage these resources. By also sharing creative solutions and best practices, we aim to empower the sector in securing sustainable and resilient financing.
Working Conditions
Improving working conditions for cultural professionals is essential, as they directly impact the sector’s sustainability. By advocating fair contracts, social security provisions, and appropriate taxation for cultural workers, we aim to protect the sector from the financial instability often linked to freelancing and precarious employment. Developed in coordination with the OMC working group of national experts on the status and working conditions of artists and cultural professionals, the "This is How We Work" tool on the Creatives Unite platform is a unique EU-wide knowledge resource solely focused on working conditions in the cultural and creative sector. It provides comparable information on working conditions across all EU member states with the aim to support freelancers, address precarious work challenges, and offer key insights and recommendations for policy action.
Transformation & Sustainability
To equip the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) for the challenges of digital, green, and democratic transformations, new collaborative policies are urgently needed. While the CCSI are widely recognised for their economic and societal value, as well as their innovation potential, the CCSI play a central role in driving change across other industries. Raising awareness among CCSI actors and policymakers is crucial to foster sustainable practices and future-oriented cultural policies. Furthermore, by providing high-quality information, fostering collaboration, and sharing good practices on sustainability and greening, CCSI professionals can better navigate and support society through these transformation processes. This effort aligns with the Greening theme on Creatives Unite, underscoring the importance of sustainability in the cultural and creative sectors.
Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual Property (IP) is crucial for the sustainable competitiveness of the CCSI. During the pilot phase of the FLIP project (2019-2021), a comprehensive study on patenting and IP characteristics of the sector was concluded through extensive state-of-the-art and statistical analyses, along with IP recommendations drawn up to support the innovation capacity of the CCIs, identifying the need to raise awareness across the sector and further promote IP. Building on these findings, the "My Intellectual Property" tool was launched in the previous edition of the project, offering Europe-wide IP resources, tools, and case studies tailored to the CCSI. In this new phase, Creative FLIP is enhancing the “My Intellectual Property” tool’s content and expanding its reach to highlight the importance of IP in innovative practices, explore the opportunities and risks of new technologies (e.g., AI), and inspire the sector to adopt forward-thinking IP strategies.
