Workshop on EU Structural Funds 17.02.2011

Within the platform on the potential of cultural and creative industries, the ETC has volunteered together with the other platform member organistations (European Film Company Alliance, European Forum for Architectural Policies and Culture Action Europe) to prepare a workshop on 

"How to enhance the support of the EU Structural Funds to the cultural and creative industries?"

Historically support to culture and creative industries within the structural funds have mostly accounted for initiatives aiming at tourism development and territorial attractivity. If we believe those are still important topics, we thought of exploring, in this workshop, ways to advocate for enhanced investments in new fields of actions that fully make use of our sector strengths.

The formal process of adoption of the future generation of EU structural funds 2014-2020 has just been launched, and it is important that in this context actors from the cultural and creative sectors formulate strong demands, and make those demands visible at the different steps of the negotiations process. This is why the Platform has decided to organise this informal meeting to exchange information, open a space of dialogue with policymakers, and start drafting recommendations.

Date: February 17th, 2011

Time: 10h to 17h

Venue: CIVA 
55, Rue de l'Ermitage - 1050 Bruxelles , Belgique 

Registration: Confirm your presence by emailing Heidi Wiley at hwiley@etc-cte.org before February 7th, 2011

Meeting with Expert Group from Member States (OMC) 'Priority Area B: Strategic use of EU support programmes, including structural funds, to foster the potential of culture for local and regional development and the spill-over effects of CCIs on the wider economy'.

June 7, 2011: The workshop leader of the CCI civil society platform Daphne Tapper (Culture Action Europe), Yvette Masson Zanussi (European Forum for Architectural Policies) and Heidi Wiley (European Theatre Convention) were present at the meeting together with Jean-Marc Leclerc (European Music Office representing the secretariat of the CCI platform) to present the outcome of the workshop and highlight the policy recommendations.

The meeting was very positive as the chair of the group, Mr Ragnar Siil (Estonia), put forward a clear vision for the proceedings of the group, and extended to the Platform a warm invitation to continue to exchange regularly with him, and with the group in more general terms, in the coming months.

Since their first meeting, Member States representatives started to collect case studies.
They are available here: www.creativeindustries.ee/omc

On the basis of those case studies, the group aims at developing 'good models' of policy processes to support the contribution of culture to local and regional development.

To do so, the group will split in three sub-groups: 1) pre-conditions for developing CCIs, 2) strengthening the sector, 3) the economic spill-over effect of CCIs. The result of this work will be presented in the form of a policy handbook for policymakers and the sector. In doing so, the group should also reflect on the ways to raise-awareness on the importance of integrating culture in regional and local policies.

The OMC group should meet two more times this year, before finalising its task. First in Estonia around the International Conference on Creative Entrepreneurship (19-21 October, at the same time as DG EAC's European Culture Forum) and then in Brussels towards the end of the year.