ekip: the European Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Policy Platform - the final event: from policy to action

ekip is the European collaborative platform designed to boost the development of innovation capacity in ecosystems by including the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI). In the final event of ekip during the Dutch Design Week we will bring people together from the Creative Industries, Governments and Academia in an European dialogue to take ekip's recommendations from policy to action. Creatives are not just “nice to have” they are essential for driving progress on major challenges like the green and digital transformation and social inclusion. Their competences and skills are crucial for tackling complex innovation processes involving diverse stakeholders. Let’s make sure that Europe’s most powerful asset for competitiveness will be a driver across ecosystems! For all the language of competitiveness and technological sovereignty, Europe’s innovation policy still underuses one of its strongest capabilities: its Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs). Not as a niche sector, but as a force shaping how innovation happens. If Europe is serious about future-ready innovation ecosystems, CCIs must move to the core. That requires structural change across five fronts put forward by ekip: 1. Embed CCIs structurally across EU programmes, horizontally and vertically 2. Break down policy silos and enhance cross-policy approach. 3. Redesign innovation ecosystems around Open Innovation, built for how CCIs actually work. 4. Shift to innovation portfolio-based financing and investment, with intermediaries as orchestrators. 5. Build a standing foresight engine to keep CCI innovation policy ahead of the curve.