CREATIVE SPIRITS: boosting creative entrepreneurship through creative-based urban strategies

Transcription

1 Baseline Study CREATIVE SPIRITS: boosting creative entrepreneurship through creative-based urban strategies URBACT III CREATIVE SPIRITS is a network of nine European cities, funded by the European Union in the frame of the URBACT III Programme. The nine CREATIVE SPIRITS partner cities have a common need to improve the implementation of their existing integrated urban strategies/action plans by including novel approaches linked to creative and cultural industries (CCI) creative places, people and businesses. The joint policy challenge for the network is to better facilitate the above creative ecosystem to be able to attract (more) creative entrepreneurs and boost creative entrepreneurship in dedicated urban areas.

2 Table of Contents State of the art... 3 Introduction: creativity as a new pathway to local development The creative ecosystem and what is behind The cultural and creative industries Creative people Creative places The creative ecosystem How cities can manage the creative ecosystem? Existing networks and CCIs relevance within the EU2020 Strategy Key policy messages from Programming Period Case studies explaining the potential of creative-based urban strategies Rotterdam: a classical, but always renewing example Jyväskylä: the Human Technology City A city wide strategy: Creative Spaces Program, Melbourne Creativity as a pathway to socio-economic urban renewal: Athens Arts-Based Community Development: The Memphis Music Magnet (USA) Overview of key Implementation Challenges and how they link to the policy field Tackling policy spill-overs through integration Do it with people under a letting them go responsibly attitude Refreshing our evidences Defining, updating and fine-tuning actions Diversifying the funding portfolio Designing public procurement frameworks Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery City profiles Újbuda Partner Profile Ibi Partner Profile Kaunas Partner Profile Loulé Partner Profile Lublin Partner Profile Maribor Partner Profile Ravenna Partner Profile Sofia Partner Profile Waterford Partner Profile Synthesis ANNEXES Table 1: Good practices and learning needs in partner cities Table 2: Matrix Table 3. Needs in terms of capacity building Table 4. Matching partner cities learning needs with good practices References

3 State of the art Introduction: creativity as a new pathway to local development Almost all Europeans know that culture and creativity are essential elements of the European identity, but only few of them have been enlightened that they are just as essential for the European economy as well. This knowledge gap or misbelief has deep roots in our history and indeed politicians as well as professionals have long overlooked the importance and potential of the cultural and creative industries (CCI) too. Since the adoption of the European Agenda for Culture in 2007, a key objective of the European Commission has been to promote Europe as a global hub of creativity and culture, while safeguarding and promoting European cultural diversity. In a 2012 policy communication, the Commission invited EU countries, regions and major cities to promote their cultural and creative sectors for creating opportunities and enhancing growth, and in the past few years, an increasing number of EU countries and cities have been developing strategies to fully tap the potential of these sectors. In addition to this, cultural and creative industries are strongly dependent on location and feeding on local traditions, and therefore they are especially suitable for the dynamic use of the inward energies of a city and the generation of truly bottom-up development processes. This is why CCIs are increasingly viewed as a key component of local economic development. At the crossroads of art, business and technology, they act as a catalyst and an innovation engine, with benefits that strengthen the broader economy. This is the point where cities, and municipalities as the most local forms of the government have a key role. Cities are a privileged terrain because of their dense networks of interacting people, markets and activities. The city as a whole functions as a sort of creative field, in which information flow with special intensity between the diverse units of economic and social activity contained in the urban space. The nine CREATIVE SPIRITS partner cities have a common need to improve the implementation of their existing integrated urban strategies/action plans dedicated to a given creative place, by including novel approaches linked to creative and cultural industries (CCI) creative places, people and businesses. The joint policy challenge for the network is to better facilitate the above creative ecosystem to be able to attract (more) creative entrepreneurs and boost creative entrepreneurship in dedicated urban areas. This paper, as the first chapter of the Baseline Study - which also consists of partner city profiles and a synthesis -, presents a broad and practical picture of the current state of play related to the above policy challenge. By highlighting economic and urban trends, introducing policy guidelines and successful policies and good practices related to the implementation related challenges partners potentially cope with, it intends to help partner cities to overcome these challenges and contribute to the improvement of their existing urban strategies or action plans. This paper hopefully will establish the existing knowledge base on which the CREATIVE SPIRITS network can build an effective exchange and learning process. 3

4 1. The creative ecosystem and what is behind: creative industries, creative places and creative people 1.1 The cultural and creative industries The economic weight of cultural and creative industries is significant. According to the latest, comprehensive report done by Ernst and Young (2014), the creative and cultural industries contribute 4.2% to Europe s GDP, and account for nearly 7 million jobs, primarily in small businesses. CCIs are the third-largest by people in employment, after construction and food and beverage service activities. In 2013, the CCIs employed, on average, more year-olds than any other sector. What is more, the sectors in the creative economy have been resilient during the economic crisis and in particular as a source for youth employment. In Eastern and Central Europe, the trend is even more pronounced where on average, young people account for 1.3% more jobs in the creative economy than in the rest of the economy. Interestingly, the highest revenue is generated by a purely cultural sector: visual arts (much more than for example, the film industry). The resilience of CCIs was evident during the economic crisis: job creation in CCIs grew on average by 3.5% a year from 2000 to 2007, and continued to grow at 0.7% annually between 2008 and 2012, even as the number of jobs in the rest of the economy fell 0.7%. Regarding urban policies the untapped potential for youth employment needs to be emphasized because CCIs are both highly attractive for young people and open to young workers and can absorb them easily. As this report shows, with regards to reinforcing CCIs politicians ambition is to re-position Europe as a global hub of creativity and talents. At the crossroads of art, business and technology, CCIs act as a catalyst and an innovation engine, with benefits that strengthen the broader economy. Regarding cities, it is worth mentioning the example how CCIs can contribute to tourism: across the EU, the holiday plans of one out of every three tourists is heavily shaped by available cultural attractions. If a creative district exists in a city, it may attract the majority of visitors. 1.2 Creative people The so called creative class consists of creative people and it is not strictly associated to qualified people, but comprises all type of workers whose job is to create meaningful new forms, independently of their formal education. They can be craftsmen, makers, organisers, IT specialist, cultural entrepreneurs but the focus of the creative entrepreneur differs from that of the typical business entrepreneur or, indeed, the social entrepreneur in that s/he is concerned first and foremost with the creation and exploitation of creative or intellectual capital. Essentially, creative entrepreneurs are investors in talent their own or other people s, and often they do not identify themselves as entrepreneurs. This is why traditional SME support approaches do not always work in the field of CCIs. 1.3 Creative places Creative place is a location where creative and cultural industries are present and active. In a creative place inspiration comes from interaction between creatives, from a vibrant scene and, most often, from the proximity of cultural institutions that are usually a flagship in such areas. (Cerar (ed.), 2013) Creative place can be on various territorial scales such as creative cities, districts, quartiers or hubs. Practically, creative-based development was born some decades ago during the redevelopment processes of abandoned industrial sites - that had once served crafts production (textiles, ceramics) - towards creative hubs. According to Charles Landry (2000) the creative city identifies, nurtures, attracts and sustains talent so it is able to mobilise ideas, talents and creative organizations. The built environment the stage and the 4

5 setting - is crucial for establishing the milieu. A creative milieu is a place that contains the necessary requirements in terms of hard (built environment, institutions and services that provide the atmosphere) and soft (skilled and flexible workers, dynamic thinkers, makers, creators and strong communication flow among them) factors infrastructure - to generate a flow of ideas and inventions. A milieu can be a building, a street, an area, a city or a region. A creative district can be defined by applying the above noted definition at the district level whilst emphasising the importance of community. The creative milieu is not just about bricks and mortar; it is about the flow of ideas, which takes place within and between creative communities. The emphasis is on the notion of bonding and bridging social capital (Cerar (ed.), 2013). A creative district is a place (physically) shared by different creative communities, providing them with the possibility of getting together, mutual inspiring and testing ideas. Creative districts have often been developed as a slower step-by-step process, based on local resources and local demand. City authorities should seek to transform empty buildings and lands into spaces dedicated to the creative industries and rent them at preferential rates. City centres are also often attractive for creative people as well as bottom-up creative hubs equipped with the above characteristics have the best potential to create an inspiring environment for dynamic companies, entrepreneurship and open innovation. 1.4 The creative ecosystem The growing relationship between creativity and territory leads to the introduction of the concept of creative ecosystem which is, as described in the final study of the URBACT Creative Clusters network, an environment of excellence based on creative assets that generates socio-economic growth and development, and comprises three interlinked components: economy (creative industries), place (creative spaces) and people (creative talent). Such interaction depends largely on the specific governance systems and institutional arrangements, and that of their position in the spatial system and urban hierarchies, and their level of access to information and communication technologies (INTELI, 2011). More simply: creative places (translated into the urban space) can attract talented, creative people as they appreciate open, tolerant and vibrant atmosphere. But building up a creative urban space is not enough: providing space for collaboration and nurturing creativity and entrepreneurship in such a supportive and free environment is also essential How cities can manage the creative ecosystem? Municipalities, as the most local forms of the government having a deep knowledge about local needs, should have a reinforced role in the above innovation cycle as facilitators or brokers. They can mediate new relationships and initiate new connections between different competences, fields and sectors. Due to the lack of shared values and goals resulted also in different working methods, way of thinking and languages between politicians and creatives often there is a creative policy gap. Institutional cooperation at the cross-section of urban development and the creative industries is important and needs to be strengthened at all levels. The role of integrated urban development plans in the establishment of creative industries needs to be elaborated and specific planning measures defined, both at the strategic level as well as in implementation. During implementation effective leadership is needed which is not about striving to control what is uncontrollable, rather, it is about creating the conditions for groups, teams, organisations and (even informal) communities to effectively and creatively cope with threats and build opportunities for the whole city. Academic research also underpins the required shift in public policies: in this context, some authors have advocated that it is critical that cultural and creative policies adopt alternative forms of governance (O Connor & Shaw, 2014 as cited in Romeiro, 2016), a mode of governance very different from a rule- 5

6 bound administrative approach or a style of planning and management locked into a culturally homogeneous concept of what a city region should be like (Healey, 2004 as cited in Romeiro, 2016, p. 13). As for the concept on creative cities, the following attributes could be taken into consideration while laying the foundations for a creative milieu and providing a space in which creative milieu can flourish. Be ready for experiments: similar to social innovators creative people brings an experimental approach to public policy. New initiatives are treated as hypotheses to be tested through prototyping, piloting or other means in order to build enough knowledge about effectiveness to have the confidence to deliver an initiative at scale or more permanently. Listen well: public managers can help create an open environment promoting and supporting creativity. Worldwide, a growing number of cities are organising democratic innovation platforms, round tables, pecha-kucha evenings, boot camps, marketplaces or similar matchmaking events to connect citizens good ideas with each other and with the administration, to refresh thinking, and to make silent voices audible (the unusual suspect). New indicators of success: vast risk assessment literature for investment decisions, but the equivalent for more socially oriented projects remains undeveloped. This means that indicators of costeffectiveness that go beyond traditional cost-benefit analysis need to be developed. Making the most of creative individuals: creative projects are usually driven by committed individuals that cannot work in rigid frameworks. In local authorities this might mean that space and grants for innovation and pilot projects are made available, deliberately shaped to encourage experiment, in which trust is the glue. Right balance between multiculturalism and localism: in line with Richard Florida s 3T model (2002), beside talents and technology, the third T refers to tolerance: an open, tolerant atmosphere which is often interrelated with multiculturalism. But do not forget that creativity is often based on local traditions and these can act as a never-ending source of inspiration for creativity. Deep historical legacies that connected a form of crafting to place formed the basis of a contemporary industry. Historical legacies were adapted to enable the cultivation of new markets. And this could occur in performing arts, design, fashion, handicraft, etc. Using catalysts and achieve quick-wins: catalyst events and projects can create opportunities for people with different perspectives to come together and share ideas. What the former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, Jaime Lerner said in connection with urban acupuncture, meaning that smaller symbolic projects can have an effect in creating points of energy and initiating a snowball effect in a city, is especially relevant regarding CCIs. Off culture - in culture: a wide range of academic literature underpin that alternative, underground culture has a strong role in fuelling the creative industries; and close links are built between mainstream knowledge (re)production and underground creativity (Romeiro, 2016). While the in culture is organized and planned, the off one is often said to be spontaneous, it is free of any constraints, so that it becomes extremely creative and innovative. And also there are hundreds of examples how off culture become in culture, but regarding the network topic, the key is how public authorities can manage the process. This is also linked to creative activism. Boosting creative places needs critical balancing between high-level and institutionalised art spaces (e.g. galleries, museums) and grass-root artistic initiatives in order to engage the public. Developing creative spaces as incubators: finding buildings to serve as the core infrastructure where creative workers can meet, network, or be trained is rather essential. It may refer to artistic activities as well as other forms of creativity. Many new art forms cannot develop without the creation of some new specialist provision. Clustering such activities in one place or building creates a sense of community and stimulates peer-to-peer learning. Creative spaces do not necessarily contribute to rehabilitation: An important assumption often underlying projects stimulating creative entrepreneurship in deprived neighbourhoods is that the 6

7 presence of creative entrepreneurs contributes to the regeneration of these neighbourhoods. Besides contributing to the economic development of the neighbourhood (Florida, 2000), creative entrepreneurs are also assumed to bring more buzz to the neighbourhood, which has a positive effect on the establishment of new cafés, restaurants and shops (Landry, 2000). This is supposed to be important for the quality of life of present and future inhabitants, as well as for attracting visitors, new inhabitants and new enterprises (Montgomery, 2007). However, there is a lot of ongoing debate if initiatives stimulating creative entrepreneurship actually contribute to urban regeneration (Nijkamp, 2016). Based on research in Raval (Barcelona) and Mile End (Montreal), Tremblay and Battaglia (2012, p. 66) mention several characteristics that a cultural quarter should have in order to contribute to the regeneration of an area in the city: 1. Improve the regeneration of a geographical area; 2. Cluster, as a physical and creative hub, cultural, social and economic activities; 3. Act as a catalyst for the production and consumption of cultural services; 4. Facilitate the participation of local communities; 5. Support and maintain artists galleries and studios, while at the same time protecting the quarter from intensive gentrification and real estate interests; 6. Improve the quality of life for people living and working in the quarter; 7. Reinforce local development through partnerships between local institutions and other economic and productive sectors. Transformation of dedicated urban areas to creative districts or hubs may also generate city-wide problems, especially if related urban policies behind the transformation process are not managed well. Depending on the location perhaps the biggest risk is gentrification as creative districts often become popular and trendy. People want to live in them and spend their free time in these districts, and thus the amount of city users increases. This could eventually lead to a gentrification process which could likely destroy the initial creative identity of the area that has been regenerated as such. 2. Existing networks and CCIs relevance within the EU2020 Strategy The increased interest and expectations towards CCIs is well-reflected in various ETC projects. Cultural and creative industries as a theme and their potential in urban regeneration were explored by two URBACT II projects: Creative Clusters in Low Density Urban Areas 1 and Creative SpIN 2 : Creative "Spillovers" for Innovation. The findings of the Creative Clusters project are important because they show how creativity can lead to ways of leapfrogging disadvantages in terms of social and economic development in urban areas, especially in small and midsize towns. Both projects use the terminology of creative ecosystem. According to the findings of the above projects, local authorities are in a crucial position to establish creative ecosystems as an integral part of innovation strategies. They 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 CCIs across diverse policy areas (e.g. economic development and innovation policies) creates the preconditions for a more holistic ecosystem. Cities know the cultural and creative players established in their area. To support creative spill-overs, local authorities need to mobilise these players and assess their readiness to economic growth, social development and innovation. At the same time, local authorities are in a privileged position to mobilise companies and entrepreneurs in traditional fields of the economy. They can mediate new relationships and initiate new connections between different competences, fields and sectors. They can show how to apply transversal thinking in decision making (Barrett, 2015)

8 In addition to this, Placemaking 4 Cities 3 network is also important for CREATIVE SPIRITS for its basic methodological approach and philosophy, which is derived from Project for Public Spaces: place making is about creating an emotional connection between public spaces and users, thus communities reconnect and value public places better and therefore take care of the public spaces. Dialogues to be organised within the CREATIVE SPIRITS ULGs as well as Operational Implementation Frameworks need to be community-focused and community responsive if they are to be sustainable. This is why place making and place management is used in the project as a methodology for all ULGs as well as during the Case Study Meetings (place analysis). With regards to other programmes, the following projects and networks provide bases for the Creative Spirits network. Cross Innovation ( focuses on policies that enable cross innovation and creative spillovers between creative sectors and other industries. The partnership consists of 11 metropolitan hotspots that have the potential to put cross innovation on the top of local and regional policy agendas across Europe: Birmingham, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Tallinn, Warsaw, Vilnius, Stockholm, Linz, Lisbon and Pilsen. 3C4 Incubators ( under the MED Programme promotes the cultural and creative sector as a factor of territorial development and an engine of economic and social innovation. Urban Creative Poles ( within the Baltic Sea Programme is about creating and applying good practices in the public sector to promote creative industries as growing economic sector and basis for innovations in the strife for the knowledge-based economy in medium-sized cities. The Urban Creative Poles Guide 4 includes some recommendations that might be interesting for partner cities. InCompass ( INTERREG IVC project aims to support the selfsustainability of creative incubator units and enable them to develop innovative methods to move away from a general dependence on public funding. The project produced a guide how to create and operate creative incubators. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network ( was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 116 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level. For Creative Spirits partner cities this network means an essential source or information. 3. Key policy messages from Programming Period As mentioned before, important networks and projects were implemented within the previous programming period, their findings, with a special attention to the recommendations from previous URBACT (New urban economies: URBACT II Capitalisation, 2015) and INTERREG IVC (Analysis report on creative industries INTERREG IVC Thematic Programme capitalisation, 2013) projects must be taken into consideration by Creative Spirits partner cities while setting up Operational Implementation Frameworks. The most important findings can be summarised as follows:

9 1. Without equal and reciprocal partnership with local stakeholders CCI policies cannot be successful: this needs time, shared leadership and often an external facilitator. Regarding this point, further details are explained under the Implementation Related Challenge entitled as Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery. 2. Efficient CCI policies address a wide variety of different policy areas like innovation, urban development, entrepreneurship, culture and education crossing internal silos is essential, but establishing an intermediate body can be also effective(see more: Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects ). 3. Improve the evidence-base of CCI policies: policies for creative industries can be challenging due to their fragmented nature and multi-sectoral approaches involving a high number of microstructures. Qualitative evaluation methods based on clear policy targets provide added value and should be repeated regularly so as to generate the most accurate results (see more: Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance ). 4. Socio-cultural hubs as recent phenomena need to be incorporated in modernised policies designed to create favourable framework conditions for creative entrepreneurs. Interaction and exchange, regarded as crucial success factors for creative entrepreneurs, are increasingly being promoted through the creation of open and co-working spaces. Bottom-up initiatives from the creative scene anchored in a local context have proven to be most favourable to the economic success and sustainable impact on related urban development (see more: Moving from strategy to operational action-plan ). 5. Encourage spill-over effects with a clear thematic focus based on a broad participatory framework: creative industries are able to generate social and economic innovation, as they integrate design innovation in SMEs. Preconditions for the success of a spill-over oriented CCI policy include the establishment of a broad participatory (governance) framework combined with a tailored thematic focus (see more: Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects ). 6. Economies are changing quicker, policies should be thus adaptive to change. Policy making procedures will not change in one night, but a process of gradual change in the way economic development policies are designed and implemented should be highlighted. Strategy building should not be a one-off event, but a continual process, constantly open to incorporate new insights and developments. This requires intelligence, new participation methods: one-off, high level institutional meetings are not enough (see more: Moving from strategy to operational action-plan ). 7. Creating a creative city is a challenging path: it is essential to place creative-based strategies in a wider context and foster linkages between new growth domains and the endogenous skills and qualities existing in a city. Connecting missing links between local industries and new activities can do a lot more than supporting new sectors from scratch. Avoid labelling the city as a creative city, a science city or a maker city unless there is a lot activity on the ground, initiated and carried by local communities and stakeholders (see more Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects ). 8. Hack the education system. Universities and schools are slow to change their curriculum, and they are not naturally oriented to the city (they have stronger links with ministries). Mobilise individual professors, researchers, teachers and students as change agents to work with the industry and/or tackle local challenges. Invite them to co-create the city, turning it into a living lab (see more Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects ). 9. Be careful with mega projects. Ever since the Guggenheim in Bilbao, thinking about creative cities too much relies on the provision of large-scale cultural infrastructure new flagship museums, theatres, libraries, etc., often designed by star architects, and the economic benefits they generate. In other cases we can witness the strong belief that hosting a major global event 9

10 would transform their city. Mega projects mean mega risk, and in the frame of mega projects city leaders often forget the soft factors, the creative spirits and the capacity of local arts practitioners to actually create new work or produce cultural goods and services. And even more important perhaps, is to recognize and build upon the ways in which architecture structures the human experience of the city, how it sets the terms on which people are brought together in urban space (see more: Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery ). 10. Facilitate bottom-up developments. Make sure you facilitate bottom-up developments initiated by entrepreneurial individuals or communities. Be open and ready to support new ideas and ventures in their start-up stage (after that they must stand on their own feet) see more: Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery. 11. Tackle the unusual suspects too! Besides listening what powerful developers, local representatives of the industry want, city leaders need to listen just as carefully to small entrepreneurs, newcomers, citizens. Much of the innovation will come from that direction (see more: Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery ). 12. Letting them go responsibly: shared goals can be achieved through collaboration. Collaboration needs the creation of shared space within which agreement on outcomes and objectives can be negotiated. This is a difficult process, requiring a trusted brokerage function that can knit together different partners with distinct interests and values. For collaborative leadership municipalities have to learn mediation techniques and need to be able to speak the languages of the different stakeholders. Often the city has to let power go and trust other players to take the lead, while in other situations the city should support the development of new organisations (see more: Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects ). 4. Case studies explaining the potential of creative-based urban strategies MediaCityUK is perhaps the most well-known example of creative-based urban renewal in Europe: this is a huge (81 ha) mixed-use property development site on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Greater Manchester, England. The BBC signalled its intention to move jobs to Manchester in 2004, and the Salford Quays site was chosen in 2006 (the chosen site was the last undeveloped site at Manchester Docks, an area that had been subject to considerable investment and was emerging as a tourist destination, residential and commercial centre). Today MediaCityUK as a significant new media city is capable of competing on a global scale. Due to its size, it does not fit well to the main policy challenge of the Creative Spirits network. Therefore the below, selected case studies highlight the complexity of CCI development within the urban context on a smaller scale and refer mainly to the soft factors linked to the implementation related challenges of the Programme. These stories are about how cities could act as brokers and network enablers by nurturing creativity in a letting them go responsibly attitude, resulting in a high economic-social impact, tangible for the whole city. Under this chapter we present the cases briefly, but while discussing each implementation related challenges later on, we will come back to these good practices highlighting their different aspects to be taken into consideration under each specific challenge Rotterdam: a classical, but always renewing example An interesting case to consider is the City of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. As a city that lost almost its entire historic city centre in World War II, Rotterdam now has decades of experience in urban renewal and development. Since 2005, the municipality of Rotterdam also includes a vision on the creative city through its ambitions laid down in the Economic Vision for Rotterdam Jeannette Nijkamp wrote 10

11 an extensive doctoral thesis about the case of Rotterdam concerning the creative class and whether it can play a positive role in neighbourhood decline. She writes that the Economic Vision aims to extent creative clusters, in particular those containing architecture, technical and graphic design, audio-visual enterprises and new media, in Rotterdam in order to create more jobs (Nijkamp, 2016, p. 53). The implementation programme of Rotterdam draws upon the Economic Vision by putting the focus on three economic clusters, which are the port and the industrial complex, the medical cluster, and relevant to the Creative Spirits network the creative cluster. More specifically, the strategy for the creative economy was further developed by the Rotterdam City Development Corporation which launched a programme for the period from (Nijkamp, 2016, p.54). The programme refers in its content to the in the field of studies on the creative class well-known Richard Florida. Nijkamp (2016) clarifies that the programme is aimed at facilitating creative activities and stimulating entrepreneurship in the creative sector. It indicated that Rotterdam is an international leader in architecture and nationally is an important player in the field of design (p. 54). Noteworthy is that in the beginning the programme had its focus on the creative industries as a whole, however, since 2008 this focus has shifted towards the four sub-sectors of architecture, design, media and music, which are considered most important to Rotterdam (De Kleijn et al., 2011). The following two cases in Rotterdam might be worth looking at to clarify how creative development works in practice. The first example concerns a building called the Creative Factory. The building is a former silo which was used for the storage of grain. This function ceased to exist in 2003 after which the Rotterdam City Development Corporation became the new owner of the building. Demolition was an option but proved to be too expensive, instead the city chose to redevelop the building. Today, the Creative Factory is a collective of creative entrepreneurs. It is steered on two levels: by the municipality as landlord and through partnerships. The relation with the municipality is distant while the collaboration between the partners is intensive. This models allows space for the interests of the small businesses and the neighbourhood instead of following the general interests of the City of Rotterdam. The Creative Factory is an especially good place for starting businesses and starters on the labour market as entrepreneurs can make us of coaching and matchmaking opportunities and fresh graduates from the University of Applied Sciences can start their career at the Factory. Also, students follow internships or conduct research in the Creative Factory. The second example is the Rotterdam s makers quartier called ZOHO. It is a working and living place at the edge of the centre, for and by makers in design, art, culture, film, music, media, tech, food and urbanism. Near Rotterdam Central Station, over 10,000 m2 of inner city business area stood empty. In 2013, owner Havensteder and consultancy firm Stipo partnered up and decided to develop the area, and started with their 10-year long development plan. They work with a gradual process: eyelevel urbanism. Since then, vacant buildings have been filled up, ground floors have been opened up to bring the street alive, and a new cultural extension of the centre has come into existence. The users of the area, companies, organizations, inhabitants, and visitors can get involved with the development plans. This way it is insured that ZOHO will become a valuable part of the city, created by all. Het Gele Gebouw is a key building in the neighbourhood (see picture above left). Stipo was the first to move to Het Gele Gebouw in ZOHO. New companies get a place in the building by pitching their ideas. This way Stipo ensures a good mix of inhabitants that will produce value for the area. In their pitch, companies can show what they can add to the collaboration network, and if and how they are willing to invest in the area. During the past years, small creative businesses, galleries, workshops, and creative entrepreneurs who cooperatively work together have come to ZOHO. 11

12 This is a good example to achieve due results on city level through a deep engagement process with grass-root initiatives Jyväskylä: the Human Technology City Jyväskylä ( inhabitants) in central Finland s lake district shows up a more realistic and successful strategy realised in this medium sized city in the last decades. After being one of the most prosperous regions of the country, in the early 90 es the city had to rethink its future due to the national economic recession. The city administration put creativity and innovation as key factors as for the region s competitiveness and created its vision (the human technology city) together and around local people. This vision highlights the ecosystem, thus consists not only investments in businesses, but also services aiming to support tackling the formation of networks and cross-sectorial initiatives. Although the success of Jyväskylä - also highlighted by URBACT 5 - is strongly based on some local amenities (e.g. highly educated workforce as the city is home to two universities, symbolic power of internationally appreciated Alvar Alto buildings in the city), the lesson to be learnt is the strong political will and conscious strategy planning that allowed the municipality to build up a strategy centred around people, to provide space for cross-sectorial cooperation and strong civic participation, and last, but not least emphasized having a constant focus on the quality of living environment. This attitude enabled the local community to increase the wellness of people living in the area, to increase interaction between people and to empower the creative people to try to find new ways of conducting cooperation with the social and wellness sector. Regarding the latter, the Jalostamo (Refinery) consulting services provided for creative people played a crucial role, but the above cross-sectorial focus (combining culture and individual artists with social work and well-being) was implemented in the smallest initiatives as well (e.g. a service which educates and delivers volunteers who offer to accompany anyone wishing to attend a concert or visit a museum or art exhibition) A city wide strategy: Creative Spaces Program, Melbourne Melbourne (Australia) has been known as a cultural scene for a long while, but cultural investments resulted in a gentrification process. Through its Creative Spaces Program the city council aims to redress the consequences of gentrification by providing new creative spaces in the city under the expectation of catalysing further urban regeneration. The City of Melbourne recognised that affordable space is critical to the development and cultivation of an innovative and engaged creative sector and thus The Creative Spaces program specifically identifies opportunities in both the private and public sector that can provide suitable, secure and affordable space for creative use. It has developed models for refurbishing space affordably and sustainably and its efforts have been recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects. The picture on the right from the website of Creative Spaces 6 shows a creative initiative to bring theatres to people s homes by giving performances in living rooms. This is a good example how a city strategy can assist grass-root initiatives besides major, institutionalised creative spaces

13 4.4. Creativity as a pathway to socio-economic urban renewal: Athens Kerameikos Metaxourgeio is a deprived area lying close to the frequented inner-city areas of Athens (Greece) having beautiful but dilapidated old housing stock, bad social conditions (see pictures above, left: co-working place in an abandoned building s garden, right: street art). It is typical working class and middle class area of Athens. The area has suffered a gradual degradation since WW2 and during the rapid urbanization of Athens in the decades that followed, and it attracted lower income and minority groups due to cheap and affordable housing and the offer of employment in industrial workshops nearby. The subsequent fragmentation of plots of land, the tight streets and also the underground archaeological sites meant an obstacle to build high rise buildings between the 50's and 70's. The above factors, in combination with the absence of green and public areas, gradually led to the further degradation of the area. In the 1970s-1980s a significant number of residents moved out to search better quality of life. To this day, 46% of the buildings in the area are in a degenerative state and empty. Currently the district is under regeneration: a young real estate developer (a change-maker) who wants to redevelop the area into a cultural district created an association of people for planning and invited the public to submit their ideas for the future of the district. He funded a non-profit organization calls Oliarios which owns around 65 (mostly old neoclassic) buildings and organizes an event called Kerameikos Metaxourgeio Remap every two years. In the frame of these events old buildings are handed over to Athenian and international galleries for one month as exhibition space (see picture above). 7 This is a good example about how the symbolic capital of collective artistic efforts can be used through events and initiatives to regenerate a neighbourhood and how a real-estate agency can be the driver of a regeneration process Arts-Based Community Development to tap intangible heritage: The Memphis Music Magnet (USA) The idea emerged from a multi-year university-community partnership that originated in the Graduate Programme in City and Regional Planning at the University of Memphis among a group of students that developed a plan designed to promote neighbourhood revitalization through targeted housing programmes for artists place-based amenities and community enrichment programmes. The Memphis Symphony Orchestra is engaged in a year-long residency with programming that includes a series of unique musical collaborations performed in vacant community spaces, mentoring programmes for youth and seniors and leadership training for area neighbourhood associations. To host the concerts and other activities, a vacant grocer y store has been repurposed as a temporary performing venue. The

14 property is being converted into Memphis Slim s Collaboratory a music-centred community space for artistic collaboration, music training and storytelling (see pictures below), as well as apprentices learning the production business. Through these activities, music is acting as a magnet by connecting neighbours, bringing back former residents and attracting new visitors. This is a good example about how creative-based strategies and actions can contribute to community engagement. 5. Overview of key Implementation Challenges and how they link to the policy field examples and good practices The order of the programme s Implementation Challenges below follows the steps of the implementation of related urban strategies and action plans: 1. Defining, updating and fine-tuning actions: Moving from integrated urban strategy to operational action plans (Programme Implementation Challenge nr.4) 2. Tackling policy spill-overs through integration: Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions (nr.1) 3. Refreshing our evidences: Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance (nr. 3) 4. Community engagement and leadership: Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery (nr.2) 5. Finding funds: Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation (nr.7) 6. Procurements: Designing smart public procurement frameworks (nr.6) 7. If relevant, using PPP constructions: Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery (nr.5) 5.1. Tackling policy spill-overs through integration: Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions (mandatory challenge, nr.1) What does this challenge mean in the project s policy field? In general, a creative-based urban strategy by nature can relatively easily tackle all of the three factors of integration (environmental, social and economic aspect), because creative people are often socially and environmentally sensible. For example De Ceuvel in Amsterdam is a good example of how environmental projects claim and involve creative aspects as well. De Ceuvel is an award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on a former shipyard in Amsterdam North. It is a great example how slow urbanism works: the soil under the territory was strongly 14

15 polluted, thus the municipality could not find investors despite the central position of the area. After many failed attempt to find investors, in 2012, the land was secured for a 10-year lease from the Municipality of Amsterdam after a group of architects won a tender to turn the site into a regenerative urban oasis through temporally use. The former industrial plot is a thriving community of entrepreneurs and artists, where all involved have lent a hand to build Amsterdam s first circular office park, built on stilt as the soil is polluted. 8 Since creative people prefer under-institutionalised scenes, instead of building a new location as creative hub or incubator, municipalities should re-think abandoned/underused industrial buildings to be used by creatives, also applying sustainable energetic solutions. But there are more layers for the environmental aspect within integrated strategies: streets in dedicated urban areas can be turned to pedestrian areas by closing out or moderate the number of vehicles which results less noise and air pollution in the creative area. Thus the creative city concept and practice does not only re-produce the dominant and un-sustainable market order, a sustainable urban environment and development is about shaping viable urban places and communities, not about entertainment, profit and property development. The arts and artists could freely and autonomously play a key role in this respect as well as in achieving urban creativity, by questioning existing norms and practices and opening up new possibilities for the quality of emotional life and sustainable lifestyles. (Ratiu., D., E., 2013) Due to the same reasons, it is worth tackling the social aspect while developing creative-based strategies too. Boosting creative entrepreneurship can go hand in hand with social innovation as both work in an ecosystem, thus similar approaches are needed. Lambeth Council tackles these two issues at the same at Pop Brixton (picture on the left). As the main policy challenge of the Creative Spirits partner cities is to boost creative entrepreneurship, it is obvious that the economic aspect is key in the implementation of their strategies. However, the so called creative spill-overs are to be mentioned under economic aspect. Creative spill-overs might be 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. Creative spill-overs can result from unplanned interactions between economic agents but they can also be approached in a more strategic way with a view to tapping into the potential of culture-based creativity for socio-economic development (Creative SpIN Final Report, URBACT, 2015)

16 The story of Pop Brixton (based on a case study of the CHANGE! network) In order to meet the challenges caused by increasing social demands and austerity measures Lambeth Council in London (UK) became the first co-operative council in the UK and established the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network ( Lambeth Council is trying to reshape commissioning and service provision through better engagement with the community, in order to co-design and co-produce the local services. Besides many interesting approaches on how to unlock the collaborative capacity of an area, the first results behind Pop Brixton (a temporary use project) shall be mentioned here. Pop Brixton ( is the result of an exciting collaboration between Lambeth Council, Carl Turner Architects and The Collective. The council provided the land (former parking space) at no cost, but in a deprived area, on the condition that the project delivers benefits to the local community. This included the agreement that 10 units would be made available at reduced rent for local start-ups and organisations that have a positive social impact. Pop Brixton is constructed from shipping containers and opened in 2015, the site was initially secured for three years. Pop s success elongated the possibility to stay for up to five years, and based on that, the site will eventually be developed into a major mixed-use development. The site consists of retail, leisure, office and community spaces, including co-working space, offices, studios and an events space. Sixty businesses employ 300 people on the 15,000 sqm site. All traders are independent, 70% of them are from Lambeth (50% from Brixton). While many see the space as a retail and leisure destination, these uses account for only 35% of the space, while 65% consisting of office and community uses. Units are offered on a tiered rent system, businesses pay according to their ability and the level of community work they commit to. All businesses must pledge for at least one hour per week of shared time and skills to benefit the community; those pledging more can pay lower rents. After Pop Brixton s success, an adjoining site under private ownership has been transformed by the same team into Pop Fields, a multipurpose sports space during the day and outdoor bar in the evenings. Actually many of the activities mentioned above or in the following chapters fit to creative spill-over : those having an impact on tourism, on social innovation or event traffic. But the most effective policy to boost creative spill-overs within a city is the establishment of an intermediate agency. Rotterdam s Creative Commission 9 (RCC) is a good example at this point. This new body (2015) has the mission to focus on the added value of CCIs in the Rotterdam economy rather than the sector s internal growth in terms of revenues or turnover. Based on the positive experience of the so called Rotterdam Media Commission (which played a key role in spreading expertise and promoting innovations and services from the media sector), last year, the Deputy Mayor of economic affairs in the former city council, decided to broaden the role of the Media Commission to other creative industries besides media, including architecture, design, serious gaming and eculture in a new Rotterdam Creative Commission. RCC promotes the innovation power of the creative industries in Rotterdam on national and international levels and will actively partner creative industries to the local, regional and national economy in sectors such as port, cleantech, medical and food. More concretely, the RCC will have the objective to 1) make creative innovative industries, entrepreneurs, talents and organisations in Rotterdam more visible, 2) act as a matchmaker and broker between creative supply and demand in any sort of business and industry as well as research or education facility, 3) encourage internationalisation, and 4) stimulate entrepreneurship (Creative SpIN Final Report, URBACT, 2015).. The RCC is a small, flexible and independent organisation, sitting outside the local government, and has only a short term contract (5 years). It has a budget from the municipality, but additional co-financing is also expected Recommendations on how to foster integration through creative-based strategies In general, CREATIVE SPIRITS partner cities, similar to hundreds of other cities in Europe have a track record in delivering projects in a holistic manner, and most of the related strategies/action plans were developed according to EU regulations and philosophy, thus by using integrated approach. However,

17 almost all cities also face challenges when applying an integrated approach in strategic planning in the context of creative and cultural industries as CCIs often appear as an overarching theme within the related urban strategies and action plans resulting in situations when crossing internal silos is a constant challenge. To tackle the most crucial issues (the lack of efficient cross-departmental collaboration and lack of knowledge on how to act as network enablers within a creative ecosystem) alternative administrative structures and business models that facilitate integration across traditional organizational should be taken into consideration. This often requires a change regarding legal structures, which is essential for creating a real entrepreneurial environment based on flexibility and a space which gives room for experiments. Sometimes there are no possibilities to create an intermediate body, in these cases, a manager (change-maker) or a joint platform with stakeholders dedicated to the cross-cutting fields of creativity can be a solution. Sometimes the lack of communication and capacity makes it difficult to apply the integrated approach this attitude is sometimes fed by mistrust between departments. Last, but not least sometimes better allocation of resources from high-level administration to interdisciplinary units is missing. All these questions refer again and again to great and consistent leadership, creating a shared vision at the top. Shared leadership is about getting shared results by giving up control, and within this process, as ever, trust is the glue, the core requirement. It is also catalysing behavioural and operational change at the municipality. Mediation, influencing and engaging others and empathy are also key attributes. Besides what already mentioned above (e.g. the Rotterdam Creative Commission), many examples can be mentioned how to tackle this issue and support shared leadership: municipality of Milan for example created a negotiation board which is not only an attempt to negotiate formally with squatters, but it is a way to include grassroots organizations directly in urban policymaking Do it with people under a letting them go responsibly attitude: Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery (mandatory challenge, nr.2) What does this challenge mean in the project s policy field? Strategy planning is crucial to the wider and wider concept of the right to the city, reiterated by UN- HABITAT at the fifth session of the World Urban Forum in 2010 which had the theme of The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide. The strength and vitality of urban communities the World Urban Forum referred to cannot be conjured into existence simply by new architecture and town-planning. Rather, it consists of the aggregate of individual perceptions, which is expressed collectively, from the community that lives, works and socializes in a place (Bandarin & Van Oers, 2012). The most crucial common challenges regarding community engagement within the existing strategies and action plans CREATIVE SPIRITS partners are implementing thus can be summarized as follows: The challenge of Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision-making for delivery can be translated with regards to CCIs as a need for knowledge and skills to develop longstanding, reciprocal partnerships with stakeholders and to mobilise local people; the knowledge how to identify and make the most of local catalysts (the most innovative people) enabling them to act as change-makers on the long-term; deeper understanding the importance of co-creation in connection with CCIs to create entrepreneurial friendly strategies. 17

18 How to nurture creativity through equal and reciprocal partnership with stakeholders and by shared leadership? The main stakeholders in creative-based urban strategies must be the creative people (artists, craft workers, designers, makers, architects, entrepreneurs, startups, officers from public organisations), but inhabitants, youth, university students, real estate owners/agencies are also important actors. Learn more about how community engagement was tackled at De Ceuvel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands A group of (landscape) architects, artists, artisans and restaurateurs made the plan of De Ceuvel, but they hold regular workshops as well to involve general public and to make De Ceuvel even more inspiring and sustainable. The whole building process was done by volunteers. De Ceuvel is a good example since the Municipality let something out of its hand and gave responsibility to people resulted in a successful renewal of an underused area. The inclusion of the creatives in a project implementation process is highly recommended as they are not a group that will take the administrative decisions for granted; thus, a participative planning on dialogue with the local creatives and other social groups is a crucial part of defining and developing a creative district. (Cerar, A. (ed.), 2013) Learn more about how Municipality of Milan engaged creative people in Macao! Instead of project-specific stakeholder grouping, municipality of Milan created a strong and constant stakeholder platform for related cocreating urban policies. It was the negotiation board which is not only an attempt to negotiate formally with squatters; it is a way to include grassroots organizations directly in urban policymaking. Macao has been able to have the negotiation board adopt the legislative tool of istruttoria pubblica : through this tool, citizens can directly contribute to policies. By the support of municipal lawyers, they can formulate draft regulations that the city council must discuss and vote about It should be considered that these creatives work in your city, in your target area or you would like to invite them from other district or city in order to know their opinion, which contribute to implementing your strategy. The way of reaching them depends on the relationship between the municipality and the creative people. Regarding the generally independent thinking of creative people, a more personal invitation should be taken. The first challenge, which is largely based on cultural differences, is how to invite creatives to join to the stakeholder group. It is envisaged that unique motivation and innovation is necessary for each stakeholder group. The golden rule is that invitation is stronger than intervention. It also means that the municipality should be familiar with the unique interest of the different groups and should speak their language. For instance young people can be invited to have an active role in the creative district development processes through the establishment of a youth council. Active creators and artists can be attracted by small-scale symbolic projects (urban acupuncture), for instance, by organising free-of-charge exhibition places in vacant stores (check the ideas presented under chapter 5.1.). Creative entrepreneurs commitment can be provided by creating incentives (e.g. business training, renting discount, decreasing local tax). Artists are often against the institutionalized and government-led cultural 18

19 Learn more about what tactics Stipo used in ZoHo, Rotterdam to enhance participation: - Placemaking in public spaces capitalizing on local community's assets, inspiration, and potential - Opening ground floor levels of buildings to increase liveability - Connecting ZoHo with its surroundings - Generating publicity - Pitches for empty spaces - Collaboration in the programming initiatives and investments, to get their commitment without co-creation is not possible (see examples on Macao-Milan, how off culture became in culture). Besides creative people, do not forget residents! On one hand, transforming an urban place to a more vibrant one can be disadvantage for them as well. For example an entirely or partly closed street might open the way not only for creative people, but for cafes and restaurants as well, generating noise during the night. On the other hand, real estate prices might raise which is welcomed by local inhabitants. To tackle such a complex issue, the mantra of placemaking can be useful: local people value public spaces they are connected emotionally Refreshing our evidences: Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance (mandatory challenge, nr. 3) What does this challenge mean in the network s policy field? The root of this challenge in the project s policy context is that due to the lack of an internationally agreed definition, consistently, there is a lack of transparency in measuring the sector; it also is impossible to conduct qualitative and quantitative research aimed at comparing the creative industries with other industries. (Cerar, A. (ed.), 2013) As the strategies and action plans of Creative Spirits partner cities were prepared within EU programming processes, they all have complex indicator and monitoring systems. The key question at this point mainly refers to the measurement of soft factors. Creative districts have often been developed as a slower step-by-step process, based on local resources and local demand. In this process, experimentation is a key factor, but how to measure experiments? How to quantify and monetize sustainability indicators related to experiments? The common challenges regarding measuring impact within the existing strategies and action plans Creative Spirits partners are implementing, can be summarized in the following points: 1. there is a need for new attitudes to reassess success and failure and to set up indicators for success in an experimental environment; 2. how creative people and their initiatives can be recognised and valued publicly (e.g. from mapping to awarding, to highlight CCI s potential impact on the whole society, social inclusion, etc.)? These complex challenges can be divided into sub-challenges helping to understand and explain the importance of the question: how to collect data and indicators regarding CCIs in an urban context; how to analyse data; how to present the results How to collect and select reliable data and indicators related to CCIs on city level? The United Nations 2010 Create Economy Report comprehensively discussed the national challenge of developing a robust evidence base that allows the case for the creative economy to be seriously argued in the same way, for example as the health or education sectors are able to. 19

20 Due to the complexity of CCIs as well as focused data collecting in creative fields started only some years ago and on national level, many cities face questions like how to measure creativity, how to recognize creative people and their initiatives, how to measure soft factors and experiments. In order to be able to answer these questions it is suggested to overview the different types of relevant secondary data and their indicators, but also identifying primary data and their indicators. It must be taken into consideration that the identification and the availability of them are highly depends on the territorial scale of the creative area. On European and country level the following indicators are frequently used: Percentage of the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) contribute to GDP; Percentage of population directly or indirectly employed in creative and cultural activities; Revenues of the creative and cultural industries; Number of jobs in the CCIs; Total government expenditures on cultural services; Indicators of each of the creative and cultural industry sectors (for instance: revenues of newspapers and magazines (sales and advertising) in Europe) In some cases cities intend to deal with one or more abandoned buildings turning them into creative places. For them, the investigation of the data about the neighbourhood of the building can be suggested. Due to the fact that data and indicators mainly are not suitable for measuring creativity and experimentation, the primary data have crucial role. In most partner cities the territorial scale of the creative area make possible carrying on a primary data collection in the creative area/district/street. The following indicators can contribute to measuring creativity, cultural vitality, and creative-cultural sense of the area: number of building having cultural-creative function number of galleries, exhibition places, craft workshop places, theatres, design workshop places/studios, co-working places in the creative area number of cultural programs per year number of cultural programs per year organized by the municipality/creative people/both of them in partnership number of participants in the cultural programs the number of new jobs being generated in the target areas the number of new creative businesses being set up the amount of investments foreseen in public open spaces in the target area As the infrastructural elements, the characteristic of the buildings, the quality of the public places can be obstacles or motivations of the development of a creative-cultural area, the following investigations are also useful: building stock survey: evaluating the quality of the buildings by filling in a survey. It can be especially interesting in historical city centres or at the case of abandoned factory buildings to be used as creative places transport: evaluating the accessibility of the area, quality and quantity of the pedestrian area, footfall, etc. Place survey about how people use the public spaces Data and information about the ownership situation in the area is also crucial. Generally, this information is partly available at the municipality office. Considering indicators, we are often talking about only the application of quantitative data, but in the case of the creative city issue, the qualitative data are similarly important though less tangible. The most typical qualitative data collection method is conducting interviews. At this point the challenge 3 and challenge 2 having strong connection: if you tackle the 20

21 challenge of identifying the stakeholders and you manage to engage them and maintain their involvement, it becomes possible to regularly conduct interview with them gaining information for the further steps in supporting creative people especially creative entrepreneurs. Taking and analysing pictures is also a qualitative measuring method (e.g. time-lapse videos about how people use a public space). As the creative, inspiring, trendy, historical character of an area is quite intangible, pictures as indicators are recommended to be applied. At the grassroots level, the issue is how to map cultural, physical, institutional and economic assets, both existing and potential, that enable effective policy development, as well as the size, once again both existing and potential, of the market. In other words, it is a challenge on both the supply and the demand side. A particularly useful approach to the audit of local cultural assets is the technique known as cultural asset mapping. This starts from the premise of active control over knowledge generation by communities, who then pursue conversations around assets that could be used or built upon, together with evidence of the strengths and capacities of the community. Collaborative and consultative activities (involving local citizens, municipal officials and NGO representatives) are needed to makes these goods and capacities visible, and to determine their volume as well as their vulnerability. Such activities include concentrated workshops and open forums, as well as systematically organized mapping in the literal sense of the word, which has the advantage of rendering what is elusive or intangible as concrete, tangible data in map form. Assets include people and practices, heritage and traditions, environmental qualities, business and physical infrastructure, local associations and institutions. Physical assets include built heritage and geographical advantages. Cultural asset mapping involves drawing people into an active engagement with broader possibilities based on their existing resources. Wilmington s asset map is a good example how results can be presented on an efficient way to the stakeholders (local people, creative entrepreneurs). Mapping creative-cultural assets can be a useful starting point for many Creative Spirits partner cities. This could be a web map with different layers presenting information gained from the data collection and analysis process. These layers would be regularly/yearly updated. All citizens would have some access to the map, they can sign where they do creative activity, what kind of programs they organize etc. Also, the available places for creative activity would be signed on the map helping to connect creative entrepreneurs and real estate agencies/owners. It is also recommanded to make more thematic maps and not to squeeze all information to one map. As an example, Wilmington made some thematic maps (like mapping vacant palces in the target area see on the right) which contributed to decesionmaking related to the creative district development and boosting creatives in the area Defining, updating and fine-tuning actions: Moving from strategy to operational action plan (optional Programme Implementation Challenge, nr.4) What does this challenge mean in the project s policy field? As the environment of the urban development is constantly and quickly changing, the strategies hardly can follow them since policy making is rather a slow process. Therefore, the possibility for the regular updating of the strategies and action plans should be provided. Therefore, this challenge which is somehow a race with time - can be translated into two main questions: 1. how should an urban strategy be quickly translated into an effective action plan taking into consideration integrative and participatory approaches, and how an already existing (approved) action plan can be quickly modified and updated in order to meet new requirements. 21

22 Recommendations on how to boost CCIs effectively in an urban context In line with the network s policy challenge, specific actions to be defined or fine-tuned related to creative-based urban strategies should focus mainly on soft measures in an already existing infrastructure setting, whether it is one single building, a street or a whole district. Wilmington s (USA) Creative District Vision 10 is a good example and has a wide-range of often small scale - interventions how a municipality can effectively boost and support creativity in a dedicated urban area. Based on the case studies presented in the previous chapter vision as well as on the experiences from the different partners other sources hereby there are some key possibilities a city can include into an effective action plan: 1. Can the urban area be identified by local people and tourists as a creative place/district? Do not place signpost alone: holding a district logo design competition with local artists seems a simple, but more powerful action. Visually distinguish the creative district by demonstrating its identity through a variety of streetscape elements and public realm improvements. 2. Encourage local businesses to help reinforce district identity: encourage organizations and businesses to hire local artists, for example by organising an annual business directory of local creative professionals providing basic information about the services they provide along with contact information. This might open up further financial possibilities as well! 3. Support creatives to build up an own platform to generate a flow of ideas and inventions. Creative City Berlin 11 can be a good example: it is the central platform for artists, cultural producers and the creative industry in town. On this platform creatives can create their personal profile and portfolio, promote events, search and find job offers, post an available work space, equipment or skill they would like to share to the marketplace. 4. Develop a targeted marketing strategy for different target groups: business owners looking to relocate or entrepreneurs seeking new opportunities; developers who may be open to investing; attracting artists to live, work, or show their work; marketing to visitors and customers. 5. Use open or more-targeted events to raise awareness and connect creative people and ideas with other businesses! Besides place-based festivals and street events, create new opportunities for local artists and makers to sell their work: encourage gallery mash-ups with local businesses, organize temporary and mobile vending of locally-produced goods, or simply innovative events (e.g. hackathons) to connect ideas. To tackle a spill-over effect on local policies cities might involve creative people to redesign public services, generating a huge impact on local public services. 6. Networking for assistance and financial services: small enterprises cannot benefit from the economies of scale that larger companies enjoy, allowing them to afford in-house specialist administrative and management skills, such as accountancy, legal advice or logistics. Creating an incubation for them is essential, but this can provide for example a tool library for craftspeople as well as a special online database helping creative people to find an affordable place to rent (see the Melbourne case on the left). 7. Formulate a policy to tackle interim use in vacant places and pay attention to make empty shops or flats in creative locations available at below-market prices. Convert underutilized spaces into artist studios: Establishing production spaces could also be tied to an initiative to increase local access to arts education and youth engagement programming. Once established, some studios could become part of artist-in-residence programs providing creative individuals with working space at low to no cost as long as they teach a community class or do some other form of community-building project as a condition of

23 their residency. For example, within the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program 12 in West Philadelphia artists were awarded for 1 year free studio space at 40th & Chestnut Streets. In exchange, residents shared their talents within West Philadelphia by leading workshops, teaching classes, exhibiting, etc. Previous URBACT networks tackled this innovative theme. The perspective of REFILL 13 could potentially be valuable for the Creative Spirits network as it appreciates the role of civic involvement. Governments are no longer the only actor to solve complex challenges faced in cities. Therefore, temporary use is a powerful tool and symbolic experiment to make our cities "future fit". One of the key conclusions when utilizing the concept of temporary use is that it offers an integrated tool for development as it interacts with many other urban dynamics by which it creates the right environment for social innovation to develop. More specifically, adopting the concept of temporary use can bring together urban pioneers, entrepreneurs, and bottom-up initiatives, which together can become a catalyst in solving societal challenges and in creating possibilities for social innovation to develop in cities. Similar to this, TUTUR 14 also emphasises that the transformation of vacant real estate could bring about multiple positive effects for various actors. It could benefit the owners profit by renovating and preserving buildings. Also users will have access to affordable work and living spaces, residents can enjoy their revitalised neighbourhoods, merchants can take advantage of increasing traffic and sales, and new opportunities for work and experience could emerge for the design professions. The philosophy behind the concept of temporary use is based on the assertion that in a time when cities are not growing but transforming themselves, especially when in crises, we need to find new and agile ways to respond to local needs. Temporary uses can be a source of life for neighbourhoods in order to promote a sustainable urban regeneration promoted by public administration and citizens. 8. Create a policy to repurpose vacant land to promote district vitality: pop-up exhibitions, pop-up beer gardens, mini golf courses, food truck corrals, public sculpture gardens. For example, Power in Dirt 15 is a systematised initiative of Baltimore City (US): since 2011, it has helped people all over the city adopt and revitalize vacant lots. But there are so many interesting examples of local policies tackling the collaborative capacity of local people. Check the Cities of Commons movement originated from Bologna (Italy)! 16 To stimulate change firstly organise a parklet design competition: this is a semi-permanent micro park integrated within the public space, typically occupying the footprint of one on-street parking space. In Wilmington even a kitchen incubator was installed for culinary enterprises to offer a shared production space. 9. Recruit a Fab Lab to stimulate creative production and open innovation (especially if there is a university nearby), and to link local makers and your city to a global network. In 2014 Barcelona launched the Fab City Movement with the goal that Barcelona will be the first city by 2054 that will produce at least 50% of what they consume, mainly by using materials locally recycled and digital materials. Also the mayor launched the first public network of Fab Labs in a city. It is worth reading the Fab City Whitepaper 17 (Locally productive, globally connected self-sufficient cities) and letting your municipality being challenged by these revolutionary ideas by joining to the network!

24 10. Use street-art on blank walls to create an outdoor gallery reflecting on the place. These larger or smaller blank walls on the sides of buildings present numerous opportunities throughout the district to feature local spirit: to show digital multimedia work or just good old fashioned neighbourhood movie nights in summertime. 11. Implement streetscape enhancements along streets: build bump outs if the sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate many streetscape elements such as bike racks and benches. Bump outs would also provide extra space for public sculpture at cross-streets, which would make the creative corridor more visible to foot traffic; alternative paver strips, etched sidewalks, permeable pavers, rain-activated patterns, and a variety of other options should be considered. Engage local talent to design and fabricate streetscape elements (see some creative ideas from Wilmington below and on page 35&37 in the Vision! 12. Work with business and property owners to improve signage. Businesses in the district that aren t necessarily related to the arts and cultural scene can nevertheless contribute to this emerging identity by rethinking their exterior signage with the help of local artists and fabricators. This can boost the visual impact of the area, but also can develop stronger ties between the business and arts communities. 13. Light up the corridor: installing pedestrian scale street lights, consider lighting aesthetic that harmonizes with the vibe of the creative area (for example: more industrial or more historical look). Pursue short term solutions to improve lighting: Façade, awning, or storefront lights offer a lower-cost solution. Business associations could spearhead a larger-scale storefront lighting program, negotiating a bulk purchase and installation rate from selected vendors. Use temporary light installations to draw visitors at night (see some temporary lighting examples on the left from the Wilmington case, page 39). Learn more about Wilmington Creative District Vision This strategy provides several recommendations and ideas small scale interventions - about how to develop a creative district. Creative-District-Vision.pdf 14. Customize street signs and storefronts. In Budapest two graphic designers prepared a picture (see on the right) showing how the streetscape of the most iconic street in Budapest (Kossuth Lajos utca, which was once the main shopping street, but now it is over-polluted by traffic) would have only by replacing the existing (below), rather fussy and chaotic storefront with a unified and more simple one (above). This helped some district authorities in Budapest to recently start a programme dedicated to this issue in other parts of the city (only Hungarian)

25 5.5. Diversifying the funding portfolio: Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation (optional challenge, nr.7) What does this challenge mean in the project s policy field? Even in developed countries, cultural enterprises find it difficult to obtain loans, advances and other services from banks because of the sector s high risk and its lack of tangible assets that can serve as collateral. Financial institutions are rarely at ease with the sector s innovation-driven character, notably when its copyright content is high. The business sector still provides only limited support and in any case prefers larger organizations. This is why public support through purchases, financial and fiscal incentives, subsidies, license fees or even public employment is key, especially in cases when infrastructural interventions cannot be expected any more. Policy tools ranging from tax breaks to public investment are deployed by governments everywhere to attract these high value adding activities. In one notable example, the Government of Quebec, in Canada, offered a 37.5% tax break for video game developers. Local governments yet have few available mechanisms or tax credits to stimulate individual, community or corporate giving. More collaborative schemes are thus requested regarding this implementation related challenge. Besides the strategic use of ERDF funds, both through the constitution of publicprivate partnerships (in case of funds dedicated to enterprises) and through calls in support of territorial development (in case of funds dedicated to public authorities), the key issue here is to diversify the funding portfolio involving local businesses to collaborate in developing innovative funding measures, and thus to create synergies among development processes (ecosystem) Talking about business in another way Besides better prioritizing investments regarding the resource-constraints, and policy and financial incentives that make the district more attractive as a place to live and work for creative professionals (tax exemptions, property incentives, marketing assistance), limited budget capacities or dissatisfaction about traditional ways of funding can lead to find other, alternative financial schemes. Financial innovations might offer solutions that are more feasible, better suit to local needs, or even benefit the socio-economic environment. This section will introduce the following financial innovations: 1. crowdfunding, 2. time-banking and alternative currencies, 3. CSR schemes: Art Bonus, Pro Bono, 4. Social Marketplace, 5. creative-cultural impact bonds and the possible application of these schemes in supporting the creative ecosystem. 1. For local, creatives-driven project crowdfunding can be an option. Crowdfunding is used when a project or venture is funded by the crowd, it means that a large number of people have together raised a sum of money that is comprised of the relatively small contributions of each of these individuals. In general, people supports projects and products not specifically linked to any local place. Within the concept of crowdfunding, three types can be differentiated: equity, lending, and rewards. Equity: this type of crowdfunding is comparable to the stock market, where in exchange for the contributor s investment, the contributor acquires equity, i.e., partly ownership or a small piece/ share of the company/ project of which the contributor can profit when the company does well. Lending: contributors lend money to a company or project, this means that their money will be repaid, often following a repayment schedule, and profit can be earned from the interest. Rewards: people who have contributed to the crowdfunded project will receive a reward, which can take the form of simply a present or even a version of the final product of the project that is being produced. But as people value places they are emotionally connected to, crowdfunding can be a tool to support at least quick wins and symbolic projects. Perhaps it depends on the size of the city, but the Creative 25

26 City Berlin platform is also used as a marketing tool for collecting crowdfunding for specific creativecultural goals 19 In smaller cities expats can be involved effectively in crowdfunding schemes by using social media platforms. It is worthwhile to investigate in the course of this project which role municipalities can apply to support crowdfunding campaigns from creative entrepreneurs. 2. Time-banking and alternative currencies to boost creative-based strategies. Although terminology is a bit confusing, local communities have been dealing with community currencies for decades. In general we can call these systems Local Exchange and Trading Systems (LETS), firstly established in Canada by Michael Linton in A local exchange and trading system is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community information service and records transactions of members exchanging goods and services by using the currency of locally created LETS credits. We know thousands of examples globally, the most LETS work in the USA, UK and Germany. Interestingly, many LETS have thrived when the mainstream economy was in crises. Timebanking could work well between creative enterprises, boosting community spirits. Furthermore, alternative currencies can be introduced by the municipality in order to sell and buy local creativecultural values (tickets for events, workshops, exhibitions, performances, paying renting fee of creative studios, etc.) in the city. 3. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR practices can be used in different ways regarding creative-based urban strategies. The municipality for example can organise tailored events to create connections between local enterprises and creative people and to channel the system of local corporate tax incentives for private support for local culture-led development. Art Bonus in Italy is similar to this, but on national level. It is a tax credit equal to 65% of charitable contributions that individuals or companies make in favour of public cultural heritage. The Art bonus is revolutionary for Italy, which has a unique cultural heritage. Now every citizen can contribute to protecting Italy s cultural heritage, and passing it on to the next generations with this simple gesture. With a donation, citizens receive not only a tax advantage but also the pride in taking care of the Italian cultural heritage. 20 Depending on the tax systems, similar schemes can be elaborated in cities that wish to boost creativity. Another innovative CSR practice is the Pro Bono (Latin, for the public good) scheme. Participating in pro bono, members of a profession are bound by their ethical rules to charge reasonable rates for their services and to serve the public interest by providing free service to indigent persons or to religious, charitable, or other non-profit groups. A lawyer's free legal service to these types of clients is for example designated as pro bono service. 21 Again, it is the municipality which can match demand and supply within its own territory by, for example, organising matchmaking events. 4. Additionally, the Social Marketplace 22 can provide possibilities for creating an environment in which creative entrepreneurs can find funding solutions. The Social Marketplace Method connects companies and non-profit organisations of a city in an exceptional 2-hour-setting. As in a traditional market, supply meets demand and joint projects are initiated. There are no boundaries concerning the form of commitments but one: money is taboo. In order to boost local creative entrepreneurs the municipality can organize Social Marketplace where local creative-cultural enterprises and organizations and noncreative enterprises and companies can meet. The goal of a Social Market place is producing commitments and agreement. Although this method is used for NGOs, it can be used with regards to small creative entrepreneurs as well (Creative Marketplace)

27 5. Creative-Cultural Impact Bond as potential innovative financial method regarding CCIs: Social Impact Bond (originally launched by the Young Foundations in the UK) is a contract with the public sector in which a commitment is made to pay for improved social outcomes that result in public sector savings. While they operate over a fixed period of time, they do not offer a fixed rate of return. Repayment to investors is contingent upon specified social outcomes being achieved. Therefore, in terms of investment risk, Social impact bonds are more similar to that of a structured product or an equity investment. 23 Similarly to social goals, also cultural goals can be driving force for making such contracts. For instance, the bond can contribute to the development of a local historical site or the implementation of a traditional cultural event for which a strong commitment can be generated. Thus, the possibility of the realization of a new type of bond can be called Creative-Cultural Impact Bond - for promoting local creative-cultural activities is expected. Besides, by using its own organisational resources, a municipality can support creative based strategies in various forms: creation of a spin-off network of local companies temporary use of underused or abandoned spaces should be encouraged by city councils with innovative financing structures (pop-up, etc.) supporting creative industries could also take the form of engaging private owners and project developers to long-term goals. In this context, building up efficient networks and facilitating the creation and operation of a creative ecosystem are crucial enhance the cooperation with potential innovation founders (business angels or credit guarantee funds). Last, but not least networking for financial and other administrative services can be provided by an incubation body, paid by the local government (i.e. small enterprises often cannot afford in-house specialist administrative and management skills, such as accountancy, legal advice or logistics) Designing public procurement frameworks: Designing smart public procurement frameworks (optional challenge, nr.6) What does this challenge mean in the project s policy field? Regarding the network s main policy challenge, the most important issue is that while procurement regulations are intended to ensure accountability and minimize risk, the process leaves little room for experimentation or creative engagement with entrepreneurs. In the same time an increasing role of procurement in buying creative and strategy services from advertising, media planning and branding industries can be recognized with undesirable consequences as the loss of the very thing that makes creative services valuable their unique ability to add value to the procurer s business. As procurement drives down the cost of buying those services it will drive down their value. Consequently, the procurer will dissatisfied with those services and cancel contracts and have appointment of the next low cost bidder. 24 Therefore, innovations are needed in procurement to correctly value creative services. This is easier in the on-line space where accountability is high, off-line it may take longer. At the same time the providers of creative services must improve their leadership, innovation and accountability to improve their ability to deliver and value what they do. Finally, both sides must realize they share the common goal of adding higher value to brands and their owners through superior creative ideas and innovation

28 Is it possible to use smart public procurement framework with regards to CCIs? Smart Pubic Procurement is a new perspective on public procurement, which emphasizes socioeconomic and environmental aspects. The URBACT network Procure: creating a good local economy through procurement ( of which the baseline study was published in March 2016, has its whole theme devoted to bringing about economic, social, and environmental benefits for businesses and people by making smart procurement decisions. The baseline study identifies in addition five ways that can help with the maximization of socio-economic and environmental benefits through procurement. Developing procurement strategies with a common narrative: Aligning the plans of different organizations who share the same care for certain issues in a certain place. Developing accessible portals: Online platforms can function as a portal on which tender opportunities and guides are shared with local businesses and organizations. Packaging contracts to make them more accessible: breaking contracts down into smaller lots to make them more attractive for local businesses. Streamlining procurement documentation: it is common for small businesses and organizations to be held back from bidding for contract opportunities as they have the perception that it is a complex process. Streamlining and standardizing are therefore ways to make this process more accessible. Using social and environmental criteria: cost and quality are the two traditional procurement criteria for cities. These criteria do not have to be the only one as also social and environmental criteria can be valuable. Public procurement in the EU accounts for more than 14% of GDP. Even though it could create a huge market for innovative products and services, the potential of public procurement remains vastly untapped. The European Commission aims to improve public procurement practices by the Public Procurement of Innovation Platform, an online hub that helps public authorities, procurers, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders utilise the power of public procurement of innovation Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery (optional challenge, nr.5) What does this challenge means in the project s policy field? There are, according to Stephen Osborne (2002), several assumptions that characterize the contractual arrangements of the public private partnerships. Firstly, Osborne points out the potential for synergy of some form, which means that by working together the parties are able to achieve a result that as a whole has a total effect which is greater than the sum of the separate contributions. The second is that the PPP involves both development and delivery of a strategy or a set of projects or operations, which is described in a similar manner by the European PPP Expertise Centre (2015) which states it is a particular feature of PPPs to focus on developing specific project outputs rather than project inputs. This focus on outputs can also been seen the financing mechanism of PPPs in which costs are determined before the start of the project and final payments are made after the delivery. Lastly, Osborne (2002) draws attention to the fact that PPPs do not serve purely commercial ends as the public sector ultimately aims to improve the life of its citizens by improving infrastructure and public services. This means that PPPs are also a form of social partnership in which the public and private sector collaborate for the public good. Ramsden (2016) identifies five motivations for entering this type of contractual arrangement which can be summed up as follows: A PPP can be a source of potential investment in the face of limited public budgets It enables a public agency to move infrastructure funding off the public balance sheet 28 Learn more about procurement Innovation Platform: though, the list of successfully implemented PPIs mainly focus on energy, transport, environment protection, the possibilities of procuring innovation from the creative-cultural sector should be investigated PPI cases: Steps of implementing PPI is available here:

29 It increases Value for Money by better financing and delivering infrastructure It is possible to realize more value from public assets (value creation and capture) by increasing the effectiveness in services and preventing poor public performance It provides a solution in case of a lack of alternatives (human and financial capacity) to deliver infrastructure by public sector But while PPPs might have great potential, one should also be aware of the challenges that come with entering such a contract. The complexities of implementing these partnerships are described by Nisar (2013). He concludes that PPP projects should pay close attention to three important aspects of project design and implementation ( ) that is, developing a strategic framework, project management skills and partnership approaches. These three factors are critical success factors that should be managed correctly to achieve a successful implementation of the PPP project. Developing a strategic framework means that plans of the public and private parties are aligned by taking into consideration the parties strengths and motivations. Furthermore, within the strategic framework it should be possible for the contract manager of the public agency to undertake business planning in collaboration with the private service provider to ensure a continuity of funding, service improvements and innovation (Nisar, 2013). An effective alignment of plans can only be achieved by employing the appropriate project management skills. The creation of the management structure is crucial for establishing reporting lines within the project team so that valuable information about the progress of the project reaches the top-level project board. It is also the task of the project managers to form a project team that has the appropriate range of capabilities and skills. Nisar (2013) argues that failing to identify team member s experience and dedication can lead to the under-resourcing of the operational phase. Finally, nourishing an active long-term relationship between public authorities, private service providers, and end users is needed to encourage team work and partnering. Maintaining support over the course of the project relies on an effective communication strategy between all partners and team members that operates through openness rather than a hierarchical structure. Fruitful partnership approaches are essential in identifying early problems and important to liaise with all interested groups and keep them informed of progress on key decisions (Nisar, 2013) Public Private Partnerships in creative-based urban strategies tackling soft factors Based on the discussion of partner cities, classic Public Private Partnerships schemes are not so much relevant with regards to the network s policy challenge. However a strong cooperation between e.g. the real estate sector and the public sector would be very important. It would be a task for the city to find and discuss smart solutions on how the real estate sector could be engaged in the process of creating opportunities for creatives to settle themselves in existing (sometimes unused and empty) shops and buildings in the target areas. These cooperation could even be embedded in concrete contracts or other types of legal arrangements (in which for example the city commits itself to a quality upgrade of the public spaces leading to an increase of the value of the real estate and in return the real estate sector offers low rental prices for a certain period of time). Such an approach could diminish financial barriers for young entrepreneurs and start-ups in the sector. As mentioned above, providing networking facilities for financial and other administrative services is an important tool to be prepared by the municipality. Depending on the scale, it can be provided through a PPP construction, like the one in Rotterdam. Rotterdam s Creative Factory, established in 2008 in an abandoned grain silo, has created a raft of new full-time jobs in one of the most deprived areas of the city and has provided a working space for over 180 small companies over the last five years. The project is a public-private partnership between the government, private businesses and educational institutions that aims to house a range of creative industry companies in a single building. Most of these companies are housed in shared open spaces, and desks can be rented at low rates for all services: heating, electricity, Internet, security, reception, meeting rooms, coaching and business match-making. No subsidies are involved; the company that manages the project is privately owned and rents the building from the city of Rotterdam. Its impacts include the rapid growth of creative companies, including 29

30 affordable office space for start-ups, the enhancement of the surrounding inner-city area, stimulation of career development, collaborative cross-overs between different industries and increased visibility for the sector. City profiles Újbuda Partner Profile A hidden treasure in Budapest About the city Brief history, social and economic profile Until the 1890s, Újbuda's present territory was a field south of the historical town of Buda. The construction of a new residential area started in the 1900s, the present district was formed in From 1880 to 1980, Újbuda's population significantly increased. Nowadays, the 11 th district of Budapest (Újbuda) is the most densely populated part of the capital with ca inhabitants and a continuously growing population. The district is divided into highly different zones representing several urban fabrics: the target area (Bartók Béla street and its surroundings) is one of the most elegant parts of Budapest city centre, Gellérthegy and Sashegy are among the top green-belt areas of the capital, while there are huge panel blocks, abandoned industrial places and several deprived urban areas as well. In addition to this, two of the biggest university campuses of the country (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest University of Technology and Economics), the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and the first innovation and technology park of Central Europe (Info park) are also located in the district providing a huge human capital which can be embraced by the Municipality within its development projects. About the target area In Budapest, CCI mainly focuses on Pest and the city centre, mostly because the most important national cultural institutions are there, there are world-famous downtown parts such as the Opera, the Basilica, the Academy of Sciences, Heroes Square etc., as well as lots of leisure activities are offered, for example by the famous ruin pubs. As a result, huge amount of tourists visit these places.. At the same time, however, Buda and the Bartók Béla street have green environment, a homely mood, respect for traditions, quiet little streets and the presence of live art and artists.. The core of the target area of Újbuda, the Bartók Béla street is full of culture: between Gellért Square and Móricz Zsigmond Circus contemporary galleries, design shops, antiquities and art cafés are to be found. Also, there are some historical places in the area: Hotel Gellért and nearby Gellért square with the statue of bishop Gellért and the rock chapel in neoroman style which was built in There is a 30

31 famous studio house Gárdonyi Square with the Hadik House which was a famous Hungarian painter s home, while Hadik Café operating in the same building was the haunt of famous Hungarian writers and poets in the 20 th century. Regarding further historical places in the area, the building of the B32 Cultural Centre was a determinative venue of the Hungarian avant-garde in the 1980 s. Moreover, Móricz Zsigmond Circus with the Gomba (Mushroom) building in the middle was one of the most important places of the Hungarian revolution and war of independence in Zipernovszky ház, which is a house for science and art funded with the goal to support local environmental education by organizing scientific and cultural exhibitions and to support local artists, was funded as part of Evapro company s CSR activity. Eleven Block non-profit organization that started its activity in order to use empty places for cultural purposes works in the target area. It. Currently, they rent 7-8 places (flats and shops) in the area where 50 local artists work. They regularly invite curators and museum experts in order to explain contemporary art for visitors. Within the target area in quite some of the listed cultural-historical places creative-cultural enterprises operate. 70% of the 220 enterprises functioning in the target area operate in the cultural-creative industries. These include galleries, art cafés, restaurants, bookshops, an architectural centre, design and antique shops. Also, there are several studios for young artists and communities. These local culturalcreative enterprises have a wide range of profiles, they deal with fine-art, design, gastronomy, wine and craft, among others. These enterprises actively participate in the organization of the yearly 3-4 major programmes of the target area. The most significant and yearly organized festivals of the target area are the Eleven autumn and Eleven spring festivals, in which all the galleries, bars, restaurants, exhibition and workshop places participate with concerts, dance performances, wine tasting, design and craft workshops, permanent and temporary exhibitions, design market etc. Besides, an immense number of smaller cultural programmes take place in public spaces, for example: mini-festivals, performances, exhibitions, concerts, cultural walks. In Budapest urban and thematic walks have become fashionable recently, some of which also concentrate on the Bartók Béla street: they offer studio visits, wine walks because of the Gellért Hill s wine-grower past, gallery visits, irregular guided tours, literature walks and café nights, among others. The District has intentions to enlarge the target area. The Creative Spirits project started to deal with the core of this area which is the Bartók Béla street, but the adjoining Gellért-hill, the University Campus and the Infopark should also be considered as part of the creative district. As the first step of this extension, the Municipality would like to include the part of the Bartók Béla street that is between Móricz Zsigmond Circle and Kosztolányi square. This area includes Tranzit Art Café, a former bus station building turned into a restaurant and community place for mothers and their children. Additionally, the area between Móricz Zsigmond Circle and Kosztolányi square has a quite significant development potential thanks to a great number of shops owned by the Municipality, which could be rented to creative enterprises. About the strategy The project regarding Bartók Béla street called Cultural City Centre (CCC) project has been a priority for Újbuda for almost a decade now: it was already part of the New City Development Concept designed in 2005, which was then revised in 2009, and then it also appeared in the Integrated Urban Development Strategy for the period In the frame of the latter, Újbuda implemented the Újbuda Cultural Centre Integrated Urban Development Programme co-financed through ERDF with HUF This was a major infrastructural project providing the frames for the softer cultural and creative elements to follow as part of the CCC project. 31

32 Continuing to pursue the vision set, the district has prepared the current Integrated Settlement Development Strategy for the period It includes the CCC project and emphasizes its importance not just on district level, but on the level of Budapest. The above show that the Cultural City Centre project has been a long standing priority in the frame of which the urban landscape has already been renewed and thus now the implementation of the strategy is turning into the phase when soft measures have to be implemented. This is why Újbuda has launched the Creative Spirits network. The strategy is in line with the recently adopted Budapest 2030 Long-Term Urban Development Strategy, especially since the target area, which is close to the city centre has very diverse potentials for becoming an outstanding creative district (with unique built heritage, traditional coffee-houses representing a remarkable chapter of the history of Budapest, proximity both to the city centre and the Danube, mixed functions with galleries and new wave coffee-houses and bistros, proximity of the Budapest Technical University). Objectives of the strategy/action plan Out of the Integrated Settlement Development Strategy ( ) s goals the following: Diversification of the economy, supporting knowledge-based economic development, Conscious and collaborative city planning and Strengthening the role of science and culture are the most relevant ones for boosting CCI. The Cultural City Centre project as one of the main priorities of the district is an overarching initiative, tackled by more actions under territory-related actions, independent projects and networked projects. One of the territory-related action areas of the district is the Cultural City Centre Project Action Area, which involves Bartók Béla street and surrounding blocks (besides that the Strategy includes 9 other action areas). Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The Cultural City Centre project sets out quite a number of actions, out of which the following are the most relevant ones regarding Creative Spirits: - Renovation of public spaces and expansion of functions of roads - On foot on the Danube - Wharf section before the Budapest Technical University (BME), creating water barge walkway with new transport links and the extension of green areas, creating new recreational and tourism opportunities. - Development of BME campus limited use of public space increasing green areas open to the public - Pedestrian-friendly design of streets and zones - Renovation and expansion of cultural institutions - Function change of military areas within the district (there is also a historical barrack, called Hadik barrack on the Bartók Béla street) - Strengthening the role of science and culture - Formation of culturally diverse neighbourhoods - Strengthening the education and research sector - SME Development and Innovation Program, business incubation - Inclusion of civil society So far measures of the Cultural City Centre project have concentrated mainly on the rehabilitation of public spaces and certain historically important cultural venues such as literary coffee houses and galleries. These initiatives, however, need to be further developed with regards to the soft factors of creative-based strategies: attract more creative businesses and especially new segments of creative 32

33 businesses like start-ups to the Bartók Béla street, which could then have a great potential to become Budapest s creative district. The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address Therefore, Újbuda intends to boost creative entrepreneurship within the target area, with a special emphasis on attracting young people and start-ups to Bartók Béla street. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan Regarding the strategic goal of Diversification of the economy, supporting knowledge-based economic development, the expected results are: - increasing the size of public areas with new functions - increasing the number of creative businesses newly settled in the district - increasing the number of creative businesses cooperating with higher education institutions, participating in clusters or supported cooperation - increasing the size of the business area created as a result of developments Regarding the strategic goal of Strengthening the role of science and culture / increasing cultural diversity, supporting cultural actions, the expected results are: - growing number of cultural events and visitors - growth in renovated or newly created community centres - increase in the number of companies involved in education and research - development of new products- introduced by the supported businesses Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan Funding opportunities are provided by the ERDF through the Central-Hungary Operational Programme and the municipal budget. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Újbuda preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation related challenges. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects Regarding the first implementation related challenge, Újbuda would like to learn how to create an efficient cross-department collaboration in order to implement its creative district vision. It means that there should be more frequent exchanges of information between the various departments affected: departments of property management, infrastructure, housing, cultural development and economic development. Lack of capacities to coordinate different experts working for different municipal departments is an obstacle of a more integrated style of working. Hopefully the Creative Spirits project could be the start of improving this internal cooperation also due to the fact that the project will have a dedicated manager within the Municipality. In this regard strong cooperation mechanisms will be further established with the ULG Coordinator as well, who is the manager of B32 Cultural Centre (built and owned by the Municipality). B32 has staff members whose work is dedicated to take care of Bartók Béla street s creative and cultural life by organizing programs in B32 and other places of the area, cooperating with and following the operation of the local creatives. 33

34 Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery Újbuda has a rather long list of learning needs regarding this challenge: Firstly, the involvement of stakeholders so far has been rather project-specific. Strong and structural stakeholder engagement mechanisms are missing. Thus, the municipality would like to learn more about tools and methods to strengthen these relationships. Involvement of the target area s inhabitants and of university students has also proved to be challenging. Collaboration with the universities in the districts should especially be enhanced. Also, Újbuda needs to find the way to better involve the real estate sector (shop owners) of the area, as most of the empty shops are not owned by the Municipality. Specific public/private arrangements are needed to ensure that empty shops and buildings can be rented out to challenging start-ups in the creative industry and this requires that this sector is involved in this revitalisation process from the very beginning. The same applies for the existing shop owners. The creative image and appearance of the street should be a joint responsibility and effort. They can be very much stimulated by appealing facades and windows of shops. The Municipality could have a facilitator role by organizing for example shop window making workshops for shop owners or providing financial support for making their façades look nicer. Involving the current shop owners in this process is also a challenge for the ULG. Újbuda needs to find the right measures for the above. Besides finding new stakeholders, the already involved ones will play an important role in the implementation of the Creative Spirits project. This refers especially to the recently founded Kult11 Cluster, representing one of the most active cultural participants in the target area. KULT11 is an association for Bartók Béla street which was formed more than three years ago with the objective of regenerating Bartók Béla street as a cultural urban centre by realising the Cultural City Centre Project as was planned in At its current state this cluster mainly concentrates on event development and organization, but its engagement should be strengthened to be able to further implement Újbuda s Creative and Cultural goals. Members of Újbuda s ULG include the creative enterprises of the target area, i.e. representatives of the owners of the galleries, bars, restaurants, design and craft shops as well as representatives of the universities, B32 Cultural Centre, Eleven block non-profit organization, Zipernovszky house and the Investment, Urban Management and Transport Departments of the Municipality. On top of the existing members, it is recommended to invite the Capital Municipality of Budapest to some ULG meetings since the main transport lines, like on Bartók Béla street and on Gellért hill are owned by them. Additionally, the participation of the Hungarian Defence Forces representative would be necessary in some ULG meetings, or at least in discussions about the Hadik barrack s future which is located in the core target area and is currently out of use. The real estate owners of underused or misused shops which do not have a cultural-creative function should also be involved in the ULG, even if at the moment it is not typical that one or two owners would have more empty places in the area. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance The Integrated Settlement Development Strategy ( ) not only concentrates on the level of projects, but also on larger-scale correlations, has sectoral targets. Therefore, measurement is not solely based on the realisation of projects, but also on the fulfilment of certain thematic objectives. During its preparation a set of indicators were developed to measure the achievement of thematic objectives. The exact indicators for the individual projects and actions will be developed later based on these. Currently the district faces great difficulty to develop the baseline and target values for indicators corresponding to the various actions of the Strategy, especially related to soft measures. Therefore, instead of numeric indicators, current indicators show the expected/ planned change based on available data and present knowledge. Better defining the baseline and target indicators would be possible after collecting the 34

35 appropriate databases. It is a challenge to collect data and build upon it and integrate it into the 1 st phase of the monitoring processes to receive real and tangible outcomes. Therefore Újbuda is keen to enter into a learning process on how to find the appropriate monitoring tools. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan This challenge has been considered as the highest priority for Újbuda. The development of the Cultural City Centre Project started 10 years ago and the city has managed to implement some successful actions to raise the attractiveness of Bartók Béla street. However, currently the district is stuck with the development, as the Strategy does not tackle some key challenges, and thus they would need creative input and inspirations on how to implement the targets of the new strategy, with a special focus on soft measures of creative-based strategies. In this regard the first main challenge is the complexity of the strategy which makes it difficult to prioritise and schedule actions effectively in order to ensure that developments build upon one another. As a second challenge, even if actions listed in the strategy are mainly infrastructural ones, the operational plan should be more focussed on soft measures. Soft measures are needed to encourage new rules and regulations for urban and regional planning (flexible planning schemes) which give particular attention to schemes to make empty shops or flats in creative locations available at below-market prices. This also links to the Challenge of setting up Public/Private partnerships for delivery. It is also a challenge for Újbuda to encourage the touristic appeal of creative places. For example, in the target area shop windows do not have a coherent appearance. It means that the creative district is not visible for visitors, it is rather hidden inside the shops. There is an unbalance: creativity is increasingly fruitful inside and less attractive outside. Újbuda is looking for good practices in this regard among Creative Spirits partner cities in order to answer the question: what kind of regulations make it possible to form the image of a street, forcing the shop owners/ creative enterprises to create more appealing shop windows but not scaring them with these regulations. There are also some external factors acting as challenges in implementing the creative district vision: in the enlarged target area, Budapest Capital Municipality owns the main transport lines on Bartók Béla street. Although Újbuda has a good working relation with the Capital Municipality and there are good examples of successful cooperation between them, significant infrastructural transport developments in the target area can negatively affect the cultural city centre or creative district vision of Bartók Béla street. Similarly, Gellért hill is also owned by the Capital Municipality. The hill with the Citadella is a touristic and culturally rich area, which should be more involved into the developments of the creative district. Újbuda would like to learn solutions for this problem from partners who have already tackled similar challenges. Additionally, the unsolved issue of the empty Hadik barrack is also due to an external actor. The barrack which is located in the core target area and currently not in use, is owned by the Hungarian Defence Forces who have not shown willingness in the last years to cooperate with the Municipality in order to give a creative-cultural function to the building complex. Besides learning needs, during the city visit some particularly good practices were also identified in Újbuda. Firstly, the Municipality has a policy to support galleries in the area by offering them lower rental costs. It is especially interesting in some cases in the Bartók Béla street: for example when two shops were originally rented by banks paying quite a lot of taxes to the Municipality, yet as the Municipality has decided to implement the cultural city centre project, they rented out these two shops to a gallery and the Contemporary Architecture Centre for a rather low rental fee.. At the same time, the Contemporary Architecture Centre started to visit the local primary schools organising programs for children. As such, the Municipality and the Architecture Centre are working in a strong and successful cooperation (this is related to Nr.2 challenge as well). Due to this, for example young artists are involved 35

36 in the creation of thematic installations in public places e.g. memorial place of 1956 which entails serious opportunities for them. All in all good initiatives have been taken in the past but a more structured implementation based on an operational plan which includes also an Image Quality Plan would surely bring the Bartók Béla street and the area to a higher creative level. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation The district belongs in Central-Hungary, a more developed area within Hungary, which means that it is a phasing in region, thus receives less EU funding than other parts of Hungary. The available EU funds should be used as investment so that as the result of such investment new economic values could also be created, thereby contributing to the financial background of further developments. Since there are currently no other significant public funds for financing planned developments, the municipality needs to look for innovative funding instruments (e.g. crowdfunding). In order to launch such instruments, Újbuda needs to learn how they can involve the private and the third sector in funding creative cultural activities, supporting creative enterprises. Also, they need to learn tools how shop owners should be encouraged to change the function of their place (turn into cultural-creative) by innovative financing structures. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery Újbuda would not like to tackle this specific challenge in the frame of the Creative Spirits project, although some elements of cooperation between the public and private sector were discussed in the previous challenge on operational planning. Designing smart public procurement frameworks Újbuda would not like to tackle this challenge in the frame of the Creative Spirits project. Conclusions and attention points As it was described in the previous chapters, the main policy challenge for Újbuda is to explore good practices and find policy tools through the Creative Spirits network to transform Bartók Béla street from a thematic cultural street into a real creative district by tackling the implementation related challenges. The main goal is how this can be achieved both through a stronger support to current creative enterprises and institutions and through answering the question how new creatives can be invited to settle in the area. In order to tackle the first challenge, the Municipality has already used some soft measures in the past. For instance, it provided low rental fees for creative enterprises opening their place in the Bartók Béla street, which proved to be a successful measure. They also financially support programmes which the local cultural enterprises are organizing and advertise them in the local media. So, the Municipality has taken its responsibility but wants to further discuss how, when and for and with whom a facilitator role could be further developed. Considering the second part of the policy challenge (how new creatives can be invited to settle in the area), the involvement of students and local inhabitants into the creative activities of the area poses a challenge. Both groups could be the new creative entrepreneurs of the area, as already shown by various (both positive and negative) examples. But it is also the improvement of the image of the street which could help to attract creative entrepreneurs from outside the area. Besides, a strong help desk and support function of the Municipality could also help in this regard. Regarding students the proximity of the Universities and the Contemporary Architecture centre on Bartók Béla street is an opportunity to attract them to visit the area and to establish creative start-ups. 36

37 There are however bottlenecks linked to the rather exclusive and more and more (in particular for students) expensive image of the area and the fact that start-ups are lacking entrepreneurial skills. These aspects will certainly be a part of the Implementation Challenges to be taken up by Újbuda. There is a similar issue with the connection between the creative sector in the street and the local inhabitants and social environment. A number of creative institutions and businesses in the street are developing and organising very interesting workshops and programmes linked to arts, music and design for the local people. So there is certainly a clear intention to contribute to the social environment as well, but improvements still have to be made. What and how this can be done is also a part of the Implementation Challenge of Újbuda. Another aspect to be taken into account is the strong gentrification process in the streets around the Gellért Hill, due to which more and more young people move to the area. Although this is not always seen as positive in relation to the housing policies of the District it can also be seen as a potentially interesting development due to the fact that culture and creativity are elements of the urban life style which are mostly highly appreciated by young people. Besides supporting and inviting creatives to the area the attraction of tourists means a huge challenge for Újbuda. This is surely a publicity and marketing issue but it is also linked to the image of the street. The area hosts a lot of creative shops and other spots but at first sight it is rather difficult to recognise this. Giving public spaces and street furniture a more arty look would be one of the solutions for this. These aspects are high on the priority list of Újbuda. The two most significant challenges are however Moving from strategy to operational action-plan and Maintaining involvement of stakeholders. Related to both of them, Újbuda has some good practices and experiences that they are keen to share with the Creative Spirits partnership as well as a list of quite concrete questions needed to be answered by learning from other partners. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 3 Participation: 3 Project management: 3 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? Yes. The whole territory of Hungary, except for the capital region of Budapest (where Újbuda is located), belongs to less developed regions. At least 5% of the ERDF allocation will be invested in sustainable urban development actions implemented in Hungary mainly through dedicated priority axes in the territorial OPs. In line with this, the Central- Hungary Operational Programme supports sustainable urban development within its 6th priority as well. Actions listed in the Integrated Settlement Development Strategy ( ) of Újbuda will be partially financed by this priority. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 37

38 How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. Ibi Partner Profile Building upon a unique creative heritage in Europe About the city Geography Ibi is situated in the La Foia de Castalla area ( Toy Valley ), in the countryside of the Province of Alicante, Spain. The town is located 37 km from the city of Alicante, surrounded by mountains and gorges. The economy of Ibi has fully been based on the toy industry - and partly on the ice-cream industry -, the most important of this kind in Spain. As a result of this industry s development, many other related industries have also emerged in the last years. Nowadays Ibi s economy is much more varied with sectors as aerospace, food, chemical, machinery, automotive, cosmetics, toys, metallurgy, furniture, paper, health and steel. Brief history Until the 19 th century, the economy of Ibi was based on agriculture and ice businesses (buying ice collected in winter from the mountains) and, in relation with the latter, on home-made ice-cream industry. Ibi was one of the first Spanish places where the ice cream industry started to work. Ibi and its neighbour town Xixona are considered as the cradle of ice cream. During the 1940s and 1950s the toy industry started to grow, with reinforcement of important factories as Rico and Paya that had more than 100 workers at that time. The Paya brothers were one of the pioneer toy producers in Spain making toys as horse tartans. The population of Ibi grew very fast (as fast as the toy industry grew) in the 1950s and 1960s from around 3,000 inhabitants to 20,000 inhabitants. There were more than 1,000 factories that occupied thousands of square meters in the actual urban and residential area. Until 1975, Ibi and the whole Toy s Valley had a prospering economic period. After 1975, however, the industry started to face strong competition from other markets such as China. As a consequence of this, traditional enterprises like Rico and Paya had to close their factories in the 1980s. 38

39 Nowadays, Ibi has a more diversified industry and it has one of the biggest industrial areas of the Province of Alicante (the third after Alicante and Elche). This industrial area is located outside the residential areas, not like the traditional industrial area whose old buildings are still situated in the centre of the city. In the last years, these old factory buildings were renovated by the Municipality and started to host public services. The goal of the Municipality of Ibi has been (forced by the changing economic reality) to try to transform the traditional working city into a new service and living city. During this process, however, the city centre has lost its position and vibrancy. Many inhabitants moved out and commercial areas became abandoned as well. Nowadays, the Municipality wants to recover the city centre and fill it with vitality and creativity rooted mainly in the industrial (toy industry) traditions. This is one of the reasons why the Municipality has joined the Creative Spirits network. Social and economic profile Today Ibi has more than inhabitants. As in all the cities of the province of Alicante (except Alicante, Elche, Sant Vicent del Raspeig university town), the number of inhabitants has shrunk since 2012 as a consequence of the economic crisis. In spite of the current quite good economic developments, the population has not started to grow yet. The Municipality of Ibi is part of the creative cluster of the Toy s Valley composed by the Municipalities of Castalla, Onil and Ibi. Ibi is the most important town of the cluster. The key economic sector of Ibi today is the plastic industry. Some of the plastic factories produce big toys and thus continue competing with Chinese factories, while other factories have decided to change to produce bioplastics, dresses, cellophane (and similar), medical and pharmacy products made of plastics. At the same time, Ibi is not only a producer, it is an important logistic centre as well: it distributes toys and more elaborated plastic objects to other parts of Spain and Europe. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy As already mentioned, Ibi had and still has a significant toy industry. The city is also active in research and development related to toy-manufacturing: the Technological Research Institute of Toys and Children Leisure, which is a centre of creativity is located in Ibi. Considering other creative and cultural industries or activities of Ibi, the Municipality has several museums, with a regional function. The most important ones are the Toy s Museum and the Biodiversity Museum. Further cultural and creative activities are related to local traditions and festivities such as the Moros i Cristians, els Enfarinats or the Magi. There are more than 300 cultural actions a year in the city including the programs of theatres, street festivals, cultural centres. For instance, the Rio Theatre, the biggest theatre located in the city centre organized 108 performances in Another important cultural centre (but outside the city centre) is the Miro Cultural Centre which organized 118 cultural activities in The number of enterprises in the city is 1,780. Most of them operate in the cultural-creative industries. Nonetheless, currently in the city centre, which is the target area of Ibi in the Creative Spirits network, only 5 creative enterprises are still operative. About the strategy The Integrated and Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of Ibi was signed in December 2015 to comply with the new rules of ERDF Funds and Spanish National Ministry policies regarding urban development. The strategy was designed during the last months of It is based on the previous Local Development Strategy (1992) and it also takes into account previous local strategies. 39

40 The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address The attraction and revival of creative enterprises to the target area linked to the traditional toy industry is one of the key challenges Ibi is facing. Designing toys was and still is rooted in the creative hearts of the Ibi community and the challenge is to benefit from the nostalgic trend for more sustainably produced toys. The public spaces and historical buildings of the city centre need to be rehabilitated with quality services and by using new measures to attract and support creative, and/or young, entrepreneurs there and thus to transform the city centre into a creative hub by rethinking traditional crafts, attracting new generation designers, etc. This is the challenge the city is currently facing, which can not only be influenced by potential and creative history of the toy industry, but the proximity of the Alicante area as well (tourism). This challenge is further influenced by the fact that nowadays a significant number of local young people leave the city and move to Alicante because of better services, entertainment opportunities and universities. Also, tourists prefer Alicante (on the seaside) and it is hard to attract them to the inner parts of the Alicante Region, to places like Ibi. By tackling the policy challenge how to transform the city centre into a creative hub - it would be possible to keep local people in the city and to attract young qualified ones showing them that their creative enterprises are supported by the Municipality and the city centre s creative and cultural activities provide enough opportunity for entertainment after work and during weekends. Objectives of the strategy/action plan To promote culture-led urban development and Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) and boost creative entrepreneurship in the historical city centre is an overarching goal of the Integrated and Sustainable Urban Development Strategy. Most of its objectives tackle this issue, yet the most important ones are the following: Objective 1 is related to physical and urban improvement (e.g. reactivation of services and commerce); Objective 2 is related to social and neighbourhood integration and mainstreaming and youth objectives (e.g. promotion of youth participation and leisure improvement); Objective 3 is related to the environmental improvement of public spaces, urban transformation (e.g. creating a cultural space); Objective 4 is related to economic development (e.g. improvement of the competitiveness of the local economy, support of innovation and entrepreneurship); Objective 5 is related to the recovery of industrial heritage and cultural promotion (e.g. promoting the traditions of the toy industry); Objective 6 is related to the recovery and conservation of historical heritage (e.g. conservation and consolidation of the local historical heritage); Objective 7 is related to tourism promotion (e.g. improving degraded zones and consolidate them as leisure and creativity spaces). Boosting creative entrepreneurship may contribute to most of the above objectives. Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The strategy includes the following main actions related to city centre development: 1. Physical and urban improvement (environmental improvement and development of the businesscommercial zones) 2. Development of Church s square and enabling integrated use of the space in the Castelló s House (emblematic local building), job creation, labour integration actions; family support programme; gender mainstreaming, promotion of social volunteering 3. Environmental improvement of public spaces (Church s square, public lighting, gardens and parking elimination). 4. Economic development (Paya Square, Empedrat street, Main street, Santo Tomás Street, construction of an economic and business centre for creative entrepreneurs, training for SMEs (adaptation to new technologies), promotion of e-commerce). 40

41 5. Industrial heritage regeneration (renovation of the traditional building of the Payà Factory, promotion of the adaptation of traditional industries to new technologies, training in traditional jobs and jobs related to local industry, marketing actions, recovery of materials and machines). 6. Historical heritage preservation (recuperation of the old bullfighters square, promotion of cultural events). 7. Tourism promotion (Palla s square, Main street, Empedrat street, Church s square, recovery of residual spaces, promotion of children leisure, promotion of health activities for old people, creation of touristic itineraries related to the industrial tradition of Ibi (story-telling)). All of these actions could be applied if the historic city centre could be transformed into a creative hub, attracting creative businesses and start-ups. As part of the implementation of the strategy, the following Strategic Initiatives are currently in progress related to the main policy challenge of the Creative Spirits network: - Improvement of the industrial cluster. Several years ago, Ibi joined the REINDUS program to develop its industrial clusters and to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities. - Start-up of La Casa de Los Reyes Magos, one of the most ambitious and powerful projects to promote the image of Ibi as a toy and childhood destination. - Revitalization and strategic support to the industry of Ibi, improving the image of industrial spaces and offering more industrial space for new investors. - Complex renewal of the historical city centre. - Promoting employment, training and local employability. - Developing interior tourism ahead of traditional 'sun and beach' tourism. Ibi is making efforts in developing its tourism industry based on local traditions of toy manufacturing, handmade ice-cream and mountain tourism. - Working closely with the citizens to define together future actions to grow more and be more responsive to their needs. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan The strategy defines the following results related to city centre development: - Strengthened local industrial net in a favourable urban context with services and opportunities to improve the toy industry s competitiveness and sustainability - Improved industrial area in order to maintain investments and attract new enterprises - Re-discovery of the city centre by entrepreneurs as an environmental-friendly, clean place with minimal carbon footprint - Increased cooperation between local socio-economic agents through the local economic and social guidance - Leveraging the advantage of new communication infrastructures to adapt to the circumstances of the New Economy (social, green, creative, knowledge-based) and the creation of new jobs and enterprises - Re-defined historic centre as a main point of cultural, economic and social relations - Conserve and revalorize the local cultural heritage in order to use it as a motor of new economic activities, with a special attention to CCI - Achieve a more included and integrated society The area that the strategy/ action plan covers The part of the Strategy Ibi wishes to build upon within the Creative Spirits project focuses on the city centre with its significant built and industrial heritage. The most important creative heritage of the city centre is the Toy Factory and its Museum. Beside the permanent toy exhibition, the Toy Museum hosts also the exhibition of the One toy one dream program, which is a school program encouraging local children to make home-made toys for poor children. Regarding further programs of the museum, for 41

42 the 25 th anniversary of the museum local artists will have a theatre performance acting as toys. The performance is the initiative of the museum supported financially by the Municipality. The creation of the Toy Museum was only one step in the renovation and revitalization process of the old Toy Factory. Most of the factory halls are still in the condition as they were left when the factory was closed 35 years ago. The factory, however, has a great potential to be turned into an interactive museum and workshop place presenting the creative heritage toy making tradition - to local people as well as to tourists. The Toy Hotel located in the target area, hosts the most tourists, especially families with children. Further creative places within the target area include for instance the Municipality owned Teatro Rico which hosts performances of local actors and guest artists or bands. In addition, a derelict, empty mill in the target area has great potentials to be turned into a cultural centre with an open air theatre in front of the building. Regarding further underused places, the upper part of the target area is the most critical one, especially since infrastructure there is in private ownership. The empty shops of the city centre had been turned mainly into bars, but as residents complained about the noise they had to be closed. Nowadays every type of entrepreneur is invited to these empty shops to bring back vitality and creativity to the city centre, and as it appears creative entrepreneurs prefer to open shops in the city centre strengthening the creative district profile of the area. Contributing to this goal, the Municipality also started to open the market on Saturday afternoon for young people organizing gastronomy events. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan The strategy is co-financed by the Municipality, by national and by European funds. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Ibi preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following challenges, learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation of the city s strategy in the target area. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strate gy and their related actions/projects Compared to the previous strategy of the city (1992), the present one applies a truly integrated approach. However, although city managers recognise the importance of such an approach, they still need to develop their adaptive capacities to change (values, habits, traditions, thinking) towards social innovation, new economic and new governance models. The municipality is in great need of new and flexible actions within new governance frameworks: - new ways of working across sectorial boundaries - strengthening local leadership to facilitate creative ecosystems - focusing on long-term shared objectives - frequent knowledge transfer between planners and officials responsible for the execution of the plans - ensuring that all departments have a shared understanding of the objectives and actions of the strategy and work in cooperation. For instance, the 5th action of the strategy - industrial heritage regeneration - includes soft (training in traditional jobs, marketing actions) and hard (renovation of the traditional building of the Payà Factory) measures typically carried out by different departments of the municipality. Therefore, a strong cooperation is needed between the soft and hard departments in order to implement this complex action effectively. Though Ibi still needs to foster more efficient cross-department collaboration in order to improve the three approaches (social, economic and environmental) of integration during implementation, the 42

43 Municipality already has shown successful cooperation between departments and integrated implementation of projects thanks to their cooperative working culture. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery The Municipality of Ibi has experience in creating participative forums at local level within the framework of various projects. However, these forums have not been sustainable. Thus, the ULG members are quite afraid that the ULG will also not continue to work after the project closes. Therefore, Ibi needs to learn how to maintain stakeholders participation in the long-run, especially during the strategy s whole implementation process. They would like to learn how to include and make use of quick wins during the implementation process. The Municipality of Ibi has already involved into its Local Group: the representative of IBIAE, the local association of entrepreneurs (an association having 900 members and its headquarters in China), the representative of the Research Institute of Toys and Leisure, the representative of each political party in the city hall (6 political parties), two technicians from the Urbanism Department (including environment and urban planning), three local entrepreneurs running creative enterprises in the City Centre, a technician of the local tourism body, two managers of two local cultural associations (located in the city centre), a technician of the local economic development agency, the manager of the Toy s Museum, the representative of the provincial professional association of architects, the representative of the provincial young entrepreneurs association (in its headquarters of Ibi) and the representative of the University of Alicante. Ibi s ULG will have 3 local coordinators: a politician, a creative entrepreneur and a technician of the Municipality. Due to the industrial traditions, people consider Ibi as a working place and not as a living place where entertainment and services are available. Even if the city centre, and in general the city offers more and more to inhabitants, people can t see the opportunity for improvement. This kind of mentality of local people can be an obstacle for the successful involvement of them, consequently the main bottleneck of the participative implementation of the strategy. At the same time, Ibi has some rather successful projects based on the cooperation of local creatives or institutions. For instance, in the One toy one dream school program, the Toy Museum, the local schools and the Municipality work together in order to support poor children and encourage local children to be creative by making home-made toys for the poor ones. Similarly, the Toy Museum, the Municipality and a local theatre group cooperate successfully preparing for the 25 th anniversary of the Museum. Therefore, it is suggested to investigate what are the engines of these cooperations and which parts of them can be used as impetus to create the desired long-term cooperations and what can be adapted from them by other cities of the Creative Spirits partnership. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance Ibi has applied in its Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy indicators recognized in the ERDF Operational Programme according to its priority and strategic axis. Also, some indicators were defined related to the specific objectives of the strategy. However, specific indicators have not been defined for the measurement of creative industries of Ibi. So, the city needs to learn about indicators and monitoring systems specified for the measurement of CCI. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan As CCI is an overarching aspect of their strategy it is a challenge for Ibi when turning it into an operational plan how to start to apply soft measures related to attracting creative entrepreneurs to the centre. Also, Ibi needs to learn how temporary use of underused or abandoned spaces should be 43

44 encouraged by the city council, as more actions related to this field should be defined in an operation plan. Additionally, new rules and regulations for urban and regional planning (flexible planning schemes) should be considered, giving particular attention to how to make empty shops or flats in the planned creative location in the centre available at below-market prices. Furthermore, Ibi would like to learn how it as a city council can encourage the touristic appeal of the city centre. For instance, what kind of programs should be organized related to toy and ice cream production in order to catch the attention of tourists; how can signs in public places emphasize that they are in a creative district informing them where are the creative-cultural places and what is going on inside them; how can Ibi be a childhood touristic destination; beside the Toy Hotel, what kind of other accommodation should be provided for visitors etc. Regarding Ibi s good practices, a new regulation can be mentioned that was launched in 2016 in order to attract entrepreneurs to the city centre s empty shops. Thanks to this regulation on the main street of the target area shops are rented for a lower fee by the Municipality. As a result some previously empty shops are now occupied by creative/cultural enterprises. Another good practice of the Municipality that Creative Spirits partners may want to adapt is the shop-window competition: shop owners in the city centre receive awards if their shop-window has a particularly creative, aesthetic or tasteful appearance. Another good initiative for boosting creative enterprises is business training courses organized by the Municipality offered especially for young entrepreneurs in order to tackle the youngsters unemployment and attract young qualified workers. As it was mentioned previously, the traditional industrial area s old buildings are still situated in the centre of the city. It is considered a good practice that these old factory buildings were renovated by the Municipality and started to host public services. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation In the city s strategy all the planned activities were matched with European thematic priorities, including potential European programmes that could fund them. In order to avoid complete dependence of EU funds and risks that come with it, Ibi would like to diversify the funding portfolio by involving local businesses and local people to collaborate in developing innovative funding measures. In the past, the Municipality of Ibi used regional funds managed by the Spanish government. Ibi improved its industrial area using such funds, so they have some experience in this regard. The Municipality has a specific department dealing with European funds in order to support local projects, helping them to find European grants. The experiences and good practices of this department can be also transferred to other partner s institutional practices. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery This challenge is not a specific priority for Ibi although public/private cooperation linked to Corporate Social Responsibility programmes from the big industries in the area could be beneficial to boost the creative sector. It is also a challenge to engage the real estate sector more to the development of the creative sector. Designing smart public procurement frameworks The Municipality does not see the opportunity to create such a smart procurement system which could support local creative entrepreneurs due to national regulations. Thus, this challenge will not be tackled by Ibi in the frame of the Creative Spirits network. 44

45 Conclusions and attention points As it was described above, the main policy challenge for Ibi is the rehabilitation of public spaces and historical buildings in the city centre, filling them with quality services and using new measures to attract and support creative entrepreneurs and young talents there and thus to transform the city centre into a creative hub. The empty historical buildings of the city centre can be considered a challenge as well as a potential for the implementation of the Strategy in the city centre. The key for tackling these challenges is hidden in the city s creative heritage, including traditions of the toy industry and its related built heritage, like the Toy Factory. Besides the possibility of the Toy Museum s enlargement and the creation of a toy workshop place in the factory, it is recommended to take initiatives to support SMEs to start toy production again in the City Centre benefitting from the trend towards nostalgic and sustainably produced design and toys in particular. These toys could be kind of luxury products (also for adults) due to the expensive materials used and the fact that they are hand-made. In order to restart production, toy making trainings will be needed for new workers and also empty places for new startups in the city centre should be created. Toy making would then be based on traditional toy production technics combined with modern design and 21 st century techniques. The main implementation challenges in this regard are related to the elaboration of the operational action plan for the city centre area and defining CCI indicators in order to measure the success of the implementation process. In addition to the above process the city of Ibi should be better presented, promoted and marketed. The unique selling point could be toy culture heritage. This is very specific and cannot be found in other places in Europe so close to a huge touristic area. This is surely a sleeping potential to be further developed. A weakness in the future implementation could be that boosting the creative sector as a policy attention is kind of hidden in the various other policy sectors. It has not been given an own place and strategic position. This creates the risk that implementing the Strategy is rather complicated because the creative ambition can easily be overruled by other sectors. This means that the Implementation Challenge on integration should be one of the most important priorities for Ibi in the Creative Spirits project. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 6 Participation: 6 Project management: 6 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? The Municipality of Ibi is not included in an ITI. The ITI definition was different in Spain than in other countries. Spain only has 3 defined ITI (one to combat depopulation in Soria, Cuenca, etc.; another one to combat unemployment in Cadiz (Andalucia), and so on.). However, the Municipality of Ibi can participate as urban zone in an integrated urban development line for ERDF Operational Program. There were two calls for proposals and Ibi participated in both. Other Regional Funds different than urban axis that Ibi can ask for are for example related to low carbon economy or interregional cooperation. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 45

46 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. Kaunas Partner Profile At the beginning of a process to use creative industries for connecting a previous industrial area with the historic centre About the city Lithuania s second-largest city Kaunas has become the first Central and Eastern European city granted the status of a UNESCO design city in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The potential of Kaunas sprang up during the interwar period as a modern, vibrant and dynamic cultural centre. A fruitful mix of modern tendencies and old traditions is still reflected in the city s rich modern architectural heritage. Kaunas is also a candidate city for the European Capital of Culture 2022, which creates a great momentum for the city to work together with all stakeholders to ensure that the positive identity of the city does not remain stuck in the past century. Brief history Kaunas is a historical city with a large number of natural, historical and cultural sites in and around the city, and has regular events to preserve and promote its heritage. The history of Kaunas as a city started in 1408, when Grand Duke Vytautas granted its citizens the privilege of self-government based on Magdeburg Law. Kaunas experienced its greatest economic boom in the late 16 th, early 17 th century. During that period, a great number of buildings were erected, many of them brick houses. Kaunas was a provisional capital of Lithuania from 1919 to 1939 when all state institutions, embassies and consulates were operating here. Since the restoration of independence in 1990 the economic and transport links with Western Europe have improved substantially. Social and economic profile Kaunas is a large centre of industry, trade and services in Lithuania. The most developed industries in Kaunas include: food and beverage industry, textile and light industry, chemical industry, publishing and processing, pharmaceuticals, metal industry, wood processing and furniture industry. Recently 46

47 information technology and electronics have become an important area of business activities in Kaunas. However, the population of Kaunas has shrunk substantially from around 380,000 in early 2000 to officially 297,000 in 2016 due to migration to Vilnius (the capital) or abroad. This shows that one of the main social challenges of the city is migration, especially that of students. 31,500 students study in the city, most of whom leave the city after graduation instead continuing to live and work there. About the strategy Kaunas intends to reflect on its Integrated Territorial Development Plan (ITDP), as well as the City s Strategic Development Plan within the Creative Spirits network. The immediate period for implementation of the ITDP is within the current OP period of After the ITDP was approved in 2015, implementation started in 2016 and will be completed before The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan ad dress The main challenges with regards to the CCI sector within the city are the following: to ensure favourable conditions for business and encourage creative cultural entrepreneurship; to strengthen cooperation between the municipality, business promotion institutions, associated business structures and higher education institutions; to increase the quality and availability of cultural services, including establishing multifunctional centres for business incubation and creative cluster; and to increase effective use of the cultural infrastructure. On top of these, the target area of Creative Spirits in Kaunas, the Aleksotas district faces specific challenges like the lack of place for community events; migration; plenty of underused buildings occupying huge areas and low real estate prices. In addition, as most creative activities take place in the city centre and appear only in specific places in Aleksotas, currently there is no coherent creative and vibrant area in Aleksotas. Objectives of the strategy/action plan Considering the above policy challenges the City s Strategic Development Plan lists three key priority areas: 1. Sustainable economic development promotion and enhancing competitiveness 2. Developing an educated and civil society 3. Sustainable territory and infrastructure development These include the following sub-themes: Ensuring favourable conditions for business and encouraging entrepreneurship Strengthening cooperation of the municipality, business promotion institutions, associated business structures and higher education institutions Development of the system for promotion of business entities Increasing the quality and availability of cultural services; established multifunctional centres for business incubation and creative clusters Increasing the effective use of the cultural infrastructure by optimizing the network of cultural institutions, renewing and renovating the buildings of these institutions Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The ITDP specifically addresses the following key points from the city strategy which are related to the Aleksotas district: 1. Sustainable economic development promotion and enhancing competitiveness 47

48 A multi-service / multi-functional Community Centre and local info point shall be established for the area. The aim is to provide a one-stop-shop for local citizens and entrepreneurs interested in what the area has to offer and to provide services to help them improve their opportunities here. This will be situated in a convenient place in the centre of the Aleksotas area, close to the city centre with great traffic connections. It could provide an important boost for creative cultural industries/ SMEs, serving as a hub for start-ups and a means of encouraging entrepreneurship. 2. Developing an educated and civil society The key element here is formal and non-formal education from a young age onwards, therefore a Science and Innovation Centre will be established in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Education, universities and business. The aim of this project is to encourage children from a very young age to be innovative, creative and interested in science. The Science centre, which is expected to open in late 2018, will create a link between the current city centre and the new centre Aleksotas. 3. Sustainable territory and infrastructure development Developing the former Aviation Factory s territory is expected to give a boost to business development in Aleksotas. The former aviation factory in Aleksotas has the potential to become a multifunctional centre for business incubation and creative clusters, this is how it connects to the policy challenge set by the Creative Spirits network. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan Besides the Community Centre, the Science and Innovation Centre and the Aviation Factory multifunctional centre the following infrastructural projects will result from the strategy: - Creation and renovation of open spaces and public facilities in Aleksotas around the Aviation factory and the Community Centre - Renovation of education institutions by using ESF funds: 4 kindergartens,2 schools, I - Building or renovating new rain drainage system across the whole district - Renovating water lines and utility pipes - Increasing energy efficiency in educational institutions - New bike tracks: link between the city centre and the main road into Kaunas region - Building and renovating streets The area that the strategy/ action plan covers As most of the creative activities are focused in the city centre, the Municipality would like to spread creativity also to the outer districts of the city, for example to the Aleksotas district, the target area of Kaunas in the Creative Spirits project. In the Aleksotas area, the current centres of creativity are the Music Academy, the old Meat factory holding old car exhibitions and the Botanical Garden which regularly hosts local traditional events. The empty buildings of the Botanical Garden, as well as the Aviation factory also have the possibility of being creative places by inviting creative-cultural enterprises to settle there. Furthermore, there has already been some experiment to implement creative industries in Aleksotas, but so far only one building has been built as part of the Technopolis project (due to conflicts with landowners the project could not develop further in the area). These days some new impetus would be necessary to give boost to creativity in the area. Although Aleksotas as such may not seem to be the most potential area with regards to CCI within the city at first sight, the Botanical Garden and the former Aviation Factory do have the potential to be turned into a creative hub providing home for local creative enterprises. The Botanical Garden is one of the main social gathering places for the Aleksotas Community, since local events are regularly organised there. The garden s buildings are owned by the university, some of them are used for educational purposes, while others are underused or empty. Due to the fact that the Botanical Garden already has some cultural functions thanks to the regularly organized local events and has several valuable buildings, the development of this area can be the first step of inviting creative industries to the area or discovering the local ones. In this target area, the soft factors emphasized in 48

49 the State of the Art of Creative Spirits have a particularly important role to implement actions together with the Aleksotas Community. Although the main infrastructural projects are not planned in the Botanical Garden in the city strategies, based on the experiences of the city visit, the Botanical Garden has the biggest potential in the short-term to be turned into a creative place. The planned redevelopment of the former Aviation Factory (30ha of brownfield) could be implemented as the second step of planting creative enterprises to Aleksotas. This project provides a clear page to test and build up CCI measures to attract new businesses there and set up a creative hub, which might influence other parts of the city as well. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan The ITDP provides a total budget for the two chosen districts (Aleksotas and Zaliakalnis) that is 120,634,984 Euros. This amount comes from the national government, from the municipality, from private funds and from EU funding. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Kaunas and the experiences of the city visit, the following challenges, learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation of the city s strategy in the target area. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects Ensuring an integrated approach and style of working between all relevant municipal sectors (infrastructure, housing, social affairs, environment, economic affairs) is a priority challenge for Kaunas. In particular the development of the Community Centre and the Science Centre are crucial anchor points for a successful development of the Aleksotas area. If the realisation of these projects fails or if it is substantially delayed due to a lack of internal cooperation, the development of the target area will be a very difficult exercise. All the more because the area has a geographically quite excentric position in relation to Kaunas City Centre where a more established creative environment can be found. Furthermore, Kaunas has a strong learning need to build and maintain a structure of management, development, and innovative thinking that encourages all stakeholders to have an active and equal role in the implementation of the planned CCI projects. Regarding CCI developments of the Botanical Garden, the environmental aspect of integrated approach should be emphasized since it is rather big green area with lot of protected species. As developing and supporting CCI is quite new to Kaunas, it does not have a practical implementation experience yet. However, it does have a lot of ideas which are going to be discussed with the more experienced partners in phase 2 of the Creative Spirits project. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising dec ision-making for delivery Local stakeholders are involved in ITDP at all its stages. They took part in preparing it and specific funding is included in the programme to ensure that community based actions are implemented within the area before the end of The Aleksotas Community will be influential in helping to deliver the ITDP. Besides, the local community of Aleksotas has prepared a community action plan the soft actions foreseen in which will be funded by the ministry of internal affairs. Discussing the preparation process 49

50 of this community action plan can result in some good practices relevant for tackling this implementation challenge. A key challenge of Kaunas is however to develop a long-standing, reciprocal partnership with stakeholders based on a shared understanding of goals. The same is true for achieving a harmonious relationship with the different ministries involved in the implementation of ITDP. Additionally, Kaunas needs to find the right measures to activate the local inhabitants as well as find and support catalysts, i.e. the most innovative and active people. Also, they need to make sure different factions within the community, often with conflicting points of view on how the area should be developed, come together to achieve a common aim. To sum up, Kaunas is keen on learning how to get the ULG fully functional and hands on. Although stakeholder engagement is rather a challenge in Kaunas the composition of the ULG has significantly improved during the phase 1 period. At the beginning crucial municipal sectors were not yet included and the same applied for organisations representing creative entrepreneurs, the real estate sector and the knowledge sector. By the end of phase 1, however, creative well-educated entrepreneurs have joined the ULG with the aim to be ambassadors between the Municipality and the district in which they operate. It is expected that they will ensure the knowledge transfer between transnational level and local level. On top of this, it is suggested to involve similar creatives to find ways to tackle the brain drain in Kaunas. Creating better and appealing opportunities for start-ups to settle themselves in Kaunas (preferably in the target area) would be one of the solutions for which the ULG could serve as a good platform for discussion. In phase 2, a further widening of the group is suggested to include: the director of the Music Academy, one of the centres of creativity in the Aleksotas district; the most active and innovative local creatives of the district, as well as creatives of the city centre or other districts who know what are the needs, motivations and interests of the local creative enterprises. Furthermore, the representatives of those universities that are connected to the Botanical Garden should be invited. Also, the participation of the designer of the Cultural Map of Kaunas could have an added value in the ULG meetings. It is crucial to invite land and building owners in the target area, thus among others the directors of the Universities and representatives of Ministries. It is recommended to connect some ULG meetings to local traditional events of the Botanical Garden and creative-cultural actions in Aleksotas or in other districts of the city. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance Result indicators that must be achieved by 2020 are set at national and regional levels. Every action must seek to achieve at least one of those results. An interim evaluation will be held in 2018 to see where the city is moving, whether it is succeeding in achieving the results that are needed. Depending on the result, funding could be reallocated. The challenge is to work towards a successful Interim Evaluation and to find ways to better quantify and monetise sustainability indicators until then. The city must ensure that performance expected within the target area (Aleksotas) fits into the broader city profile for CCI development, especially as the city have a team established in January 2017 to encourage investment in Kaunas ( KAUNAS-IN ). Kaunas currently has installed a new process for monitoring and evaluating all projects within the Development and Investment Division of the Municipality dealing with the ITDP projects. This is based on recommendations and a methodology from the Ministry of Interior (responsible for the allocation of EU funds). This will mean an annual monitoring process based on a pre-determined set of guidelines for indicators which will be tailored to local needs. Evaluation will be as much about quality as about economic value. The methodology of this monitoring system can be a good practice to the partners or can provide a basis for discussion about CCI indicators since it is always easier to talk about a concrete 50

51 indicator and monitoring system s advantages and disadvantages than arguing theoretically about the issue. A more concrete good practice of Kaunas is the Cultural-Creative Industry Map providing an overview of the creative-cultural assets in the city. Nowadays, the Municipality is preparing the updated version of the Cultural (web) Map. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan The ITDP is already considered to be an operational strategic plan. Yet the city has to further concretise the projects intended to be implemented in the Aleksotas district. For instance, it is needed to find new and additional functions for the Botanical Garden and the Aviation Factory leading both to infrastructural investments and soft projects. The challenge here is the identification and sufficient elaboration of these projects. During the interview with the politicians and decision makers of Kaunas, it turned out that it has not been decided yet that the Aleksotas district will surely be the place where the creative enterprises can settle, as politicians are still considering other more potential areas or (empty) buildings situated in or near the city centre for creating a creative hub. This uncertainty means a huge challenge (and risk) for the implementation of that part of the Strategy which deals with the Aleksotas district projects. Also, the (functional) linkage between this target area and the creative hot spots to be further developed in the city centre of Kaunas is unclear and should be further developed in the framework of an operational plan. In general, Kaunas is looking for good practices on how to make the city accept the value of giving away empty buildings to active community groups with creative ideas, on how to use them and in doing so, on how to invigorate the immediate surroundings. Also, there is a need to re-evaluate the policies and the processes surrounding the use of historic and/or culturally significant buildings / sites. It is necessary for Kaunas to see if these are far too strict and off-putting for many useful groups. However, Kaunas also has some good practices to share with Creative Spirits partners. For instance the practice of the CreART Centres in ARTCOM which is an incubator for creative entrepreneurs or the idea of the Sanciai Kiosk. The latter is a project involving transformation of a traditional kiosk into a new icon for community involvement in Šančiai, a dramatically changing post-industrial neighbourhood of Kaunas. Through the support of the local community, the kiosk should become a mobile multifunctional platform and a new venue where active community members get together and develop their initiatives. Activities are chosen in a participatory manner and have so far included local flea markets, bike repair workshops, live music performances and Šančiai-themed narrative workshops. The Street art festival of Kaunas is also an outstanding practice of the city. Street art is becoming an increasingly popular form of art, and the city of Kaunas has also discovered that professional street artists can work on dilapidated buildings. Wall paintings are an interesting way to make the streets livelier and bring art within everyone's reach. During the festival professional artists are creating large format drawings on building walls, considering the life of the area and its community, issues and ideas. The educational part of the festival involves teaching, open discussions and helping inhabitants get acquainted with urban, architectural and street art topics. As a further good practice, Kaunas Biennial, a biannual contemporary art event in Kaunas since 1997 which exhibits textile work. The Biennial is organized by the Lithuanian Artists 'Association together with Vilnius Art Academy Kaunas Faculty of Arts and Textile Artists' Guild. In order to disseminate the results of the above described cultural-creative activities, the city produces the Kaunas pilnas Kultūros (Kaunas full of culture), a monthly publication about personalities and 51

52 events in Kaunas aimed at readers interested in culture and various artistic events. They can find relevant interviews, descriptions of noteworthy events, insights and the experiences of foreign guests residing in Kaunas, cultural reflections and an event calendar in each month s edition. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation The challenge in this regard is to regularly evaluate, and if necessary redesign, the funding proposals to make them appropriate for interdisciplinary activities and to make a case based on economic ROI for investors. Additionally, Kaunas should avoid short-sighted considerations in funding and investment decisions and better prioritize investments regarding resource-constraints. The Municipality would like to learn how to develop equitable and flexible budgetary and cost-sharing policies and learn tools to encourage temporary use of underused or abandoned spaces by innovative financing structures (popup, etc.). Finally, the Municipality needs to look for innovative funding instruments (e.g. crowdfunding) in the frame of the Creative Spirits network. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery The City is aware of the implications and pros and cons of such relationships. Kaunas would be open and willing to learn more about specifics from other partners. Regarding its own experiences which can be shared with other partners, the city has previously organised PPPs for public service delivery. Also, it has a number of concession-based agreements for renovation and/or building of major infrastructures like the Arena and swimming pool. In addition, they have in place such an agreement for the new bus-stops in the city, and for several old municipality owned buildings under which the new owner agrees to renovate the building and in return they have sole use for a fixed number of years. Such agreements can be investigated in phase 2 of Creative Spirits and can be shared with the partnership. Designing smart public procurement frameworks Kaunas does not wish to tackle this challenge in the frame of the Creative Spirits project. Conclusions and attention points The goal of Kaunas in the Creative Spirits network is to find ways how to implement their strategy with the focus on spreading the creative sector from the city centre to the outer districts of the city, to the target area of Kaunas, the Aleksotas district in particular.. Kaunas did not give themselves an easy task because it is always easier to strengthen your strong points which would be in this case a further development of the creative cluster in the City Centre. The Aleksotas district faces challenges like the lack of place for community events; migration; plenty of underused buildings occupying huge areas and low real estate prices. In addition, as most creative activities take place in the city centre and appear only in specific places in Aleksotas, currently there is no coherent creative and vibrant area in Aleksotas. Therefore, Aleksotas as such is not the most potential area with regards to CCI within the city. However, there are the Botanical Garden and the former Aviation Factory which do have the potential to be turned into a creative hub providing home for local creative enterprises. The new Science Centre and the Community centre to be opened in this area will certainly also serve as a magnet. One of the attention points regarding the implementation of this is the fact that choice of the target area (a bit excentric to the city centre) requires some more thinking because it is not clearly demonstrated why this is the best choice in relation to the overall strategy. The empty buildings Kaunas is thinking of (Botanical Garden and the Aviation Factory) could be a perfect spot for attracting creative, but the 52

53 (functional) linkage between this target area and the creative hot spots to be developed in the city centre of Kaunas is unclear. A positive element however in the above is that creatives are in most cases rather independent and they would very much support a liberal let it go approach from the municipality. Many cases all over Europe have shown that this is one of the best conditions for a cultural breeding place. The Aleksotas area could certainly be such a place assuming that the mentality of the creative people in Kaunas and also of other public and private stakeholders is ready for such an approach. This let it go approach should not conflict with the plans of the City for the Science Centre and the Community Centre. On top of these, creative start-ups are very much in need of a co-working environment (cafés, bars and restaurants) where they could meet and discuss synergies. This environment can easily be found in the City Center but not (yet) in the Aleksotas Area. The above aspects are certainly challenges for the city to work on. A further attention point on top of all these is the composition of the ULG. For the next phase of the project this composition should be further widened and more municipal sectors should be included, as well as representatives from the business sector, creative entrepreneurs, knowledge providers etc. This is a condition to be successful also in relation to the previous point. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 4 Participation: 5 Project management: 8 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? Yes. According to the Partnership Agreement between Lithuania and the European Commission, at least 5% of the ERDF allocation will be invested in sustainable urban development actions implemented in Lithuania mainly through Integrated Territorial Investments in ten regional areas (including Kaunas) coupled with additional specific thematic programme funds. On instruction of the National Ministry, Kaunas identified two inner districts of the city as priority for integrated territorial development. For Creative Spirits, one of these districts, Aleksotas has been chosen. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 53

54 Loulé Partner Profile Revival of creative cultures by combining them with 21st century techniques About the city Geography Loulé is close to the North Atlantic Ocean and covers an area the size of 763,12 km². It has excellent accessibilities such as Faro International Airport and highway A2 providing the Municipality of Loulé with a modern road network. The climate is mild throughout the year making the region of the Algarve, in which Loulé is situated, one of the most attractive touristic regions in Europe. The Municipality of Loulé, including the cities of Loulé and Quarteira, is the largest and most populous municipality in the region of Algarve. The whole municipality has about inhabitants and the population is increasing. Brief history Loulé and the region of Algarve in general have a long cultural tradition in which the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors have all influenced the region and left their marks that are still visible in today s Loulé. It can be seen in the cultural heritage and architecture of Loulé, for example, in the Islamic public baths that was discovered recently in 2014 in the historic centre of Loulé. It is said to be the most unique one on the Iberian Peninsula. The narrow streets in the historic city centre date back to the medieval ages of the Christian re-conquest. Loulé transformed from a village into a town in the middle ages and flourished during the time of the Portuguese discoveries. This growth stopped in the 18th century after Loulé was hit by an earthquake. Today Loulé is flourishing again as the Algarve has been discovered as a touristic region. Social and economic profile The Municipality of Loulé has approximately inhabitants, of which are inhabitants of the city of Loulé. Due to the well-developed infrastructural networks in the region as well as the city s numerous social and cultural networks, Loulé is currently considered as one of Algarve s main urban centres. In the past the historic centre of the city of Loulé used to be a vibrant area full of commerce, social exchange and local craftsmanship. But over the past years, this area has witnessed a demographic deceleration and now faces the challenges of an aging population. The attractiveness of surrounding cities as well as the difficulty of reaching the new standards of quality of life has caused that many people choose to leave the inner city. Currently about 32% of the houses in the city centre are unoccupied. 54

55 Yet despite of the decrease in the inner city s social liveliness, the historic centre has remained a site of economic exchange. Tourism lies at the basis of the economy in Loulé as it is the city s main source of revenue and ensures the creation and retaining of jobs. The city s economy is based on administrative services, both local and national, and financial and proximity commerce due to the market and schools attractiveness. Most of the employment opportunities in Loulé in the service sector relate to tourism and range from professions in hotels and restaurants to those in real estate, commerce and travel agencies. The tourism sector also branches out into the construction sector resulting in building projects for residential tourism and holiday resorts. Moreover, the commerce and service sector also profit from the development of tourism in the area. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy At the present moment, the cultural-creative industry in Loulé is in need of further development. While in the past local craftsmanship was central to the economy as well as to the cultural identity of the city, it has gone through a significant decline and it is necessary to reinvest and support the redevelopment of craftsmanship in order to foster as well as preserve the local artistry. Currently existing cultural venues are an art gallery and the Cine-Teatro, which hosts music and theatre performances and serves as the local cinema. While the development of craftsmanship and the lasting presence of galleries and the theatre would be able to account for a more permanent and sustainable source of revenue and city image, some of the cultural events organised in Loulé also contribute to putting the city on the map. While the Carnival of Loulé has been celebrated since 1906, new events such as the Festival Med also manage to attract a wide audience with a mix of music and the promotion of regional crafts and gastronomy. About the strategy The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address The main policy challenge of the Municipality of Loulé is how to boost creative entrepreneurship. The Action Plan for Urban Regeneration in the Historic Centre of Loulé (PARU) intends to restore the historic city centre of Loulé with the aim to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, attract new residents, and improve activities of creative businesses to encourage the development of new employment opportunities. Central to the PARU is the restoration of (public) buildings and public spaces. Some of the target sites of PARU will be grouped with the activities of Loulé Criativo, a part of the Loulé action plan launched in 2014 with the purpose to try to address the problem of traditional craftsmanship s decline, the low attractiveness of local commerce and the decline of the city centre. In order to address these problems, Loulé has several focus points: promoting creative tourism activities, training in traditional arts as a tool for self-employment, stimulating the connection between handicraft and design, creative residencies and incubators for start-ups related to creative industries, increase the attractiveness of Loulé centre, and facilitate the settling of new entrepreneurs from creative industries in the centre. The objective is to allocate creative entrepreneurs, part of the ECOA (Space for Arts and Crafts of Loulé) network which will be explained later, to the target sites part of the PARU in order to kick-start and promote the re-occupation of the historic city centre by creatives. Aside from the aim to boost creative entrepreneurship, the Municipality of Loulé hopes to expand the cultural and creative district with a municipal museum, a contemporary art gallery, an Islamic bath and artistic residences located in the historical centre. This cultural and creative district has the main goal to settle creative people and to be a regional centre attracting visitors. This is clearly described in the PARU which puts a priority on the economic diversification of the utilisation of heritage and on attracting new residents and visitors, especially in the creative, cultural, educational and artistic areas. A principal challenge to the further development of the PARU as well as the Loulé Criativo initiative is exactly the issue of how to attract creative people and establish a connection between them, the city of Loulé and 55

56 the local artisans. The Municipality of Loulé is working to establish networks and cooperation with entities related to design and crafts like universities, associations, designers etc. Unfortunately, these institutions do not always choose for Loulé because there are other competitive centres in the region. For example, the nearest university is located in Faro, a city which is often considered as more attractive for creative entrepreneurs to settle. Objectives of the strategy/action plan The main objectives of the PARU essentially come down to three fundamental aims that sum up the municipality s overall vision regarding the planned development of the city centre: to promote inner-city restoration and an integrated sustainable urban development in the entire historic centre of Loulé; to promote the diversification of interaction with tangible and intangible forms of heritage in the centre and increase the attractiveness for new residents and visitors in the creative, cultural, educational and artistic areas; to encourage and support private investment for restoration projects and working on the attractiveness of public spaces in order to boost the quality of the city centre as a whole and increase the urban attractiveness of the area. Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan In order to achieve the three main objectives of the PARU, the Municipality of Loulé has identified several main actions: restoration of public spaces; restoration of public buildings to promote their use as a collective space; restoration of spaces for commerce, tourism and public services; restoration of spaces for housing; a sustainable use of resources with a particular focus on energy efficiency, public mobility, and the development of green areas; promotion of the Loulé Criativo project and of creative industries; a focus on social Integration through the restoration of disadvantaged urban areas; promotion of a Cultural and Creative district. The action plan of the Loulé Criativo initiative reflects the ambitions of the PARU and is based on three main aims: 1. Development of Creative Tourism A local network consisting of local entrepreneurs and local craftsmen was established in order to develop tourist activities related to the local culture and traditions of Loulé. A plan on how to promote these activities among tourists and local people has also been drafted. 2. Development of Creative Residencies The Municipality of Loulé has encouraged the establishment of Creative Residences. In 2015, one Creative Residence was established promoting the exchange of knowledge between two craftsmen with both a different background one Scottish and the other an inhabitant from Loulé. In 2016, the Municipality of Loulé invited three local designers to work with a craftsman. This approach of merging the ancient (crafts) with the modern (design), and encouraging knowledge exchange between generations is a core objective of Loulé s development strategy. 3. Establishment of the ECOA As of 2017 a new aim was added to the Loulé Criativo initiative: the establishment of the ECOA (Space for Arts and Crafts of Loulé). ECOA is a network of spaces, people and equipment that centres on a design laboratory the Loulé Design Lab which will host local artisans and provides space for new enterprises and co-working areas. 56

57 The Loulé Criativo project aims to promote the cultural heritage of the city, the council and the region, bringing together local crafts and contemporary design. While the municipality has succeeded in the implementation of several actions, accomplishment of all its aims will require more time. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan The realisation of PARU will allow the implementation of the actions needed for the Loulé Criativo project, namely: the rehabilitation of Palacio Gama Lobos will allow for a base for creative tourism workshops and courses, training in creative industries, start up incubators for creative industries, creative residencies; the rehabilitation of an old pottery will yield a rediscovery of the pottery craft and promote training in pottery; the rehabilitation of Solar da Música Nova will allow the setting up of a Music School; to have artists in the artists residence all year round; to have small artistic workshops in the historical centre; to have other uses in the historical centre and the attraction of new users and residents coming for the creative industries; stimulation of and complementing private investment through the qualification of collective spaces and buildings; extension of the dynamic of urban rehabilitation to all the city of Loulé, through the experience in the historic city centre. The area that the strategy/action plan covers As mentioned before, the Action Plan for Urban Regeneration in Historic Centre of Loulé is focused on the city centre, which is an area of about 52,8 ha. This area involves the old part of the city that dates back to the Middle Ages with historical houses and classified heritage. Creative places in the historic centre are discussed in detail in the section on the Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy so that they can be directly placed in context with the challenges of the Municipality of Loulé. Although the Municipality of Loulé has identified a well-defined target area, there are also developments outside this area that relate very well to creative and cultural activities. One development is the complete reconstruction of an old building that should become the best conservatory of the Algarve. Another interesting future development is the planned reconstruction of an abandoned building that should be finished by In this building, new government offices will settle and also the Design Lab will be based there. It will therefore become a multifunctional building which people can visit for workshops and trainings. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/ action plan For the realization of the PARU, the Municipality of Loulé is using European funding for the rehabilitation of some buildings that will be occupied with activities of Loulé Criativo. However, for the artists, designers, and craftsmen, Loulé s learning needs are about how to find new ways to finance their ideas as these will not be financed by European or municipal funds. Imlementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Loulé preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation related challenges. 57

58 Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects The PARU and the Loulé Criativo project were designed to integrate social, economic and territorial issues at stake. Aside from the PARU and Loulé Criativo, the Municipality of Loulé is currently also working on an integrated Strategic Plan called Strategic Plan Loulé The Strategic Plan is the overarching plan which maps out the territory of the Municipality of Loulé and defines the guidelines for the urban development strategy of the coming years integrating other regional strategies and local action plans. Both the PARU and Loulé Criativo are part of the Strategic Plan The main goal of the Strategic Plan is to mobilise the private sector as a main driver in the urban renewal of the cities in the Municipality of Loulé. Loulé s experience with horizontal projects and setting up partnerships, for example with Loulé Criativo, gives Loulé a background that might be interesting to share with the partnership. The municipality has managed to create a network of artisans and entrepreneurs who work together to promote the cultural capital of the city. Moreover, for ECOA the municipality is in the process of establishing partnerships in a broader and more diverse network including universities, artists, designers and associations. Additionally, Loulé has valuable experience through the project called Dar cor à Cidade, which means Give colour to the city, that involves urban art, social inclusion and environmental issues. This project was designed in a holistic way by including culture, social cohesion and residents. One important goal of the project is the inclusion of people through urban art and the promotion of citizenship. The experience from this project can be very valuable for other partners who struggle with the challenge of applying an integrated approach. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery A Monitoring Committee is established in the Action Plan for Urban Regeneration (PARU), composed of public stakeholders. However, the Municipality of Loulé believes that it is necessary to involve even more stakeholders to discuss the action plan s implementation for the creativity sector. At the present moment the stakeholders involved are the Parish, the Commerce Association and local shop owners. However, in order to be able to adequately promote the creative sector it is necessary to further involve creative entrepreneurs. This implementation challenge is considered as a great opportunity for the City of Loulé to move towards a new governance paradigm, in which the community should be more aware of the city s problems and citizens should actively participate in defining solutions. The Municipality of Loulé imagines this model to be the future of citizenship. This integrative and bottom-up objective is not completely new to them as business and real estate owners and investors have been involved since an early stage of development concerning the design of the PARU. At the moment, the ULG primarily consists of members that work for the local municipality. ULG coordinator Carlos Pinto has expressed the wish to increasingly include more entrepreneurs, creatives and knowledge providers in Phase 2 of Creative Spirits. Direct input from creatives would of course be valuable as the theme of the Creative Spirits network revolves around the idea that urban based strategies should stimulate a creative milieu that is beneficial precisely for these actors. During the ULG meeting it became evident how valuable the input of an entrepreneur could be as during the site visit a creative entrepreneur was spontaneously invited to attend the ULG meeting although she was not part of the ULG at the time. She passionately spoke about how retailers in Loulé do not sell what they like, but only sell what they think people want. Many shops also lack a good atmosphere as, for example, no attention is given to good lighting or attractive background music. One could conclude that an entrepreneurial spirit is currently lacking. This unenergetic mentality is also an issue regarding 58

59 the younger generation as it difficult to involve them in the project. Even the mentality of the tourists from northern Europe might be an issue as they primarily visit the Algarve for its three Ss: the Sea, Sand, Sun and not so much for the traditions or history of the region. However, during the ULG meeting it was said that the starting point for change should not be the tourists but the local people in Loulé. Many ULG members agreed that the issue of their mentality is a great challenge. It was also emphasized that people lack vision and planning as they do not do things in an articulated manner. It was said that the city needs to be fertilised by bringing in people who could make the city look sexy again. The ULG members agreed that the hardware is ready, but the software needs to be developed. The buildings are already there, but the soil needs an energy injection. In order for this to happen, it will be crucial for the municipality to establish good relationships with the entrepreneurs and shop owners in the centre so as to come to a common vision about the future development of Loulé. Currently, Loulé s main challenge is to boost the creative sector in the city centre. As the main focus will be on crafts and the design sector, the municipality will need to promote a detailed action plan for this sector to generate a creative ecosystem. To achieve this goal it needs the engagement of a large set of stakeholders from the public, private and community sectors. Loulé considers it a long journey that needs to be taken and its ambition is to find the right answers to the following questions: What are the real needs of the creative players? How can the city help? How to engage artists, craftsmen, designers and the community? How to create value and economic development through a creative ecosystem? Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance The PARU defines the need to develop a measuring model to evaluate the success, or unsuccessfulness of the development process. Loulé may for example need to add new indicators in order to check the economic vitality of the site area. Up until now, a list of indicators was set that allows the Management Structure to monitor the implementation of PARU and report the problems and apply corrective measures if needed. The indicators for PARU focus on the real estate market and on the architectural and structural building rehabilitation. It remains a challenge and an opportunity to create a database that will help Loulé better evaluate and design new territorial policies and to implement them based on feasible results. The city has to define more detailed baseline indicators, namely: number of new creative business being set up; number of craft workshop places in the area; number of cultural programmes per year organised in the area. After having defined baseline indicators, result indicators will also have to be established in order to monitor the impact of the PARU and Loulé Criativo. The municipality s GIS system should be the tool to integrate the information and support the development of the database. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan Another challenge is that of defining detailed actions to engage tourists. As tourists walk through the calm historic city centre of Loulé, they will certainly be fascinated by the centre s quietness and peace and the white houses that shine brightly in the sun. There will not be any doubt that visitors will understand that Loulé is an old authentic Portuguese city that has a lot of heritage to offer. Yet, while walking there it might feel as if something is missing, apart from the beautiful built environment and Loulé s blessed geographic location, it will be difficult for a tourist to find ways to truly engage with the local culture. This missing piece could be caused by the fact that the local culture is not being performed, at least not visibly enough except for merchants in the always busy market hall. It is a challenge to provide tourists with an opportunity to experience and observe artisans at work by creating settings that make crafts more accessible and engaging. 59

60 One of the problems in the field of crafts is that the elder do not pass on craftsmanship to the young. The young also think they cannot earn enough from crafts and as a result decide to work in tourism instead. Although these issues have to be overcome, it is still the traditional small initiatives that show the potential of the city. A leading example is Teresa s Pottery in the historic centre of Loulé: a little shop and workshop where the artisan herself paints and sells all kinds of traditional pots, plates and souvenirs. Her setup allows tourists to make a deeper connection with the local crafts as they can see with their own eyes how the handicraft is being performed and what kind of products are resulting from it. An example of moving from strategy to action plan and a longer-standing project is Projecto TASA of which the vision is to bring strategic innovation to the craft industry, ensuring its place as a profession of the future. As currently most of the artisans are of old age, the aim of Projecto TASA is to make craftsmanship more attractive to younger generations by emphasizing that traditional crafts and the design of useful and modern objects can be combined. Additionally, Projecto TASA has the ambition to attract and develop creative tourism in Loulé by, for example, offering workshops under the guidance of artisans. What is needed to be successful is good marketing and a more dynamic and active Loulé. While the Municipality of Loulé is in the process of implementing some of the aims of PARU and Loulé Criativo, a revised and more clearly defined action plan is necessary to maintain a strong focus and to promote a coherent action plan to reach the goal of creating a favourable ecosystem for creative industries. This is therefore a learning need of Loulé that deserves more attention. An important development in moving towards an operational action plan has been the launch of the Design Lab with which Loulé aims to create a structure to support the development of workshops, artistic residences as well as a set of events that will position the city of Loulé as a relevant player in the field of crafts and design. The Design Lab will be a co-working space for creative start-ups that wish to setup their businesses in the creative area. Design Lab offers a support base to coach creatives through for example legal advice or management support. Another objective in development is the creation of a Fab Lab that should provide access to equipment and machines in order to support the testing and prototyping of new objects and products. While the Design Lab connects different actors and encourages knowledge-exchange, the Fab Lab aims to create a space with the necessary equipment to transform the products of knowledge-exchange and mutual inspiration into tangible objects through, for example, 3D printing which enables artists to create prototypes. To realize these aims, the municipality bought three buildings, all located in the historic centre of Loulé, which are currently being renovated and will house workshops for craftsmen. Examples of these are: Xavier Pottery specialized in ceramics works; Palm House specialized in the weaving of palm leaves; Tinner Shop specialized in copper made works. During the site visit it became clear that these workshops have a great potential and can become multifunctional spaces that can become destinations for creatives, tourists, and local inhabitants. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation The Municipality of Loulé submitted the Action Plan for Urban Regeneration in Loulé Historic Centre to ERDF Funds. The municipality has decided that the public administration will be the main driver in the process of acquiring funding by defining a set of public investments and applying for EU financing programmes. The municipality will act as an investor, facilitator and a mediator to implement the PARU. Furthermore, the municipality aims to provide financial advice to entrepreneurs, create informal networks and support investors. But in order to ensure sustainability and permanence of creative 60

61 entrepreneurship in Loulé, as well as to guarantee attractiveness for artists, designers and craftsmen s settlement, the municipality will need to gain a better understanding of ways to finance its projects and objectives and to explore alternative financial models both for the entrepreneurs in the sector and for the municipality itself. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery The municipality has indicated that this is not a relevant challenge for Loulé since there are no problems in this field. On the contrary, Loulé might even be a partner with interesting insights on how to approach public private partnerships. A good example of this is the idea of the municipality to approach IKEA. The company is currently building a subsidiary near Loulé which caught the attention of the municipality. They asked if IKEA could become a sponsor for knowledge by making their designers available for master classes. Thus far, the company has been positive about this request since it fits well within their vision of social responsibility. Loulé could be seen as a good example in this regard to establish public private relationships linked to knowledge exchange. Designing smart public procurement frameworks Similar to the previous challenge, the Municipality of Loulé has indicated that this is not a relevant issue for them. The most important reason for this is that they do not foresee to the need to use innovative public procurement frameworks in the realisation of the PARU. Conclusion and attention points Loulé has already started up a number of crucial physical investments. It seems that the infrastructure/hardware for boosting the creative sector will be available in a few years time. Co-working places are being created and anchor points for the creative image of Loulé are being built or renovated. This means that this part of the operational plan is quite well established. Loulé also has decided upon a clear thematic focus which is on design and crafts. The main focus of Loulé should therefore be put on the identified weaknesses linked to the revival of the existing creative crafts community and match them with the 21 st century design trends and needs. It is also important to work on a mentality change (confirmed by the members of the ULG) and create an environment in which the local shop owners start to believe that modernisation of their business and shops is needed to attract more visitors. On top of that also the Marketing and PR of Loulé should be more focussed on the unique (future) strengths of historic Loulé, in particular linked to exclusivity in the creative sector. Millions of tourists are visiting the Algarve every year and historic Loulé should use the opportunity to benefit from upcoming trends linked to slow, sustainable and high quality tourism. All this requires significant efforts from the municipality for which structures and programmes in close cooperation with the ULG should be established. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 5 Participation: 5 Project management: 5 61

62 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? The Municipality of Loulé has presented and submitted an Action Plan for Urban Regeneration in historic Centre of Loulé to the Regional Authority at Operational Programme CRESC Algarve 2020, to priority axis investment 4 Strengthen the competitiveness of the territory and Promoting Integrated sustainable urban development, that is a specific call to urban city centres and integrated approach. The Municipality of Loulé intends to promote the public actions, even if it turns out that they cannot be financed by ERDF funds. Does your city take a sectorial approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 62

63 Lublin Partner Profile Proactive approach to explore and help hidden creative treasures About the city Geography Lublin is the biggest and fastest developing city in eastern Poland, as well as the capital of the Lubelskie Region. Lublin is the core city of Lublin Functional Area which was established on 10th December 2015 with a total area of km 2, consisting of surrounding municipalities. Brief history Lublin is a city that can be proud of its rich history. The first settlement centres were developed around the 6th-7th centuries. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries the city experienced great prosperity, being one of the largest trading centres. In the second half of the 19th century, Lublin reached the peak of its economic development, when metal industry factories were built. After World War II Lublin continued to grow, tripling its population and greatly expanding its area. At the same time, however, the city centre started to lose its trading functions and more and more historical buildings became abandoned. This deprivation process was followed later by social problems, too. Social and economic profile Although Lublin is the 9th biggest Polish city in terms of population with over 340,000 inhabitants, the number of residents is decreasing. It was one of the motivating factors for the Municipality to start to deal with local creatives, to demonstrate local people that Lublin is a city where it is worth to start creative enterprises. Lublin is an academic city. More than 70,000 students, including 6,500 international students from almost 100 countries, are studying at the 9 universities in the city. Every year 20,000 graduates leave the universities. It poses a challenge for the city to keep these freshly graduated young people in the city providing them working opportunities. Regarding the economic profile of the city, IT/ICT, BPO/SSC, food processing, logistics, automotive industry, machine industry and biotechnology are the most typical sectors. The Municipality has a strong relation with companies, experiences of these cooperation can be useful for supporting the city s creative enterprises. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy 63

64 The cultural-creative industry in Lublin is to be one of the engines of economic development as it is defined in Lublin Development Strategy The number of enterprises in the city in 2015 was , out of which 469 can be found in the target area (i.e. the city centre). 50 out of them can be considered as belonging to the creative sector. At the same time, the total number of enterprises operating in the cultural-creative industries in 2015 was 4 035, including technology driven creative enterprises as well as craft and cultural enterprises. More than 100 cultural-creative events are organized in the city a year with the involvement and active participation of local creative enterprises. About the strategy Lublin Development Strategy was approved by a City Council resolution in February 2013 providing a vision of city development. Based on this document several other documents have been prepared: Lublin's Culture Development Strategy was accepted in November 2013, while Lublin s Integrated Territorial Investment Strategy was adopted by the resolution of the Board of the Lublin Functional Area in March 2015; the Local Revitalization Plan, Lublin's Culture Development Strategy , Regional Creative Industries Alliance project, Showcase Revitalization project. The local policy challenge that the city s integrat ed strategies/action plan address The policy challenge is to turn the city centre into a creative district by rehabilitating its less attractive parts as well as the area of the removed bus station and to invite creative enterprises to the area and/or boost existing ones. During the city visit talking with local creative entrepreneurs some more specific needs and challenges became also visible: the lack of business skills among creatives and the lack of sufficient workplaces for creative enterprises. At the same time, there are lot of empty historical buildings in the area owned by the municipality s company: Council Property Management Office (ZNK). Therefore, there could be an opportunity to provide places for the creatives. Currently, it is not typical that ZNK would offer these empty places for a lower renting fee for local creatives, which is due to the fact that there is a lack of designed mechanism of distribution of these places for creatives. Objectives of the strategy/action plan Lublin Development Strategy describes four directions of development, each having its own goal: 1. OPENNESS - In 2020 Lublin is an open city with convenient transport links to its surroundings and extensive relations with external partners. Lublin of 2020 is culturally open to establish regional and metropolitan bonds. 2. FRIENDLINESS - In 2020 Lublin is both an inhabitant and visitor-friendly city. It offers high quality of life and education as well as diverse forms of leisure activities. Lublin of 2020 creates outstanding conditions to foster creativity of its inhabitants and allows them to actively participate in governing the city. 3. ENTREPRENEURSHIP - In 2020 Lublin is a city with a diverse and flexible economy based on modern services and industries able to face the challenges of the closing decade. Lublin 2020 is an investor-friendly city. 4. ACADEMIC SPIRIT - In 2020 Lublin is an international university centre attracting both Polish and foreign students and professors. Lublin of 2020 is a city where people come not only to study but also to settle down and follow their careers. The main goal of the Integrated Territorial Investment Strategy (ITIS) is: Improving the social, economic and territorial cohesion within the Lublin Functional Area (LFA). Specific goals are defined as: - Raising the level and accessibility of education, labour market, social inclusion and innovation in the LFA 64

65 - Improvement of transport mobility, carbon efficiency and the preservation and promotion of the natural heritage in the LFA - The acceleration of sustainable development through spatial and social revitalization, including the increased use of ICT. Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan In order to reach the goals of the Lublin Development Strategy and the ITIS, the following planned actions are included in the Integrated Territorial Investment Strategy: - Investment in e-administration, - Investment in low carbon public transport and multimodal stations - Investment in urban regeneration - Projects financed by the European Social Fund in the field of economic development, support of entrepreneurship, education, social issues (support for disadvantaged groups). Such projects are complementary to the regeneration and entrepreneurship support included in the Strategy. Regarding the support of CCI the Strategy sets out the following: - Establishing creative partnerships, clusters of creative enterprises and the system of incubating companies - Supporting the development of new media - Supporting cultural activities and access to cultural events, also by using new technologies - Supporting the commercialization of creative undertakings - Influencing the creation of procreative attitudes - Instruction related to development of creativity, entrepreneurship and corporate responsibility - Increasing social awareness of respecting intellectual property rights The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan As a result of the Lublin Development Strategy and the Integrated Territorial Investment Strategy, the city will be a socially, economically and spatially more cohesive area by This is in particular due to: - Affordable spaces within the Old Town and Śródmieście district, attractive and available for the creative businesses - Supportive environment for creative entrepreneurship - Investment in the projects will bring the area a regeneration effect - Increased access to education, labour market improvements, social inclusion and innovation. LFA Residents will have equal access to quality education (from elementary level education to secondary education), lifelong learning options and professional qualifications - LFA will be developed as a socially inclusive area with access to quality employment and entrepreneurship - Effective public transportation system allowing movement within the LFA, enabling the effective communication with the main administrative, scientific and cultural center of Lublin - Sustainable development through the spatial and social regeneration - Introduction of e administration, access to digitized cultural and scientific resources The area that the strategy/action plan covers The Strategy for the Integrated Territorial Investment of Lublin Functional Area covers the city of Lublin and 15 neighbouring communities. Regarding the development of the CCI sector the strategy focuses on the core zones of the city centre: the historically determined area (Lubartowska, Świętoduska, Zielona, and Wodopojna Streets), the lower part of the Old Town (Kowalska, Furmańska, Cyrulicza Streets) and Czwartek Hill, lower Lubartowska street, Ruska and Probostwo streets. After the communist era small trade activities in the city centre have gradually lost their significance. In the last few years, due to infrastructure developments and renovation of buildings, the heart of the city 65

66 centre (the Old Town) has become extraordinarily attractive and popular. However, other parts of the city centre have remained less attractive and the outflow of citizens hinders development. Within the framework of the Integrated Territorial Investment program Lublin is planning an investment project related to public transportation. One part of this investment is the relocation of the existing bus station from the city centre into the railway station area, to create one intermodal metropolitan station. This way, after the removal of the bus station, there will be a lot of space in the historical centre for regeneration activities. At the same time, the Municipal Office for Historic Preservation in cooperation with the Strategy and Investor Relation Department responsible for encouraging entrepreneurship, are working on a regeneration program to encourage the emergence of small creative businesses in the area. These investments into regeneration of the area, along with innovative measures for the support of creative entrepreneurship could turn the place into an emergent creative district. There are a few successful creative enterprises operating in the target area proving that the historical Old Town provides a challenging place for creative enterprises, contributing to the implementation of the city centre s creative district vision. These include: The House of Words: this multifunctional place is situated at the edge of the old town, near the famous Krakowska Gate. The goal of the place is structured around the meaning of written word in cultural and social contexts. Its exhibition rooms present the importance of the spoken, recorded and printed word. Besides, there are workshop facilities presenting papers and printing techniques, which are also connected to the history and freedom of Poland. They are organized not only within the building but also in the patio an inner garden painted by neighbours and artists together as well as in the neighbouring streets. Contemporary theatre and exhibition rooms Piękno Panie: this small place, located in a historical building s ground floor, hosts theatre performances, poetry events, painting exhibitions and a mixture of such cultural activities. The two rooms were rented in order to create an office and a showroom, but it turned out that the place is too small thus the leaders of the place decided to host cultural events and photography courses, where professional photographers teach children how to take photos with old machines. The place is lead by private persons, who pay a quite high renting fee for this small place, yet are still enthusiastic to fill it with culture and creativity. Old scale factory as the centre of creativity Lubartowska 77: the goal of the businessman and his wife who turned this old scale factory building into a creative workshop place was to find and promote young talents of the city. In the big hall ceramics, painting, music and pizza making workshops are organized by volunteers. The leader of the place organizes these workshops from their own resources, but they wish to fund an NGO in the future. Centre for Meeting of Cultures: the Centre for Meeting of Cultures huge, modern building is situated close to the target area. It includes a concert hall, children s theatre, chamber room, ballet room and screening room serving multifunctional purposes. The Centre was started to be built in the 1970's to be one of the largest cultural centres in Poland and in Europe. However, it had never been finished. In 2007 the authorities of the Lublin Region decided to create the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures using ERDF funding and in late 2015 the Centre started to operate. Yet it poses a challenge to fill the building with programs, exhibitions and events. There are still empty rooms and underused places. Opportunities for using the unused places of the building were discussed during the ULG meeting. Based on the opinion of the creatives participating at the ULG meeting, the Cultural Centre does not have a milieu which would attract artists there, the building is too simple, huge and unfriendly. However, the Centre may have the opportunity to open a co-working place for start-ups, even for creative start-ups, yet it must be considered that artists prefer the historical places of the Old Town. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan 66

67 Investments included in the Strategy total about 98 million Euros. Soft projects including support for the cultural and creative industries should not cost more than 12 million Euros. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Kaunas preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following challenges, learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation of the city s strategy in the target area. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects There are several documents, projects and people which are related to the Creative Spirits project; these include: Lublin Development Strategy , Integrated Territorial Investments Strategy, Local Revitalization Plan, Lublin's Culture Development Strategy , Regional Creative Industries Alliance project, Showcase Revitalization project and revitalization the area adjacent to Lublin castle project. The challenge thus is to implement these plans and projects in a complementary way, where the soft and hard departments within the Municipality would work in cooperation. It is quite difficult to organize common work within the municipality for efficient implementation of integrated projects, like the creative-cultural ones. Thus, the main learning need of Lublin regarding this challenge is to improve coordination between municipal departments. Although the integrated implementation of the strategy poses a challenge for Lublin, the Municipality has rich experience and good practices in integrated planning gained from the elaboration process of the Lublin Development Strategy where Lublin Development Council, Advisers of the Mayor of the City of Lublin, employees of the Strategy and Investors Assistance Department and other Lublin Municipality departments worked in successful cooperation. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery The Municipality has experience of cooperating with creative entrepreneurs, artists, hand craft workers, university authorities and keep them engaged in the development processes of the city. Thus the challenge means rather to allocate resources to integrate diverse stakeholder groups and groups of entrepreneurs. The URBACT Local Group is designed to represent a huge variety of stakeholders. It consists of city authorities (including district authorities); city departments: Project Development Department, Strategy and Investor Relations Department, Culture Department, Sport and Tourism Department, Municipal Office for Historic Preservation; cultural institutions; representatives of business and handcraft organizations, NGO's; universities; creative entrepreneurs, artists, hand craft workers. Besides, based on city visit experiences it is recommended for Lublin to engage into the ULG more ZNK, the owner of the empty buildings in the Old Town), to discuss usage of these places by creative: a system for preferential rates for creative sector entrepreneurs should be constructed. Also, the regional representative owning the Centre for Meeting of Cultures should participate in the discussions by being an ULG member. This Centre could serve as a perfect co-working place for start-ups in the sector also based on the fact that it is located quite close to the University quarter. One of Lublin s best practices is the approach and methodology of the Creative Ones project aiming at searching for niche creative businesses, promoting them (by publication, exhibition, photo shoot and short film), and finally linking them with other actors (citizens and business). Thanks to this project there 67

68 is a continuous contact and trust between the Municipality and the creatives who were willing to participate in this initiative. In the frame of the project, the Creative Ones Festival is organized annually in order to present and advertise the city s creatives to local inhabitants as well as to a wider audience (investors, tourists). This project could also be considered as a good match between stimulating creative entrepreneurship and local programmes to promote social inclusion. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance Regarding monitoring CCI, the biggest challenge is to develop reliable and measurable indicators to define the cause and effect of the Municipality s actions. The Lublin Development Strategy uses the following indicators to measure the city s creative-cultural enterprises operation which can provide an overarching view of the success of the Municipality s actions: Quantitative: number of businesses included in the sector of creative industries compared to the total number of businesses; employment in the creative sector compared to total employment Qualitative: evaluation of the role of entities included in the sector of creative industries in the context of creating development impulses for the city Descriptive: analysis of the operations of the Municipal Office and other institutions in the sphere of support for creative industries. Lublin has made a start through the Creative Ones project to build up a database of creative entrepreneurs. This could serve as a first step to develop baseline indicators. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan Lublin has a coherent and comprehensive strategy (Lublin Development Strategy ) in which entrepreneurship plays a crucial role (one of the main development areas of the city). The city is looking for effective ways and best practices to turn it into action effectively. Main challenges in this regard include: - Assess all public buildings with possibility to be rented for creative entrepreneurs - Strengthen the cooperation with SMEs in the CCI sector - Prepare a joint action plan with CCI stakeholders - Ex ante assessment of local strategic documents, work plans, existing management tools and processes - Need that the strategy is aligned with the operational activities, which would contribute to the overall process - Project lean management as well as ensuring the proper order of initiating projects - Creating good links between diagnose list of the problems and the list of actions that can be done. At the same time, Lublin has some successful projects, having an approach worth to be adapted by the Creative Spirits partners, like the Tradesmen of Lublin, "Lublin Creative District", and the Street Art Festival. The Tradesmen of Lublin" (craftsmen and small manufacturers) aims to promote local small producers offering them help in marketing, consulting, branding, loyalty program. The "Lublin Creative District" project aims at renovating municipal tenements situated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. These tenements will be available at preferential rates for creative entrepreneurs. The project will also include activities supporting creative entrepreneurs with the involvement of local residents. The Street Art Festival of Lublin provides an opportunity to show the local street artists work to inhabitants attracting artists and tourists from abroad who decorate the city s empty walls with remarkable pictures. Additionally, Lublin is the second city in the world (after Memphis, TN, USA) to have its own Creative Manifesto. In October 2016 during a workshop mentored by Charles Landry, urban activists from Lublin 68

69 elaborated Lublin Creative Manifesto, which is a unique definition of Lublin s approach towards creativity. Declared ideas point the way to exploit synergies between citizens, business and public administration in order to design the City 3.0. The Manifesto was signed by Charles Landry, an international authority on the use of imagination and creativity in urban change and Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of the City of Lublin. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation The Project Development Department has ample experience in dealing with European Funds, thus Lublin needs to study best practices from its own previous projects. They can share this knowledge of theirs of applying for European Funds and implementing projects financed by EU Funds with the partnership. In accordance with the Law on Local Government, the municipality supports measures that aim to decrease unemployment rates, activate the local labour market, promote activities and marketing. These measures should be better utilized for CCI. Lublin would like to learn how to create supporting instruments which will be really helpful for the creative businesses, as well as ensure that funding is dedicated to local creative people. Also, there is a learning need to discover more about innovative funding opportunities like crowd funding and the role a Municipality can play in these processes. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery This challenge is not a priority for Lublin within the Creative Spirits project. Designing smart public procurement frameworks As the national law for public procurement frameworks is not flexible, Lublin Municipality does not see the opportunity to create such a smart procurement system which could support local creative entrepreneurs. Thus, this challenge will not be tackled in the frame of the Creative Spirits network. Conclusions and attention points The policy challenge for Lublin is to turn the city centre into a creative district by rehabilitating the less attractive parts of it as well as the area of the removed bus station and to invite creative enterprises to the area or boost the existing ones. There is a strong need for an orientation point and help desk in the Old Town for creative enterprises, as it was also expressed during the ULG meeting. This orientation point could work as a co-working place as well as an info point providing information about funding opportunities and business advisory services. At the same time, it would be a meeting point for creatives from different sectors. It would be necessary since many creatives work quite isolated from one another and from other businesses in the city centre, only some of them have already organized events, programs where poets, actors and painters worked together. It would be also useful if creatives like artists, business men and for instance web designers could meet at this place, would start to know each other. Also, knowledge exchange events should be organized for them which would be especially important for leaders of creative enterprises tackling financial or marketing problems due to the lack of business knowledge and experiences. To achieve this, the ULG should be extended with some key players like the Council Property Management Office (ZNK) and the regional body owning the Centre for Meeting of Cultures. Lublin has some particularly good practices linked to discovering hidden creative treasures, to mapping these and to providing them with concrete individual support. The most significant one is the Creative Ones project. This project could be upgraded and brought to a next level. First steps would be assessment of these small enterprises linked to their business potential and potential to give a boost to the creative image of the city centre, making a needs-assessment for these companies, concluding how they could benefit from co-working and matching empty spaces in the centre with their needs. 69

70 Lublin is ready to implement the strategy by continuing the current successful projects (Creative Ones, Street Art Festival, Trademan Lublin, Creative Manifesto, Lublin Creative District), launching new ones and taking into consideration the local creatives needs and opinions. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 10 Participation: 10 Project management: 10 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? In Poland Article 7 has a few axes under each Regional Operational Programme (ROP) (it means, than axes connected to each theme is divided for Integrated Territorial Investment and more general for others). Lubelskie ITI within Lubelskie ROP is under 4 ERDF axes (thematic goals: 2c, 4e, 7b, 9b) and 10 ESF axes (i.e education, support for entrepreneurship). Under national operational programmes there are few axes additionally dedicated to ITI (i.e within OP Infrastructure and Environment there is an axis for ITI in the air pollution protection (low carbon economy in heating systems). It means additional funding to 5% of the ERDF funding within ROP. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 70

71 Maribor Partner Profile Physical creative anchor points in the target area to use as a stepping stone for further implementation About the city Geography Maribor is the second largest city in the Republic of Slovenia and a regional centre in the Podravje Region. Furthermore, in the light of EU Cohesion Policy, Maribor is the urban centre of the Eastern Cohesion Region of Slovenia. The Podravje region covers km 2 and has a population of people, which represents 15.8% of the total population in Slovenia and puts the region to second place based on its population size. It is only 17 kilometres away from the Austrian border and therefore on the crossing of Slavic and German nations. Maribor has for centuries been an important junction between the North and the South, as well as between Eastern and Western Europe. Brief history Maribor as a small medieval town with a German and Slovene population became a rapidly growing and evolving industrial and commercial centre soon after the railway between Vienna and Trieste was built ( ). Until the mid-20th century, plenty of textiles, chemical and mechanical factories were built and there was heavy and automotive industry thanks to a series of hydroelectric stations on the river Drava. At the end of the 1980s, Maribor s economy experienced a sharp decline in industrial production due to its unpreparedness for the social and economic changes that would follow the Slovenian independence gained in Maribor s industry was until then based on a capital-intensive structure with modest revenues. The economic policy of the socialist system had not allowed for the timely restructuring of the traditional industry so that it would be able to adapt to the demands of the market economy forming in Europe. Giant companies that dominated the industry had already reached their peak of efficiency in the 1960s. After Slovenia achieved independence in 1991, the unified Yugoslav market collapsed, the Eastern market (COMECON) was lost and the inevitable shift towards a market economy began. Maribor, once one of the strongest industrial centres in Yugoslavia, was shaken by an economic crisis. Therefore, after gaining independence, Maribor s economy experienced great changes in the structure of revenues the share of industry in the revenue of Maribor s economy fell sharply (from 60% in 1989 to 31% in 1998) while the share of trade increased (23% in 1989 to 30% in 1998). After 2002, Maribor s economy has been gradually recovering but it was too slow to have a significant impact on the improvement of the socio-economic situation in the city. Despite economic recovery, bankruptcies of businesses remained an integral part of economic life in the years thereafter. Although the situation has slightly improved during the period of conjuncture ( ), it deteriorated again with the appearance of recession and crisis in

72 Social and economic profile Since the socialist system s collapse in 1991 Maribor has been in a state of socio-economic stagnation. This means that there is little to no growth in population size and a high unemployment rate. Looking at a wider time span, the population size slightly decreased since 1991 when it was compared to in The total population size in the whole administrative unit of Maribor, which covers a larger area of 147 km 2 and includes several villages, was in In May 2015, the unemployment rate was at 17.5% in the whole municipality of Maribor while the national average of Slovenia was at 12.3%. Since the municipal reform in Slovenia in 1995, due to the pressure of the crisis, Maribor is transforming from a once post-world War II industrial city into a dynamic touristic-cultural and economic centre in north-eastern Slovenia. 99% of all companies are small and medium-sized enterprises out of which approximately 95% are micro enterprises. In the Podravje region, SMEs employ about 45% of the total employees in the business sector. The prevailing business activities are services, retail trade, construction and personal services. The majority of businesses cannot be considered innovative as aged technologies prevail in the business sector. Only a few exceptions among medium-sized companies produce and offer innovative products and services. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy Maribor is the most important cultural centre in the eastern part of Slovenia with the Slovene National Theatre (known for its world-famous ballet, opera, symphonic orchestra and drama units), the internationally recognized Puppet Theatre, a long and rich tradition of classical music, musicians and music education, a classical music festival and other performing arts (festival of Slovenian Drama Theatres, modern dance etc.). The Art Gallery of Maribor provides international art exhibitions, modern visual and multimedia art is offered by many private institutions. Maribor dates back to the Middle Ages (1164) and the medieval centre of the city is protected cultural heritage. There are several regional institutions, such as the Regional Museum, the Regional Archives, the National Liberation Museum, and the Natural and Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute to research, protect and present the city s heritage and regional history. In the year 2012, Maribor was European Capital of Culture and now pursues the development of cultural tourism by offering a myriad of cultural events and festivals throughout the year; particularly known of which is the Summer festival of Lent. About the strategy The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategie s/action plan address Culture is an essential part of Maribor s identity and the creative and cultural industries play an important role in the local economy. Moreover, Maribor was the European Cultural Capital in However, boosting culture-led entrepreneurship is a new phenomenon in the city that has not been tackled before and has now been targeted as a potential development opportunity for the city. Unfortunately, Maribor is facing a brain drain of young talent, partially due to the lack of effective support structures. In addition to this issue, Maribor has to contend with degraded urban areas that are in need of restructuring and/ or rehabilitation. Therefore, the main policy challenge for Maribor with regards to CCI is how to boost creative entrepreneurship in underused and/ or unused properties in the attractive historic city centre. The Municipality of Maribor has developed the Sustainable Urban Strategy for Maribor (TUS-MOM) which is a holistic vision on how the municipality aims to approach several urban issues in the city. The strategy defines a number of priorities, which will be clarified in the next section. 72

73 Objectives of the strategy/action plan The TUS-MOM has five priorities, each including several objectives with regards to urban development. The most relevant are stated below: 1. self-sufficient city activation of local social and economic capital a. activation of city s own potential b. establishing a system of self-sufficiency c. temporary usage of degraded areas d. intergenerational connection e. battling the demographic erosion 2. mobile city a modern system of public transport integrating cycling and walking for vulnerable target groups 3. integrative city efficient management of the city with inclusion of knowledge centres a. restructuring city finances b. restructuring departments of the municipality c. new way of city management d. cooperation of the city with centres in the EU and Slovenia e. information platform for digitalization of data f. collaboration of the city with the university and NGOs 4. urban renovated city as the regional cultural centre a. open offices for urban renovation and dynamic urbanism b. renovation of public spaces c. activation of population d. tourism as connective industry e. culture-led urban renovation 5. ecological integration of the river (with its banks) and natural potential in city development (such as green roofs) Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The Municipality of Maribor has indicated that it is preparing a detailed action plan that will be finalized in the near future. At this point, the following measures can already be defined based on the objectives of the TUS-MOM: 1. Creation of a self-sufficient city The Municipality of Maribor aims to create a self-sufficient city by activating the city s own potential through the mobilization of local social and economic capital. A central focus of this objective is the revitalization of traditional crafts and craftsmanship which will contribute to the strengthening of the city s image. The city also aims to stimulate temporary use of degraded areas by setting up incentives for regeneration of these areas that have special functions. The aim is to include also experts and the NGO sector in the usage of such areas. 2. Creation of a mobile city The Municipality of Maribor strives to develop a mobile city founded upon a modern and attractive public transportation system. 3. Creation of a networked city In order to be able to create a networked city, the Municipality of Maribor is required to restructure: (1) the city finances; (2) municipal departments; and (3) the city management. A closer collaboration between the Municipality and the University of Maribor and local NGOs could also prove to be beneficial to the reinforcement of local networks. Aside from the internal restructuring processes, the Municipality aims to develop and/or strengthen its networks within Slovenia as well as within the European Union. 4. Urban Development Urban development is a requirement for the transformation of the Municipality of Maribor into a regional cultural centre. The municipality aims to adopt a culture-led approach to urban 73

74 renovation by the formation of a cultural district; developing cultural activities; supporting cultural activities in designated areas for urban revitalization; and the support of cultural projects connecting various actors through cultural programmes. The renovation of public spaces in particular is high on the agenda as these spaces can attract investment and generate social, cultural and economic value. Moreover, revitalization of degraded industrial architectural heritage means that these sites could be reappropriated and assigned a new function. Aside from contributing to the abovementioned goals, offices for urban renovation will be established to contribute to the abovementioned goals but will also aim to involve the population and develop tourism as a connective industry. 5. Ecological Development Ecological development of the Municipality of Maribor contributes to the attractiveness of the city as well as health and well-being of the environment and consequently its inhabitants. Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan Each of the 5 priority objectives is dedicated to achieve one main result. Priority objective 1 will result in achieving a self-sufficient city. Priority objective 2 will result in achieving integrated transport with increased mobility for vulnerable groups, cyclists and walkers. Priority objective 3 will result in efficient inclusion of knowledge centres in city management. Priority objective 4 will result in established cultural centres within the city with local and regional scope. Priority objective 5 will result in development of natural potentials of city development and better linkage and usage of natural areas of the river Drava. The area that the strategy/action plan covers The Municipality of Maribor intends to focus on underused and/or unused places in the city centre. The centre of Maribor is characterised by narrow streets and a dense building structure which is organised around small inner courtyards. Historically, these courtyards used to be lively places for social exchange and craftsmanship. But while once dynamic social hubs, processes of suburbanization and changes in the retail and commercial sector brought about a decline in trade activities and social exchange and cohesion dwindled with the change of the city s population. The first target area of the TUS-MOM strategy focusses on the Koroška Street which currently functions as the main traffic artery through the old town. While in these days Koroška Street is known as a noisy, polluted and degraded road, an opportunity of renewal will occur in the near future when it will be permanently closed to traffic. The pedestrian zone will run along the surrounding courtyards and will undoubtedly intensify the social interaction and liveliness in this area. The Municipality of Maribor intends to involve local stakeholders to transform this area into a creative hub by supporting bottomup initiatives. A second target area is the KPD, a former Austro-Hungarian prison complex located just across from the old town on the other side of the Drava River and next to Maribor s main shopping centre. Currently only two wings (approximately 35%) of the entire KPD complex are partially renovated and in use these two wings now came to represent the city s core for cultural development. The other parts of the KPD complex are owned by a variety of different individuals. While these two target areas are completely different sites, the KPD complex and the Koroška Street share a similar symbolic and cultural potential. Encouraging a boost of creative entrepreneurship at these sites could significantly contribute to Maribor s urban development. During the city visit, the historic centre of Maribor was visited by the Lead Expert and Lead Partner. It became evident that Maribor already hosts a number of interesting and enthusiastic creative 74

75 entrepreneurs. However, the number is too small to form a true creative ecosystem or to speak of a creative and cultural district in Maribor. Nevertheless, their presence proves that there is a real potential for the city to further develop into a creative centre. One example of a successful creative initiative in the city centre is the Puppet Theatre Maribor. It is settled in a former monastery which gives the building a special atmosphere and feel. The theatre is a public institute meaning that it mostly runs on subsidies. The Puppet Theatre has performances every day and also schools visit the theatre daily to watch shows that are specially made for children. In the evening, there are also performances organised for adults. As the building is an old monastery, there is also a former church attached to this and its space is being used for concerts. Another exciting space of the Puppet Theatre is one of its theatre halls. Normally it looks like a regular theatre hall with a stage and a tribune for the audience, however, the wall behind the stage can be removed which transforms the stage into an open-air theatre as there is also a large tribune outside. The Puppet Theatre Maribor has more on offer than only performances, it also offers training programmes for kindergartens in which the participants make art with support and guidance of a professional. The purpose of these programmes is to get pupils involved in practicing arts by using their creativity. An example of such a programme is the creation of new puppets since the Puppet Theatre has a workshop in its building where all the puppets and decoration are made. All in all, one could conclude that the Puppet Theatre Maribor is a rich cultural place and breeding ground for creativity. The Puppet Theatre Maribor is situated in the target area at Vojašniški trg, which is an old medieval marketplace in the historic centre of the city. The municipality has plans to renovate the square so as to increase its attractiveness. Since the Puppet Theatre is already next to the square and considering the historic atmosphere of the space, the Vojašniški trg has a lot of potential to become a creative node in the historic centre. Another breeding ground for ideas was visited by the Lead Expert and Lead Partner. The TKALKA building, which presents itself as a centre for NGOs, does not only host creatives, but many other companies as well. The building in which it is settled is a former storehouse for medicines which stood empty for six years. Nowadays, it is a co-working space for mostly social entrepreneurs and NGOs. In late 2016, around 44 organisations and companies and about 134 individuals were settled in TKALKA. A remarkable fact is that the first fab lab in Slovenia was founded in TKALKA. The centre depends for a large part on subsidies for its income, however, support from the municipality will last for a maximum of two years after which TKALKA has to stand on its own feet. As a result, they will probably have to reduce the amount of space that they are renting, unless some solutions are found. Nevertheless, TKALKA can be a valuable example since it is an ecosystem that functions as a platform for co-operation and coaching. Besides TKALKA, there is another co-working space in Maribor called "Open Office" which functions as an office hub with 15 office places that are available to non-governmental cultural organisations, individuals and initiatives from cultural industries. Open Office hereby adapts to working conditions and changes in the requirements of the creative labour market, which is characterized by a growing number of people who work on project basis and need professional working environment in order to exchange ideas and develop additional skills. Open office is currently fully populated with diverse profiles, like architect(s), translators, designers, a gallerist, project managers, illustrator, etc. Another good example of a creative initiative is settled in an old private house covering 1000 m 2 in the centre of Maribor. It is the inter(trans)disciplinary laboratory called GT22. It is the headquarters of the transnational guerrilla art school and it is home to different institutions and associations. In GT22, one will be able to find many things. On the ground floor there is the HACKLAB, which is a transdisciplinary laboratory for community and hackers experiments. The Lab was created in 2012 with the purpose to recycle and experiment with technology and open source. Also on the ground floor is HALL + BLACK BOX which is an institute for contemporary art with regular international presentation of solo and group exhibitions together with artist talks and lectures and daily film-video-animations-cinema projections 75

76 and curated programs. On the same floor, there is a place for photography called Misnica ( the mousetrap in English). Its facilities include a fully equipped photography darkroom. Two other initiatives on the ground floor are: a place for reading aka GT22's library which is organized as an open and growing collection of books; and there is a radio station like a modern cyber radio programme, meant for presenting the global alternative scene.drfk & ENIMATION, an institute for animation, film, video, and photo production also known as the Association for Development of Film Culture is situated in GT22's first floor. Since its establishment in 2004, the association works with the belief that it is crucial for the development of culture that artists connect, and that adults and especially youth and children are being educated about culture. Also on the first floor are: a theatre called Moment which is known for its intimate stage; and a place for museology aka Fotografski muzej Modrinjak which is Slovenia s biggest private collection of photography and photographic technology of the 20 th century. Finally, the ULG meeting was held in Salon Uporabnih Umetnosti which is an art café in the centre of Maribor. The building is a former casino where creatives have settled a few years ago. They first created a creative space where they created, displayed and sold their work. However, after a few months they found out that this set up would not yield enough income to live off. Therefore the decision was made to also open a café. The idea was that people would come and sit down for a drink while at the same time they could look at the displayed art and perhaps even decide to buy a piece of art. This setup proved to be commercially viable and since then the café has expanded its activities. The salon now hosts cultural events such as concerts, literary nights, dancing classes, etc. The aim is to do something for the people from Maribor and therefore there is a lot of co-operation with local and Slovenian artists as well as with the local theatre, library, and municipality. This shows once again the creative minds that are already creating beautiful concepts in Maribor, their presence is good for the city and can be of great help during the urban development of the creative and cultural target areas. All the mentioned creative and cultural places are the already existing cultural nods within the target area upon which all further development could be based. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy The following section will provide a more in depth analysis of Maribor s implementation challenges. The information is based on the experiences during the city visit as well as on the questionnaire filled by the Municipality of Maribor before the city visit. The obligatory challenges and the optional challenges relevant to Maribor will be touched upon. Additionally, learning needs and good practices are identified for each applicable challenge. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strat egy and their related actions/projects The Municipality of Maribor faces difficulties with regards to establishing an integrated organizational structure in which different areas of local government are well-connected. Currently, areas such as education, sport, culture, health, social services and housing are merely linked at the political declaratory level which is the highest political level of the government. This means that at lower levels of the government structure, such a linkage of areas is missing as these are distributed among autonomous decision-making bodies that have no working connections with each other. It is therefore the city s ambition to establish integrative communication structures with the purpose of improving the thematic integration of the governmental organisation as well as seeking broad consensus with various local civil initiatives and institutions. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery The challenge of involving local stakeholders is not the greatest bottleneck for the Municipality of Maribor. In fact, Maribor might be a leading example in the Creative Spirits network regarding 76

77 establishing various forms of communicating with the public. Central to Maribor s approach is the focus on local informal initiatives, groups of people, and (social) entrepreneurs active in various fields of creative and cultural industries. The Municipality of Maribor sees it as its task to establish the right communication channels in order to foster good relations between the municipality and local stakeholders. Forms of good communication could be the participation of the municipality in informal committees; quick responses from the municipality to civic initiatives and maintaining communication with representatives of non-governmental organisations. It also became clear during the city visit that the Municipality of Maribor has the organisational capacities to set up high quality meetings as the city makes use of a professional moderator that takes good care of giving all stakeholders the opportunity to articulate their opinion. The organisation capacities of the Municipality of Maribor were reflected in a workshop for potential ULG members which the Lead Expert and Lead Partner attended. The programme of the city visit in Maribor was namely slightly different from the programmes during other city visits as it included a regular ULG meeting as well as a Workshop for potential members. During the regular ULG meeting, only municipal staff including one external advisor of the municipality were present, their functions are: Project Manager for the Municipal Project Office Head of the Department for Youth and Culture Financial Advisor for the Municipal Project Office External Advisor of the Association of Cultural Societies This setup of the ULG was very limited as there are no local stakeholders involved. The municipality understood this and instead of directly asking local stakeholders to become part of the ULG, they chose to organise a separate workshop in which potential ULG members could introduce themselves to each other and get familiar with the project. Organising this workshop was a great way to solve the issue of the limited ULG as it still allowed for input from local stakeholders. The Lead Expert could give the same presentation during the workshop as he would normally give during a ULG meeting. This made both the potential ULG members and official ULG members well-informed about the Creative Spirits network and its goals. During the ULG meeting it became evident that creatives in Slovenia have often the idea or ambition to become part of a public institution, such as the national theatre or another national established organisation instead of starting their own businesses. This lack of entrepreneurial spirit and the cultural system are difficult to change. Especially since culture has never been marketable in Slovenia. People expect a high quality of life but not of my money. The result is that ticket prices for, for example, concerts are heavily subsidised by the government. Otherwise, artists would not be able to live from the market. During the workshop, several organisations were present. Further development in the Creative Spirits project can be based on these organisations as they will be the driving force. The organisations can be very valuable for the ULG as they have experience in different fields such as cultural education, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, creative projects, architecture, and legal support. The names of the organisations are: Cooperative PERON, Salon of Applied Arts Wetrinsky EZRD (a place for arts, fashion, and architecture) Association of Cultural Societies Maribor (cultural education and events) Regional development Agency Maribor, Sector of international co-operation Economic interests' Association Old Maribor Weaver / Prizma and CAAP (co-working space) Youth Cultural Centre Maribor Furthermore, the Municipality of Maribor has experience with the let it go attitude in case of the PEKARNA which is a non-governmental and non-profit institution that was started in 1994 as an occupation by squatters of a former army complex. They organized themselves in 1997 as an 77

78 organisation for encouraging and supporting programmes and projects by cooperating with individuals and groups with regards to artistic, cultural, educational, research, ecological, informative and humanitarian activities. This organization is now one of the leading cultural producers in the city of Maribor, with a focus on independent, 'alternative', under-represented forms of art, culture and youth programmes. Also PERON, which was represented during the ULG workshop, is a good practice as it is a social enterprise bringing together creative freelancers, enthusiastic architects of social networks, storytellers, and magicians who collaborate to organise events with visual & textual art. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance Introducing suitable tools to measure performance and impact remains a challenge for the Municipality of Maribor as no such set of indicators has been established yet. The greatest problem is that each department of the municipality uses its own unique set of criteria and indicators. As a result, it is difficult to develop one systematic approach. The Municipality of Maribor therefore wishes to gain knowledge on how to prepare measurable tools and how to define clear criteria for monitoring the success of development in the field of CCI. It should be noted that this challenge relates very well to the challenge of the integrative approach as well. The cause of the issue is the same for both challenges, namely disconnectedness of the different departments in the organisation of the municipality. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan Objective 1 and objective 4 of the TUS-MOM strategy are directly related to the Creative Spirits network. The visions formulated under those objectives can be used as a basis for further articulation of more specifically defined actions and measures since the Municipality of Maribor has indicated that a detailed action plan based on the TUS-MOM urban strategy, with foreseen budget for individual activities and measures, is currently being prepared. The document is expected to be fully drafted in the near future. The Creative Spirits network could provide the Municipality of Maribor with insights and inspiration on how to build up a comprehensive action plan in order to implement its strategic priorities and work on the efficient transformation of underused public spaces into creative hubs. For this challenge, the Municipality of Maribor has indicated that it aims to learn how to draft a detailed action plan based on the TUS-MOM. Input from other partners in the Creative Spirits network could therefore be valuable for the drafting process. Another bottleneck was identified during the city visit as the visit provided the opportunity to meet with deputy mayor Saša Pelko of the Municipality of Maribor. He is responsible for social and cultural issues and emphasized that Maribor is committed to developing the creative and cultural industries. He gave examples of what the municipality is already doing to support entrepreneurs, such as providing subsidies for start-ups and allowing social companies to rent spaces for free for the first two years. However, there is also a problem with this financial supporting structure, because after the first two years all support from the municipality stops. Not all start-ups are at that point able to survive on their own and therefore there are cases in which new businesses are forced to stop their activities as they cannot stand on their own feet. During the conversation, it became clear that although the municipality provides a form of financial support, it does not provide coaching support structures. The municipality is aware of this issue and realises that it has to do more to support entrepreneurs, however, this has not been translated yet into a concrete action plan. The challenge for Maribor is to articulate what kind of support structures could be put into place to better facilitate the development of start-ups and entrepreneurs. An interesting good practice in the city centre is the Vetrinj Mansion, which is a multi-purpose cultural venue, exhibition and production space that supports primarily production and presentation of nongovernmental cultural organizations. It strives to be an environment that supports the ideas and 78

79 projects of local artists and creators and encourages participation of artists and producers, based on (mutual) self-help and do-it-yourself mentality. The exhibition space, multi-purpose hall and atrium function as a cultural venue, available on project basis to cultural creators, private cultural organizations, initiatives and individual artists in the field of culture and cultural industries, offering them both infrastructure and expert support. This place is represented in the ULG and can therefore be very valuable to the municipality. In this regard, all other creative and co-working places (GT22, PEKARNA, PERON, TKALKA, the Puppet Theatre, and the art café Salon Uporabnih Umetnosti) that were previously covered can also be considered as good practices as they are experimental places with their own creative ecosystem. These co-working spaces could therefore provide useful insights into the collaboration of creatives as they function as hubs and meeting points for creatives. A closer investigation of and collaboration with these breeding grounds could give a boost to the municipality s understanding of the needs of creatives. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation Maribor does not wish to deal with this challenge in the frame of the Creative Spirits project. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery Maribor indicated that it has issues with making contact and establishing relationships with the real estate sector. As there are many private owners, it can sometimes be difficult to locate them. The challenge for Maribor is therefore finding ways to establish good and structural relationships with the real estate sector in the target areas. Designing smart public procurement frameworks Maribor has indicated that, in the frame of the Creative Spirits network, it wishes to focus more on other challenges. Conclusion and attention points Maribor is facing several challenges. Firstly, it only offers limited financial support for a limited amount of time for start-up and as a result when the money is gone, issues arise. The Municipality of Maribor should consider setting up a coaching system that does not only provide entrepreneurs with financial support, but moreover guides and advices these start-ups on matters like drafting a sustainable and viable business plan. Secondly, it has become clear that the organisation of the municipality is not beneficial for delivering integrated projects. The Project Office is working hard to get all the relevant departments working together, however, this goal has to be taken seriously in order to achieve an integrated organisation. Support from higher level politicians and officers will be needed to instigate this development. Thirdly, it was pointed out that there is problem with the Slovenian mentality which can be hard to influence. Culture has never been marketable and is heavily subsidised. In the cooperation with creative entrepreneurs, it should be emphasized that the goal is to develop creative and cultural products and services that have commercial value. Again, offering support through coaching could be crucial to make this successful. Furthermore, the Municipality of Maribor will have to draft a detailed action plan to facilitate the move from strategy to action plan. During the city visit, it also became clear that Maribor already has a number of interesting and successful creative activities, such as the Puppet Theatre and the art café Salon Uporabnih Umetnosti. They are well-embedded in the city and attract a large amount of visitors. Their presence shows that the city has a lot of potential. More focus could be on the marketing and PR of Maribor to show this potential and make creative entrepreneurs enthusiastic about the city s plans as well as to attract tourists which can yield an increase in cultural consumption. 79

80 URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 1 Participation: 2 Project management: 1 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? Yes. In Slovenia, sustainable urban development will be supported through the instrument of integrated territorial investment (ITI). Eleven Slovenian urban municipalities are entitled to use the ITI instrument for sustainable urban development. The Sustainable Urban Strategy for Maribor (which will be used within the Creative Spirits network) prepared and confirmed by the urban municipality is a condition for acquiring funds for co-financing operations of sustainable urban development in the respective areas. In this framework the City Municipality of Maribor, as the second largest Slovenian city with its inhabitants, will finance urban projects as Integrated Territorial Investments. Does your city take a sectorial approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 80

81 Ravenna Partner Profile An excellent place for creative experiments and pop up actions and events About the city Brief history Ravenna is the capital of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Ravenna is a city of art, history and culture, with ancient origins and a glorious past. It was capital three times: of the Western Roman Empire, of King Theodoric of the Goths and of the Byzantine Empire. The basilicas and baptisteries of the city contain the richest heritage of mosaics dating from the 5 th and 6 th centuries. Eight historic buildings are included in UNESCO s World Heritage List. It is also the city that guards the remains of Dante and keeps alive the memory of the great poet. The winding streets still reveal the past of a city built on a lagoon with canals that crossing it, closed during the period of Venetian rule. In the 17 th century the city was connected to the sea by a navigable canal called Candiano. The docks today are mainly on this canal connecting the town centre of Ravenna to the sea which is 12 km away. The port of Ravenna, which is the main port of Emilia-Romagna, is located at the end of this canal. Social and economic profile Although the population of Ravenna has shrunk slightly in the last 10 years, the number of people coming to work to the city every day is continuously increasing. Consequently, the city needs to provide more and more services, as well as entertainment opportunities for these people, among others cultural programs in creative places. Ravenna s economy is multisectoral, largely characterized by a network of small and micro enterprises. Companies operating in chemistry is a strong point of the city as these companies stand as excellence at national and international levels. Since 2000 Ravenna has seen a strong shift towards the service economy, very much marked thanks to the development of the seaport s transport and logistics services, as well as the development of tourism and the cultural-creative industry (CCI). The cultural-creative industry in the local economy Tourism plays a very important role in the local economy due to Ravenna s historical old town and its beaches. The touristic image of Ravenna as the city of art has been strengthened due to such significant cultural events as the Ravenna Festival. In movie festivals and promotion events (10 directly organised by the Municipality, 21 with a joint participation, 37 with municipal sponsorship) and 633 theatre events and conferences were organized in Ravenna. Students of the local universities as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Music Academy and the traditional schools and laboratories of Mosaic, as well as creative entrepreneurs participate in these events. 81

82 One of the most popular venues of these events is the wet dock (Darsena), which is Ravenna s target area in the Creative Spirits project. For instance, A tutta festa in Darsena, a weekend of pure entertainment will be organized in May, 2017 where local products and food, performers and sportsmen will be brought together along the Candiano canal. About the strategy The Darsena City Operative Plan (P.O.C. Darsena) with which Ravenna would like to deal in the Creative Spirits network, was elaborated by the Urban Planning Department of the Municipality and was approved in February It covers the period The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address The Darsena City Operative Plan has the purpose to ensure consistency and efficiency of the transformation process of the Darsena area into a new integrated urban entrepreneurial ecosystem based on creativity, innovation and environmental sustainability. To achieve this goal and make the area even more attractive from a business point of view, the city must address the following challenges: - Relationship with the owners and with other public and private institutions having jurisdiction on the area (especially the Port Authority) - Attraction of investment Objectives of the strategy/action plan The objectives are: - Conservation/redevelopment of the historical/production/industrial spirit of Darsena - To increase public facilities - Create a public space which is attractive for creative companies to settle and provide public support actions through incubators and co-working methods - Reorganization of traffic flows to combine an appropriate level of quality and of urban connections, focusing also on pedestrians and cyclists - Involvement of the inhabitants in the activities developed in the Darsena to widely disseminate a new business culture - Create strong touristic and cultural appeal as an asset for the entrepreneurial development of the area and for attracting an interested audience Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan. 1) Support for and promotion of temporary use which could raise the profile and attractiveness of the area as a creative place The action plan has already lead to some challenging and appealing projects like: - POP UP - creation of a new sports and leisure space (implemented) - COLABORA - creation of a co-working and start-up space (implemented) - Promoting Urban Gardens: The project involves the urban regeneration of a place owned by the city, used by local people for gardening. The location of the area, despite the current underuse and the general degradation of neighbouring lots is strategic due to its proximity to the historic centre, the possible bicycle and pedestrian connections with the centre and also because it is located in the part of the channel having already seen interventions of redevelopment and temporary uses (exhibitions, markets, cultural events).the project is characterized by Orangerie, the large greenhouse specialized in citrus and oriental cultures and able to host cultural and artistic events, spaces for small craft activities, creative services. 82

83 - Shooting Gallery: restoration of the place for hosting artistic exhibitions 2) Improve and redesign public spaces and services: - Expansion of the Teodorico Park (a 12 hectare area within a perimeter between the Mausoleum area, the railway and Chiavica Romea street) - Creation of the new Waterfront (already completed) - Enhancement of the docks (reopening, lighting, public installations - already completed) - Upgrading and enhancement of the underpass from Darsena to the city centre (under construction) - Revitalization of the railway station s urban pivotal role - Tourism development by enhancing the presentation of the docks industrial archeological heritage (creating an interactive trail with QR codes) The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan - Expansion of public facilities - Growth of the cultural SME and start-up scene - Increase in the amount of private and public investment in Darsena - Development of cultural, commercial and residential spaces - Increase in the number of tourists visiting Darsena - Expanded walking and cycling areas - Increase in the number of cultural events held in Darsena The area that the strategy/ action plan covers P.O.C. involves the urban regeneration of the Darsena district, a former harbour and industrial area and aims to turn it into a new urban and residential space of Ravenna well-connected to the historical city centre. Historically, the area around the port has always been dedicated to activities related to industrial production and manufacturing. The goal is to transform this area into a homogeneous and compact urban district. Moreover, it is an interesting urban space for CCI, too, as it is close to the historical town centre with its already existing cultural/creative climate. It is a fascinating urban landscape with historically significant industrial buildings along the water canal entering into the city and a very stimulating environment for expansion of the creative sector in Ravenna. The area represents the core element of the future development of the city. It can become the ideal place for a culturally vibrant district boosted by a mix of smart creative entrepreneurs and an engine for the new future economy of Ravenna. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan The Municipality of Ravenna wishes to finance the Darsena City Operative Plan primarily from urbanization charges (i.e. fees paid to the Municipality when applying for a planning permission). Besides, it is planned to be supported from the following other funding sources: a) project submitted for funding to the National Association of Italian Communes on the regeneration of the vegetable gardens and the historical Shooting Gallery - waiting to be answered - Total project 200,000 - co-financing by Ravenna Municipality duration ; b) business incubators - Colabora: total project financed by: ENI Foundation Emilia Romagna Region Municipality of Ravenna duration ; c) Pop Up Darsena: (for realization and management; ongoing); d) Restoration of the historical Shooting Gallery, for hosting artistic exhibitions: (Municipality of Ravenna; ongoing); 83

84 e) Green Port: project financed by the Italian Interministerial Committee for Economic Programming Funds for the green transition of the port of Ravenna; within Green Port, approx will be invested in the next two and a half years on pilot projects in Darsena with reference to sustainable mobility and energy efficiency, in order to test and spread innovative solutions and environmentally conscious behaviour; f) Financial support to the cultural activities of the Almagià (the public multi-activity space within Darsena): approx (yearly average - Municipality of Ravenna); g) Organization of fairs and other events periodically held within Darsena: (yearly average - Municipality of Ravenna). The Municipality is also studying new types of financial interventions from European, national and regional funds. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Ravenna preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation of the city s strategy in the target area. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects Ensuring an integrated approach in the implementation of the strategy means a significant challenge for Ravenna as there is no stable working group or a single management office/team responsible for the dock developments. Thus it is challenging to coordinate the work of the various offices/departments (tourism, urban planning, transport) involved as the exchange of information between them is not fluent. Also, the integration of policies within all departments is difficult. As a possible solution for these challenges, Ravenna has established a working group which acts as a "control room" as it coordinates the proposed initiatives and interventions of temporary use of underused places or empty buildings of the wet dock in order to shorten the time needed for the authorization process. Although Ravenna has challenges regarding implementing projects in an integrated way, they have planned some outstanding integrated pilot projects that could serve as good example for partners in the Creative Spirits network. One of them is the Green Port pilot project in Darsena which addresses the green transition of the Port of Ravenna in order to test and spread innovative solutions and environmentally conscious behaviour. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery Ravenna would like to improve the relationship with the owners of the empty buildings and places as well as the entrepreneurs operate in the cultural and creative sector of the city by creating structured relationships with them. Also, the Municipality intends to learn about open innovation events which helps to match demand for space with possibilities for temporary use of spaces in the Darsena area, therefore attracts creatives to the target area. Even if Ravenna would like to learn further ways of stakeholder involvement, especially the involvement of creative entrepreneurs who are discouraged to participate due to the long implementation process of the strategy, the Municipality has quite a lot to share with Creative Spirits partners in this regard. 84

85 It has significant experience in stakeholder involvement gained from the participatory process called la Darsena che vorrei (The wet dock that I would like) started in 2011 with the aim of supporting the process of the Darsena City Operative Plan s elaboration. Publicity to the participatory process was provided through the site the local media, word of mouth among citizens and a massive door to door campaign arranged with a group of volunteers. During the participatory process several group interviews (focus groups) were conducted involving many people of different ages and professions. The individual opinions have produced a group vision, which identified resources, critical points and priorities on the path for the re-qualification of the area. Also, neighbourhood walks and meetings were organized with the representatives of the focus group in which the themes and findings from focus group interviews were analysed. Additionally, 7 training sessions were organized open to the citizens, with municipal technicians on 7 issues identified as strategic. These meetings aimed to give participants information about the Darsena area and its mobility, connections, spaces, public and private services. Finally a two-day seminar was organized with an innovative and inclusive technique (Open Space Technology) producing a vision of the area and concrete proposals which fed into the wet dock s strategy. The above technics (focus group interviews, walks etc.) applied for the participatory planning process can be also used for the strategy s implementation process. Furthermore, the Social Sofa as a method to attract artists by small-scale symbolic projects has been considered quite adaptable by Creative Spirits partners. The artistic project of Social Sofa LTD aims at supporting the social rehabilitation of disadvantaged people. Guided by professional mosaicists, the members of the community have created some mosaic sofas by taking inspiration from internationally renowned artists such as the painter Vincent van Gogh or Paul Smith. Regarding the composition of Ravenna s ULG, it has been based on the experience of the Municipality of having already cooperated with local institutions, commercial and industrial associations, universities, research institutions, social and cultural innovation entities operating in Darsena, as well as having quite a lot of experience in organizing events with the cooperation of artistic and cultural groups. The Municipality has invited the following organizations to take part in the ULG: ANCI - National Association of Italian Municipalities, the Port Authority of Ravenna, CCIAA (Chamber of Commerce), Ascom (Traders Association), CAN (National Confederation of Crafts and SMEs), Confesercenti (one of the leading business associations in the country), Confindustria (Italian General Confederation of Industry) and Confartigianato (the largest European network representing the interests and provision of services of crafts and small businesses) are members of the ULG.. Fondazione Flaminia is a supporting organization of the Ravenna Campus of the University of Bologna dealing with scholarships, internships, cultural activities, arranging accommodation for students. The participation of Flaminia in the ULG could be very useful for building the strategy of the artists and students house that the Municipality would like to build up in the Darsena area. Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Bologna (as they have been involved in a study about the reuse of the Darsena channels water for heating purposes). Additionally, the Municipality has quite a good working relation with social and cultural innovation entities of Darsena, such as Colabora (a co-working and incubator place), Rete Almagià (network of cultural associations), POP-UP (intervention of social activation), Raffineria 42 (co-working space), Meme Exchange (cultural and social promotion association), CHUB (cultural association of architects), Tiro a Segno (Shooting Gallery), Area Orti (vegetable garden area) who will be also involved in the ULG. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance The Darsena City Operative Plan actually does not provide for the measurement of impact using specific indicators; it defines criteria for the implementation process, with the Municipality validating these criteria. However, the choice of establishing a pole for creativity within the wide Darsena compound 85

86 must be verified and measured in a more detailed manner (with special regard to temporary use). As a consequence, a set of simple and effective indicators should be introduced and tested. Additionally, Ravenna would like to learn about creativity indexes in order to measure and monitor the attractiveness and dynamism of the area. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan The Darsena Plan will be updated in 2020, therefore there is a chance of taking a great profit from Creative Spirits results, by embedding them in the Plan s new version Plan. Therefore Ravenna is keen on learning adaptable practices from partner cities which boost the settlement of creative businesses in Darsena. Like it was during the formulation of the Plan, the participatory approach will remain an asset of its implementation process as well. To this regard, two web instruments are available, allowing citizens to stay in touch with the Municipality and to propose suggestions and proposals: - the portal of the participatory process La Darsena che vorrei ( - The portal of temporary uses within Darsena ( Related to the latter one, the Municipality expects to make the area attractive for investors. At the moment the area looks degraded and empty, this problem should be solved first by temporary use (like POP-UP, Area Orti and Tiro a Segno) in order to bring people to Darsena and make the area attractive also for investors. The following examples of temporary use of abandoned places of Darsena are good practices, recommended to be shared with the Creative Spirits partnership: Colabora is a co-working and business incubator that welcomes freelancers and start-ups. The background idea is that collaborating and sharing something is always necessary beyond people, also a place to do so is necessary. Thus the former Customs Warehouse, a building of 300 square meters in Darsena was identified for this purpose to open a co-working place. Start-ups working in Colabora produce innovative products. For instance, GetCOO produces a travel App for smartphones which gives users information about the place surrounding them based on their photos taken. Trippet aims to offer consulting support for owners of accommodation how to turn their place into an animal friendly one. Social Table has created an online platform and App to facilitate and simplify the chance to meet new people at the table, always the favourite place for social interaction. The goal is to create, thanks to technology, new real and genuine relationships by bringing people with common interests and expectations to one table. Find My Artist project also contributes to creatives cooperation in the wet dock by bringing together, first on the web then in reality people who are linked more or less to music: musicians, local people, PR professionals. Rete Almagià is a network of Ravenna s cultural associations funded in 2004 with the aim to create a place of artistic experimentation. Almagià is a multipurpose space located in the dockland. It was founded in 1887 as a sulfur refinery which then became abandoned. As it was recognized as a valuable element of industrial archeology it was recovered and turned into a multifunctional space for events. Almagià is a point of reference for contemporary art scene. It hosts, in fact, various events like music festivals, contemporary international dance and theatre performances, puppetry festivals, evening activities for teenagers, also conferences, debates or multicultural celebrations for the community, confirming its importance as a meeting place. POP-UP Darsena is a temporary containers-based sport centre with shops, cafeteria and a fablab, financed by a pool of local private companies. It is a good example for filling underused places with purpose of social activation strongly linked to the identity of the port of Ravenna. The Surf the Dock 86

87 cultural association played a key role in the creation of this place. They have been working for the dock s redevelopment for decades. The project operates on a free area adjacent to Almagià on a private property which has made available through a contract of loan for free and covers an area of about 4000 square meters. Raffineria 42 is a co-working space inspired by the industrial past of the wet dock. Raffineria 42 is the space in Ravenna where start-uppers, entrepreneurs and freelances work together to develop new business ideas and create new knowledge. It offers co-working spaces for a day, a week or a month. Meme Exchange is a cultural and social promotion association, which aims to try to recover, promote and spread the culture of environmental sustainability and the artistic and human heritage. For instance, Meme has organized an event called "Frammenti di immaginario: emersione dal mare", where artistic lamp installations where presented during the night above the canal of Darsena. CHUB is a cultural association of architects who have organized an idea competition about the temporary use of the Darsena docks. The association is also responsible for exhibitions, workshops, organization of cultural events in general (music, theatre, dance etc.), culinary events. Restoration of the historical Shooting Gallery for hosting artistic exhibitions can be considered as a good example, too. It was marked by participatory events, which have progressively allowed temporarily to reuse the space as a setting of art and culture. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation The Darsena City Operative Plan was conceived as a stimulating framework for attracting private investment. However, currently the presence of private investment in the area is insufficient. Therefore, the Municipality of Ravenna is studying new types of financial interventions on the following levels: - European direct funding for activating processes in convergence with the objectives such as: Creative Europe, Erasmus+, H2020 (e.g., with reference to the period : Cultural Cooperation and Co- Creation); - Verify the possibility to use financing instruments of the European Investment Bank, in connection with the themes tackled via direct funding; - Strategic use of ERDF funds, both through the constitution of public-private partnerships (in case of funds dedicated to enterprises) and through calls in support of territorial development (in case of funds dedicated to public authorities); - Use of national instruments such as the Art Bonus (tax credit to support private investment in the field of the recovery of cultural heritage and development of cultural activities); - Construction of targeted partnerships (including "public private procurement" or "partnerships for the innovation") for attracting private investment and activation of crowd-funding and crowd-sourcing actions. At the same time, Ravenna already has experience in funding creative-cultural actions, out of which some good practices have already been identified: investors wishing to build in the Darsena area have to pay a specific tax (75 euros per square meter of surface of the building to be built). This tax is used to pay for relevant public services foreseen in the Darsena (e.g. for cleaning the channel, upgrading the docks, sewerage etc.), while in order to boost creative entrepreneurs in Darsena, 1% of it has to be used for the creation of art works in Darsena. As another good practice for encouraging entrepreneurs to invest in Darsena, an imaginary green belt has been sketched around the town, and it has been decided that this belt would represent the limit of 87

88 town expansion. If an entrepreneur owning pieces of this green belt area donates the area to the Municipality, they receive in return a construction place in the Darsena. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery The Municipality has experience in PPP. For instance, the Municipality and private entities signed program agreements for financing and implementation of the interventions of the "SEA in the wet Dock" project. However, Ravenna still needs to learn more how to create public-private partnerships. Designing smart public procurement frameworks As Ravenna does not have experience in designing a smart procurement system which could support local creative entrepreneurs, they are keen on learning more about it in the frame of the Creative Spirits network. Conclusions and attention points The Darsena target area is surely an area with great potential for giving it a successful creative function. The ambiance (a historic industrial environment) and location rather close to the city centre are very stimulating and appealing for young creative entrepreneurs and start-ups to settle themselves in this area. In particular the existing temporary use actions and projects are focussed on giving the area this desired creative image. This is further stimulated by the City and other Institutions by organising regular cultural events in the area. So the city is on the right track also in terms of turning the area into the main creative district of Ravenna benefitting from the existing creative/cultural climate in the city and the wish to boost and give room for creative start-ups. However, the City s strategy for the area s rehabilitation is rather broad. It is not clear what the priorities and preferences are (and what is the place of the creative sector within these) which is further demonstrated by the fact that the views of the Municipality, the private owners and the Port Authority seem to be somehow conflicting. It is unclear what will happen with the temporary creative projects in the area at the moment a private owner could sell the land for residential housing or other money-wise more interesting functions. It is unclear what the Port Authority means by giving the area a touristic image in particular for the tourists coming from Cruise Ships (Cruise Terminal is rather close). The City is very satisfied with the current temporary use projects but has no power to continue to implement such actions because most plots and abandoned buildings are privately owned. On the other hand the target area is huge so combined and integrated functions are simply needed to rehabilitate this area in a (financially) sustainable way. Integrated means that being THE Creative District of Ravenna should be the unique selling point for the area. This would make the area also more attractive for real estate investors. But in that case this Creative image should be given a more prominent place in the operational plan for implementing the Strategy and also being kept and protected. The City wants to use Creative Spirits also to acquire knowledge on how to translate the Strategy into an operational plan. It is also crucial in this regard that ALL stakeholders (public and private) work together in an integrated way from the very beginning of the operational planning process. The ULG of Ravenna should and could play an important role in this and the joint development of a ULG Action plan/roadmap could be a perfect starting point. Ravenna has supported the creation of some co-working spaces in the area. A more pro-active role and strategy of the city to attract young start-ups in the creative sector to settle themselves in these 88

89 buildings and by doing so giving a boost to turning this area also into a breeding place for successful entrepreneurs in the creative sector could also be an important part of the operational plan. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 6 Participation: 10 Project management: 4 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? Yes, Ravenna acts as Urban Authority in Axis 6 of FESR Regional Operative Plan of Emilia-Romagna Region. Axis 6 aims to enhance the cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, through ICT. Ravenna will carry out the project Ravenna Open Lab-Museum for urban and digital development of tourism and culture. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 89

90 Sofia Partner Profile Target area strategically located in the town centre to be used as an exhibition area for the creative sector in Sofia About the city Geography Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and the biggest political, administrative, cultural and educational centre in the country, with a current population of 1.8 million inhabitants. Sofia Municipality is an administrative unit with the status of a region divided into 24 districts, administered by local mayors. Sofia Municipality, its centre being the City of Sofia, is situated on an altitude of around 550 metres and its total area covers 1342 km 2. Sofia Municipality includes 4 towns: Sofia, Bankya, Novi Iskar and Buhovo and 34 villages. Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union and it is one of the oldest cities in Europe. On the total territory of the Sofia Municipality there are around 1400 cultural monuments, including one UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2014 Sofia was awarded the title UNESCO Creative City of Film. Brief history Sofia is a city with a rich cultural heritage. Its location was on some of the important communication arteries during the period of antiquity connecting Europe and Asia. This together with the proximity of the Vitosha Mountain just predetermine that Sofia is a place with a rich history, many material traces of which can be found at for example archaeological excavations. Sofia City has about 1,400 cultural sights of which 840 are located in the city centre. Social and economic profile The Sofia metropolitan area plays a dominant role in Bulgaria s economy and it accounts for over 39% of the national GDP. Increasingly, Sofia is becoming an outsourcing destination for multinational companies. It is among the top 30 fastest developing cities worldwide and ranks first among the European capitals in terms of GDP growth per capita in the last 10 years according to the 2015 report of Bloomberg. fdi Magazine defines Sofia as one of the most attractive FDI destinations for 2016/2017, ranking it 4th among the big European cities in terms of cost efficiency. According to Forbes, Sofia is one of the top 10 cities in the world which are recommended places for launching start-ups. Factors such as relatively low income tax rates (10%), one of the fastest internet services in the world and 56.7% of the territory covered with free internet access put the Bulgarian capital into one of the leading positions in the global start up ecosystem. Sofia is home to 1/4 of the workforce in the country, 1/6 of the industrial production of Bulgaria and produces 34.3 percent of Bulgaria s GDP. With regards to CCI, Sofia is in the top 10 cities in Europe in terms of CCI generated income; 7.3% added value created by CCI; 11.6% employed in CCI of the whole workforce in Sofia, with an annual increase of 0.7%. Concerning education, Sofia has 16 secondary 90

91 language schools offering a business curriculum, 18 language schools with an IT curriculum, while its 21 universities yield graduates per year. 73% of school students learn 2 foreign languages. Sofia s population increases by 80 persons daily on average. Sofia s GDP, however, is still around 50% of the EU average. The population increase therefore possesses severe challenges in terms of infrastructure and service development, social cohesion and quality of life. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy Sofia is the national centre of Bulgaria for culture, art, creative clusters and business industries. Most of the country s universities, museums, galleries, art schools, NGOs, cultural institutions and business companies are located in Sofia. In total, there are more than 1,000 enterprises active in the creative and cultural sector in Sofia. Sofia has 11 municipal cultural institutions: theatres, cultural community centres, art galleries, a library and a museum. In 2007, Sofia launched its own funding programme called Sofia Culture Programme (SCP) to achieve a balance between public and private cultural organizations, to enhance independent sector development and to compensate for the slow national cultural policy reforms. The funding programme has since then turned into being the biggest public donor for arts and culture nationally, distributing bigger funds than the Ministry of Culture. The following table shows the municipal budget for culture: Year Total budget (BGN) Budget for culture % Budget for culture: municipal activities (BGN) (BGN) ,190,787,036 25,421, ,063,823 6,357, ,465,945,539 28,032, ,086,913 6,945, ,498,231,200 31,279, ,517,398 7,761,795 About the strategy Budget for culture: competitive funding The political governance of CCI in Sofia is provided by the directly elected Sofia Municipal Council, and more specifically by its committee on culture and education. At the administrative level, Sofia has a deputy mayor responsible for culture and education and a culture directorate. Sofia s cultural policy is guided by the Cultural Development Strategy The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address Sofia city centre has an unexplored and untapped potential stemming from its rich cultural heritage of different epochs, which is a unique blend of cultures, religions and history. In the past years, Sofia has realised successful projects to conserve and exhibit archaeological sites in the city centre. Yet in order to attract creative entrepreneurs the city needs further development. It needs to take action with regards to tackling high vacancy rates and promoting interim use, especially when it comes to buildings remaining from the communist period. The city should also better develop connections between CCI and other fields such as education. Another problem is that not all inhabitants appreciate CCI as they often have limited access to cultural places, for example, due to financial limitations. It is difficult to tackle all the above mentioned issues on city level as Sofia is a large city. Therefore Sofia Municipality has decided to narrow down its focus in light of the Creative Spirits project. From this arises the specific local policy challenge to increase the visibility of unknown creatives by giving them a platform that allows the creatives to access larger and new audiences. 91

92 Objectives of the strategy/action plan The overarching objectives of Sofia Municipality come from the Integrated Plan for Urban Regeneration and Development (IPURD). Its focus is on achieving accelerated economic growth, higher living standards and sustainable and balanced development in nature preservation and development of the urban environment by: identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the city and defining a vision for development of Sofia until 2020 by taking into account the continuous improvement of the economic, physical, social and environmental status of different urban areas; identifying and validating realistic targets for urban areas as well as establishing a system of interrelated activities for their implementation. The IPURD is a general plan on city level and will therefore not be discussed elaborately in this profile. The Cultural Development Strategy , however, which is part of IPURD, is more important with regards to CCI. Three cross-cutting themes are outlined in the Cultural Development Strategy , two of these are relevant for the Creative Spirits project. The corresponding objectives are defined below. To guarantee citizens access to and participation in cultural activities Development of new audiences, especially residents who have had no or only limited access to culture; support for the non-institutional part of the cultural sector; support for artistic debut; support for the creation of digital cultural content and digital forms of participation; renovation of spaces for culture; support for access to culture for people with special needs, foreign language speakers, etc.; development of infrastructure for information and promotion of arts and culture (urban media for culture); to achieve balanced territorial development and improve social cohesion. Cultural heritage and Visitors Economy stimulating cultural tourism, including through participation in alternative international cultural routes and developing national, regional and local ones and related services and cultural offerings; diversifying funding sources. Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The Cultural Development Strategy entails the city s broader vision on CCI development. Therefore not all objectives are applicable to Sofia s specific target area. However, by outlining the objectives of the Cultural Development Strategy, it should become clear that Sofia s target area is part of a city wide strategy. The theme To guarantee citizens access to and participation in cultural activities is most relevant in the case of the target area, which is a park that is officially called Park National Palace of Culture. From this theme arise the following specific actions needed concerning the target area: Many creatives in Sofia are hidden as they are dispersed all over the city. For these artists, musicians, painters, etc. it is difficult to reach audiences and for audiences it is challenging to find them. The park in the target area should therefore become a concentrated area where these hidden creatives, audiences and also established institutes can come together. 92

93 Using the park as an exhibition area for contemporary and traditional art fits within the objective to renovate spaces for culture and to balance territorial development and social cohesion. Furthermore, by concentrating culture in a public park, it stimulates the creation of new audiences as for example residents have better access to cultural activities. Also, bringing together hidden unknown artists provides creatives with the chance to debut for a larger audience. Another benefit of concentrating the cultural sector is that it becomes easier to develop an infrastructure for information and promotion of arts and culture as the information about a number of cultural activities can be bundled as they take place in the same area. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan Employing the Cultural Development Strategy to start development in the target area should result in Park National Palace of Culture becoming a concentrated hub for creatives who perform, exhibit and debut there with the purpose of reaching new audiences. Furthermore, this setup should yield better access to art and culture for residents who previously had limited or no access at all. The park will also become physically more attractive which should result in more people wanting to spend their time there. Ideally the target area will become a real asset of Sofia in the future meaning that tourists would want to visit Sofia to, among other things, visit the culturally rich park. The area that the strategy/action plan covers The target area in Sofia is the Park National Palace of Culture in front of the Palace of Culture which is a large multifunctional centre for festivals, conferences, exhibitions, etc. In 2018, this building will function as the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Bulgaria. The park is close to and well-connected to the inner-city through a pedestrian zone which is the main shopping street in Sofia. During summer time, the park is a popular place as people like to spend their time there. People go to the park to meet each other, to roller-skate, to spend the evenings, etc. The area s spaciousness is an asset in this regard as it permits a great diversity of activities and a large amount of people. The openness of the space is complemented with a small area inside the park that offers a more intimate atmosphere. This smaller space is a former open air cinema which lies on a lower ground level. People would go there to sit on the benches and have a drink from the bar while watching a film on the screen. Through public procurement, a company rented the place until last summer when the contract expired. Since then it has not been in use. Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan The Cultural Development Strategy belongs under the Integrated Plan for Urban Regeneration and Development (IPURD). As part of IPURD the city has developed an Investment Programme for the financial framework : Sofia s Investment Programme (IP) that amounts to million BGN (143 million Euro). The IP includes infrastructure investment projects with priorities in educational and social (including cultural) infrastructure, integrated urban transport and urban environment. During IPURD s preparation, the principles of complementarity and synergy were applied by integrating all sources of funding: EU, national and municipal budgets, private sector, philanthropic gifts, public-private partnerships, etc. The Cultural & Educational Department of Sofia Municipality is responsible for the Creative Spirits project, however, it does not have the authority, on behalf of the whole Sofia Municipality, to decide about the spending of the Investment Programme. It therefore remains to be seen how much financial support can be provided within the municipality for the realisation of the development in the target area. 93

94 Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by Sofia Municipality preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation related challenges. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects Based on the questionnaire filled in by Sofia Municipality before the city visit, it became clear that it is a challenge for Sofia to achieve a good synchronisation of actions to be taken by the institutions that create policy on regional and municipal level. Up until know, departments within the municipality have functioned in a rather isolated way and competing with one another as they have to contest for parts of the municipal budget. It will be a challenge for Sofia Municipality to convince the relevant departments that developing and supporting the creative and cultural sector, by offering them a platform in the target area, is not a niche activity but rather something that can bring benefits for the attractiveness and image of the whole city. To realise this, common objectives and priorities will need to be articulated and supported by the relevant departments. Sofia has indicated that it has the following learning needs: how to overcome resistance to change lack of support from both administrative units as well as from creative people who have a strong sense of autonomy and lack the willingness to work together for everybody. Furthermore, the municipality aims to learn how to find and recruit the most experienced public officers and internal experts for the implementation of innovative measures. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery Among the main challenges for Sofia is strengthening the partnership between all institutions, stakeholders and civil society structures during the development of the park in order to: raise the level of awareness and transparency during the development of the target area; reach the general public and future partners, stakeholders and investors; help generate new creative ideas to boost confidence in the project; achieve consensus and more active participation. In order to overcome the above challenge, Sofia has indicated that it aims to learn about gaining the knowledge and skills to develop long-standing, reciprocal partnerships with stakeholders and to mobilise local people. Furthermore, the municipality is eager to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of co-creation in connection to CCIs in order to create entrepreneur friendly strategies. Also, Sofia wants to know how to manage goal conflicts with stakeholders. The ultimate learning need for Sofia is how to reach creative entrepreneurs and keep them engaged throughout the development process in which stakeholders will have to contribute to ideas so as to come to concrete plans for the target area. Although Sofia faces several challenges, they have already taken some steps, out of which the Sofia Creative Council is a good practice that can be valuable to the partnership as well. Sofia Municipality is among the greatest donors for arts and culture in Bulgaria, the funding of whom exceeds over three times the national funding provided by the Ministry of Culture. Approximately 5.5 million lev (2.25 million Euros) is distributed annually via open calls for proposals through several funding programmes: Culture Programme, Cultural Calendar, Europe Programme, Sports and Youth Initiatives. 94

95 Sofia Culture Programme is the biggest financial instrument for financing art and culture in Bulgaria. Since its establishment in 2007, it has applied the so called Arm s-length-principle (a principle by which parties act independently and stand on equal footing). The Sofia Culture Programme has been managed by an Expert Council, 20 members of which form the Creative Council, which sets the annual priorities and criteria of the programme, and appoints the selection committees and is responsible for the project funding distribution. Such a procedure has been set up in order to distance arts from politics and bureaucracy and to reform the system of state support inherited from the previous regime. This way Sofia has also recognized that within the arts community there is a desire and readiness to participate in decision-making and peer evaluation. Currently the Creative Council includes 6 city representatives (Sofia deputy mayor and 5 local councillors), and 14 representatives of the artistic and cultural sector (artists, academics and researchers, media representatives, community NGO representatives), out of whom the chairperson of the Creative Council is elected. Sofia has set up its ULG consisting of almost 20 members who have had two meetings already before the city visit. However, the construction of the group is flexible, meaning that it could be expanded in the future depending on the needs of the project. The current ULG members represent important organisations which will most likely play a vital role in the delivery of project in the future. Among these organisations are: Sofia Development Association Observatory of Cultural Economics Brazz Association Parents Association Board of Easyart Foundation Foundation Circus Balkanski During its first two meetings, the ULG underlined the challenge of moving from strategy to an operational action plan as the members feel that there is a need for concretisation. Although a specific plan is still missing, the ULG members have shared many thoughts on how they envision the future development of CCI in Sofia. One ambition is to facilitate the positive tension between traditional art and contemporary art by finding a crossing point in the target area where these two different views on art can encounter and cross-feed one another. Stakeholders have suggested that the target area should not only be a stage for creatives where audiences can watch performances or exhibitions, but attention should be drawn also to the process of creating so that people get the chance to witness the creative process. For example, film makers can tell and explain the process of how a film is made. Another important aspect briefly discussed during the ULG meeting was about the promotion of the park as a cultural place. There is an idea suggesting to organize the promotion of the park around the EU presidency of Bulgaria as the Palace of Culture is only 500 metres away. The role of education is also an important one as schools only teach traditional arts and not contemporary art. Setting up efficient indicators & monitoring systems to measure performance Sofia has indicated that in developing a set of indicators it faces again the challenge of coordination between the governing departments. Next to this, it is also a challenge to bring together the right human and financial resources to set up and execute a monitoring system. Also, Sofia will have to make connections between various government programmes and policies in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic impact of the project. Lastly, Sofia wants to learn how to setup a flexible monitoring system that can be adjusted in case of changing conditions. Moving from strategy to operational action-plan Sofia faces the challenge of creating specific solutions and tools that allow the city to effectively tackle the challenges arising during the implementation process. The municipality has some ideas for the 95

96 transformation of the park, however, these will need to be further concretised. For example, the municipality wishes to setup a kind of incubation centre to support entrepreneurs. Sofia has indicated that it would like to learn from other partners how to approach this idea and how to turn it into reality. Another idea concerns the open air cinema in the target area, which is now owned by the municipality that has the ambition to reopen it. So far, one of the municipality s ideas is to only rent the bar to another party and have the open-air cinema remain under complete control of the city so that the municipality will be able to better steer the development of the area. The municipality would like to explore ideas such as making the open-air cinema also a stage for theatre groups and other performing arts. At this point, a concrete action plan is missing as ideas will have to be developed and translated into specific actions or measures that could be implemented. At the same time, Sofia already has two good practices that demonstrate successful implementation of action-plans. The first one is the Urban Reading Room. It originated in 2015 as a result of a grassroots movement, which followed numerous city and NGO driven attempts to find a solution to a more than a decade-long issue with a privately owned run-down pavilion in the City Garden at the heart of Sofia. The major challenge to be overcome was legal, the form of ownership, but there were some administrative obstacles as well: amending the purpose of the building in the city urban plans, finding a purpose suitable for green park areas, etc. Starting as a massive community campaign following a decade of legal and administrative procrastination, in the spring of 2015 over 7,000 citizens donated books and citizens were issued with a reader membership card, thus proposing the pavilion to be turned into a library/reading hall in the open and indoors. With a few architectural and design interventions, the Urban Reading Room was opened to the public. In less than 3 months it was visited by nearly 20,000 people. It offers paper and electronic books (PocketBook format).currently it also operates as a city information point and as such its day-to-day management is provided by Sofia Tourist Service. It is supported also by the business community in Sofia. The second good practice is the Institutes of Culture which offers an Academy to educate and train people. The Academy offers opportunities to mid-career cultural managers through education and training to acquire skills and knowledge, as well as a university certificate for post-graduate specialization. Participants are selected via calls for applications. They undergo a one-year training, including lectures and seminars, individual assignments, on-site problem observation and solving, online tutorials and mentorship. Lecturers and mentors are provided by all parties involving: Sofia Municipality, Sofia University and the following 7 European Cultural Institutes are involved as well: Austrian Embassy, British Council, Czech Center, Instituto Cervantes, Institut Français and Polish Institute. Thus, the Academy participants have access to the best European practices and networks, which additionally helps them develop partnerships and cooperation. Costs of the Academy are shared by the organizers. Sofia Municipality thus invests funds (as well as in-kind support) in the capacity building of the cultural managers on its territory. In 2015 the Academy also accepted 5 participants from Plovdiv to support the capacity building of the European Capital of Culture 2019 team. At the beginning of April 2016 the third year of the Academy began, this time with international participants from the Balkan countries. Enhancing funding of urban policies by exploring financial innovation Related to the challenge of the integrated approach is the harmonisation of funding through various operational programmes and Sofia s own municipal budget as it is a challenge for departments within the municipality to collaborate efficiently. As mentioned, departments have to compete over budget and it will be the task of the Cultural & Educational Department to persuade higher political levels that the development of the park into a cultural area is a priority. Sofia has a good practice with regards to funding the cultural sector city wide. The Sofia Public-Private Fund for Innovations in Culture was established in 2013 and is the first instrument of this kind in Bulgaria. It proposes a public private partnership model to provide access to funding for more innovative and risky cultural and creative projects: all private funding collected annually is doubled by the Sofia municipality. Private and corporate donors can become Members of the Board of Trustees and 96

97 participate in decision-making. The mission of the fund is to improve the effective management of financial resources and the development of local philanthropy. It aims at supporting cultural and creative enterprises in Sofia, encouraging citizens (particularly young artists ) participation and creating cross-sector partnerships. Areas which are least developed are a specific focus. The Fund has announced 2 calls for applications so far, with over 30 individual art projects funded and over 100,000 Euro distributed to artists and artistic organisations. Additionally, the Fund initiates and manages other initiatives and projects with financial business support that offer opportunities for young creators. One of these initiatives, that is currently implemented, is a competition to design urban furniture (benches, mailboxes, garbage bins, water fountains, signs, etc.) for a newly constructed residential area. The competition is organized by the property developer (Garitage Investment Management) and the Fund, involving an independent jury and community outreach, while all designs and prototypes will be included in a catalogue to be distributed to property developers and construction investors. Setting up Public Private Partnerships for delivery Sofia does not wish to deal with this challenge in the frame of the Creative Spirits project. Designing smart public procurement frameworks During the city visit it became evident that Sofia Municipality might want to utilise public procurement for the open air cinema in the park. Before the summer of 2016, a company rented the whole place, however, the municipality has bad experience with this company and it therefore aims to remain in control of the space in the future. The bar of the cinema could be rented to a company and it will therefore be a challenge for the municipality to find a type of contract that will work within the Bulgarian legal framework and bureaucracy. The problem is namely that the municipality will have to legally lie down the roles and responsibilities of the different parties that will be involved, which can be a difficult process according to Sofia Municipality. For example, the contract will have to include that a company can only rent the bar but not any other part of the property. Furthermore, Sofia Municipality will have to clarify which departments of the municipality need to be involved. As mentioned, collaboration between departments is lacking causing issues in situations like these. Tasks such as maintenance, security, and other services will be divided over different departments. The challenge for Sofia is to legally figure this out and create a workable plan. Conclusion and attention points The target area chosen by the city of Sofia has a lot of potential. It is situated close to the Palace of Culture and the city centre and connected to a new Metro station to be opened soon. The area has partly been used as an open-air cinema but the creative "functions" of the area could be significantly enlarged. The area is owned by the municipality which should lead to a great number of opportunities. However, this is at the same time the problem. Turning this area into a kind of "open air creative breeding place" requires not only a strong commitment from local practitioners, entrepreneurs, etc. but also from various sectors in the Municipality. A strong point is that Sofia has a specific department for Culture and Creativity but it has to compete with eight other departments in the city. Budget wise the cultural department is not being considered as a priority. An integrated style of working is crucial but this is also one of the main weaknesses (and challenges) for the city. A better promotion of the area within Sofia and the challenges linked to a more creative use of this area should also be a priority and the Creative Spirits project could create a momentum for that. It should be recognised by all departments in the city that building on the creative impulses of a city is an opportunity for economic growth and job creation. 97

98 The city would surely benefit from knowledge on how to develop an operational and/or action plan to develop the creative potential of the area. Temporary and pop up use for local stakeholders and providing them know how on developing a business oriented approach should be part of such an action plan including directions on how the Municipality could play a role in this process. The ULG is still subject to enlargement but linked to the above aspects it should surely include representatives of other relevant municipal sectors like the ones for business support, social cohesion and environment and infrastructure. URBACT programme indicators How would you rate your experience in implementing an integrated strategies/action plans in terms of (1: beginner 10: advanced): Integration: 8 Participation: 7 Project management: 7 Has the city been identified as the article 7 urban authority for the ERDF Operational program? If yes, will it be funded as an ITI dedicated program or urban axis? Please explain the state of play? Sofia is identified as article 7 urban authority for ERDF Operational programs. The Investments Programme of SM, developed under the Integrated Plan for Urban Regeneration and Development (IPURD) will be directly financed of OP Regions in Growth and the third metro line of Sofia has a dedicated funding of OP Transport. Does your city take a sectoral approach to implementing a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city predominantly delivers action plans through individual departments. 2. My city sometimes delivers action plans by involving several departments. 3. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments. 4. My city mostly delivers action plans by involving several departments and sometimes builds multidisciplinary teams for this purpose too. 5. My city always has multidisciplinary teams working across departments to deliver an action plan. How would you describe the approach of your city to maintaining participation of relevant local stakeholders in the implementation of an action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never applies a stakeholder participation approach to the implementation of an action plan. 2. My city rarely applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 3. My city sometimes applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 4. My city often applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. 5. My city always applies a stakeholder participation approach to implementation of an action plan. How would you define your city s performance in using a results framework in the implementation of a strategy/action plan? Please select one. 1. My city never uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 2. My city rarely uses a results framework in the implementation of strategies or action plans. 3. My city sometimes uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 4. My city often uses a results framework when implementing a strategy or action plan. 5. My city always uses a results framework for all the strategies or action plans that it delivers. 98

99 Waterford Partner Profile Great creative potential and target area well connected with the town centre About the city Geography Waterford City is the fifth largest city in the Republic of Ireland. It is the primary population and economic centre within County Waterford and the South East region. Waterford has excellent road infrastructure with a motorway to Dublin, a strong rail network and close proximity to three international airports in addition to its own regional airport. Furthermore, Waterford has a major sea port that is the closest one to mainland Europe in Ireland. Waterford City is designated as a Gateway City under the current National Spatial Strategy that defines it as: Strategically placed, national scale urban areas, which individually and in combination will be key elements for delivering a more spatially balanced Ireland and driving development in their own regions. Brief history Not only is Waterford the most important hub nowadays in the South East region of Ireland, Waterford is also the oldest city of Ireland. Its history goes back to the Vikings who founded the town at the beginning of the 10 th century. Throughout history Waterford has been an important port for export and for the shipbuilding industry. Prosperous periods were interspersed with periods of crises such as famines, invasions and upheavals. One of the city s wealthiest periods was during the 18 th century when Waterford was the third largest port in Ireland. During this century, the glass factory was founded that would later become the world-famous Waterford Crystal. Social and economic profile The population of Waterford has been growing steadily since the 1960s; Waterford City s population currently stands at 48,369 people. Waterford offers a mix of skills, infrastructure and excellent support for any business establishing or expanding operations in Ireland. Waterford is ranked 4th for Business Friendliness and Economic Potential in the Micro European City rankings by FDI Magazine The South East is home to 71 multinational companies employing 12,071 people. The main clusters are in High Value Manufacturing (Pharmaceutical, Medical Devices and Engineering), and International Financial Services. Speaking more generally in terms of industry, 24.4% of employees work in professional services, with 21.6% in commerce and trade. An analysis by gender shows that it is primarily women working in the professional services sector, with men dominating in agriculture, forestry, fishing, building and construction and manufacturing industries. In 2011 the unemployment rate in Waterford City was at 25.1% compared with a national average of 19.0%. While unemployment rates have dropped since this time, the trend that Waterford City s unemployment 99

100 rate remains higher than the national average has continued. The unemployment rate in the South East for the third quarter of 2016 was 10.4%, while the national average for the same period stands at 8%. The cultural-creative industry in the local economy As mentioned before, Waterford is Ireland s oldest city that celebrated 1,100 years of existence in It is steeped in history, where tradition, culture and cultural-creative industry in the local economy are very important economic drivers for the City. The city s tourism infrastructure base comprises a diversity of quality attractions and accommodation including its architectural heritage, the highly-acclaimed Waterford Treasures and ecclesiastic landmarks. The main attraction for visitors is the world-famous Waterford Crystal, the fourth most popular tourist attraction in the State, attracting more than 350,000 visitors from different corners of the world annually to the city. Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of crystal that is very popular among Americans from Irish descent who are interested in their roots. The brand is also known to produce famous sport trophies such as the AFCA National Championship Trophy in the United States. Another great example of an existing creative business is the Fumbally Exchange. The Fumbally Exchange offers low-cost, low-risk business incubation space for design focused creative professionals who may be start-ups, sole traders or small businesses. It is housed in a carefully restored building in the Viking Triangle with 15 work stations, a kitchen area and an executive boardroom facility with stunning views overlooking the River Suir. Tenants currently include: architects, graphic designers, illustrators, translators, photographers and digital marketers. Furthermore, Waterford is a true festival city with an abundance of festivals with creative and cultural themes each year that often attract visitors from all over Ireland. In 2016, the city provided a total amount of 1,6 million for the 38 festivals that took place in Waterford that year. About the strategy Two official strategies are laid down both on local and regional level. On regional level, the development of the Regional Cultural Strategy started in 2015 as part of the first phase of the region s Bid to become European Capital of Culture 2020 (ECoC). Unfortunately, the bid was unsuccessful on this occasion. However, it is still intended that an Implementation Plan to support the objectives of this Regional Cultural Strategy will be developed in Whereas the regional strategy defines a general ambition of the counties of Wexford, Kilkenny and Waterford to create a region where culture is appreciated and understood, the local strategy addresses how this vision can be carried out in Waterford City. The one for the city is the Waterford City Centre Management Plan that was adopted in October 2013, its implementation being currently under process. The vision of this plan focusses on The development of a compact, accessible and vibrant city that is a destination in its own right; that offers a unique, distinctive and diverse range of independent, national and international retailers to serve the needs of its regional catchment and that is developed fully in accordance with its designation as a gateway city. The Management Plan provides a framework for future urban development and growth. The local policy challenge that the city s integrated strategies/action plan address Waterford, as well as the region has a small-scale, fragmented, under-connected and under-leveraged cultural and creative sector, which is not achieving its full potential and not bringing positive benefits that could be gained by sharing resources and knowledge, interconnecting the region, and providing greater access to culture in all its forms. A joint regional approach is required for enhancing the competitiveness of the creative sector and for culture-led development. This is addressed by the Regional Cultural Strategy, especially through its strategic priority B (A creative and cultural economy programme), which, among others, supports actions like building capacity within the cultural and 100

101 creative sector to sustain cultural development and supporting the development of the creative industries sector to become a driver for economic change. Waterford city centre is currently not attractive enough for creative entrepreneurs. The city centre is facing a number of challenges that are addressed by the City Centre Management Plan: lack of cohesion; competing centres and new retail formats; difficulty in identifying larger sites for retail; high vacancy levels; accessibility; poor presentation of buildings; brain drain of young talent. The City Centre Management Plan addresses these challenges proposing to create a vibrant culturally attractive city centre to leverage the creative sector s full potential (e.g. Strategic Theme: City Vibrancy). Objectives of the strategy/action plan Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The objectives related to the above policy challenge addressed by the Regional Cultural Strategy are: Strategic priority A: Regional model for partnership: O1: create effective governance structures for culture-led regional development O2: deliver excellence and innovation in service development and delivery O3: develop the potential of the region to increase its appeal to visitors Strategic priority B: A creative and cultural economy programme O4: develop sustainable audiences for culture across the region O5: effectively resource and support festival economy O6: build capacity within the cultural and creative sector to sustain cultural development O7: support the development of the creative industries sector to become a driver for economic change Strategic priority C: Culture-led social development O8: develop a social contract for health and well-being for the region Strategic priority D: an urban and rural regeneration programme O9: deliver on physical regeneration projects to support the cultural development agenda O10: ensure connectivity and access to culture for all citizens From the above list, strategic priorities B and C are especially relevant for the Creative Spirits network. The objectives related to the above policy challenge addressed by the Waterford City Development Plan are: Strategic Theme: City Access & Internal Management - Ensure connectivity between the different city centre nodes Strategic Theme: City Vibrancy - Develop distinct nodes within the city centre with different anchors to generate cross movement through spaces - Make Waterford a safe city Strategic Theme: Education & Employment - Continue to support opportunities for education providers in the city centre - Promote office based employment in the city centre Strategic Theme: City Presentation - Prepare urban renewal proposals for identified city centre areas - Secure funding to implement proposals 101

102 - Develop High Street as the main pedestrian artery from Waterford Viking Triangle to the retail centre Strategic Theme: Tourism & Heritage - Promote Waterford as a base for visiting and home grown events and festivals Main actions/measures included in this strategy/action plan The main aim of the Waterford City Development Plan is: To have an Arts and Culture product which is of national and international standing and is an economic driver for the Gateway. O Connell Street provides the potential to develop Waterford s extensive base of cultural groups and facilities to create vibrancy in the O Connell Street area. The planned re-development of the Presbytery buildings on Georges Street as a location for arts and culture will further strengthen the focus on this area. These facilities and local expertise in youth arts create opportunities to develop this area in Waterford City centre as a cultural centre for both the resident population and the visiting tourist population. O Connell Street can be developed as a family oriented arts/ culture node with Garter Lane Arts Centre as the anchor. This location, which is home to many different nationalities, allows the opportunity to create a district which all creative spirits can be proud of. The City Centre Management Plan has developed a vision for Waterford city centre through the development of 4 key nodes distributed across the city centre. Each of these nodes are to have a distinct identity and will help to generate cross movement of pedestrian traffic in the city centre contributing to the vibrancy and vitality of the centre. The 4 nodes are: 1. Cultural Node focused on O Connell Street, this will see the further development of the existing base of the Garter Lane Arts Centre and the development of the Presbytery Buildings on Georges Street as cultural assets. 2. Evening & Night Time focused on John Street and building on the established base of night time economy focused businesses in the area. 3. Tourism & Heritage focused primarily on the existing base of established infrastructure in Waterford Viking Triangle and working in partnership with Destination Waterford City Tourism Committee. 4. Retail Node focusing on the existing core city centre anchored by City Square, Georges Court, Shaws on Georges Street and the proposed development on Michael Street. The first node in which Waterford expresses its prioritised vision to create a CCI hub - provides the frame in which Waterford intends to work together with other cities to better tackle implementation related challenges within the Creative Spirits project. Actions included in developing the Culture Node involve: Explore potentials to develop the Presbytery buildings and other buildings for use by arts and culture and the creative industries, develop measures to address high vacancy rates and explore the potential for interim use to support CCI. The Regional Cultural Strategy also lists actions that are related to CCI, which involve: GOAL 6: Build capacity within the cultural and creative sector to sustain cultural development 6.1 New funding/investment models to entrepreneurship in the creative and cultural industries 6.2 Develop competency of cultural players 6.3 Regional Cultural Steering Group co-production and touring 6.4 Models of best practice in cultural planning 6.5 International expertise of digital technology approaches to cultural programming 6.6 Measure the spill over effects of the cultural and creative sector into the wider economy 6.7 Capacity-building programmes 6.8 Artisan food and brewing sectors 102

103 GOAL 7: Support the development of the creative industries sector to become a driver for economic change 7.1 To support the development of Centres of Excellence across the region 7.2 Partnership with Waterford Institute of Technology to commission research into creative industries potential for the region, design bespoke programmes to support sectoral development 7.3 Work with Local enterprise Offices and Chambers of Commerce in the region to develop crossagency supports and regional networking opportunities for sustainable business development for micro businesses in the Creative Industries sector 7.4 Create meanwhile and activation spaces for creative entrepreneurship and assess the potential for development of new uses for old spaces to house micro-industries in the creative sector 7.6 Utilise the outputs of the mapping of creative industries (part of the ECoC bid) to plan for development of the creative industries sector in the region. In addition to the measures of the two strategies, Waterford has adopted an innovative approach to develop vibrant urban centres across the city and county. City/ Town Centre Management Groups have been established in the three main urban areas of Waterford City, Dungarvan and Tramore. These stakeholder groups have developed City/ Town Centre Management Plans to drive the development of these areas. One key priority identified by each of these groups was the number of vacant units in each of the centres. In a proactive approach to address this issue, Waterford Council introduced a range of grants to support niche businesses such as arts, crafts, and artisan food producers as well as more mainstream retailers. The main expected results of the strategy/ action plan Expected Results from the Regional Cultural Strategy and the City Centre Management Plan regarding the CCI are: an exploratory model of regional partnership development and a new model in the Irish cultural context; embrace collaborative cultural planning; regional strategy for culture-led regional transformation; increase visitor numbers and dwell time in the region by 15% to 2025; increased support for the creative and knowledge economy; enhanced opportunities for cultural and creative enterprise, innovation, programming, practice and engagement; development of vibrant urban centres and place-making for rural regions; enhanced growth in the region s tourism sector in line with Fáilte Ireland s Ancient East umbrella destination brand; positioning the region as a place where culture and creativity is embedded in the fabric of life; positioning the region as a destination for creatives. The area that the strategy/action plan covers The Waterford City & County Council is actively involved in developing a creative area in Waterford City. The focus is on the O Connell Street area, which is the longest street in Waterford, running from Georges Street to Bridge Street, parallel to the city s quays at the foot of the Hill of Ballybricken. It is an early example of modern town planning in Ireland. The street is known for its remarkable architectural heritage, the most famous of the buildings being the splendid Morris House. It was built in the 1780s and is boasting one of the finest town house cantilevered staircases in Ireland. With its exuberant stucco work and glass domed ceiling it is a testament to the skill of the architect and craftsmen who operated in Waterford during the 18th century. Nowadays, The Parlour Vintage Tea Rooms are settled in the building which transformed it into a multifunctional community centre for creatives. The tearoom hosts 103

104 events and puts artists work on display so that visitors of the tearoom will encounter their art. The space has a very distinct atmosphere reminding one of the 1920s as the music, waitresses and even the tea cups resemble this period. It seems that this creative place has a great potential to become a sort of entrance to O Connell Street in the future since it also located at the beginning of the street. Further down the street is the former Quaker Meeting building built in the In the 20th century the Quaker community built a new meeting house and their former premises was developed as a very successful theatre and art gallery. The Garter Lane Arts Centre is settled in the building and offers a broad variety of cultural activities including exhibitions by contemporary and local artists, theatre and music performances, film, comedy and dance events. It is the Arts Centre s intention to be really an arts for all centre. One of the ways to achieve this is by, for example, organising workshops for children which all families can attend as entrance is free. Also, many children are engaged in theatre at the centre, however, as mentioned before, grown up talents that wish to pursue a professional career in theatre will often leave Waterford. A bit further down the street, one will find another creative centre called A Little Room which calls itself a Theatre Development Centre. This centre can be considered a laboratory for creative talents who meet each other there and start collaborations. A Little Room provides them the space and resources to develop their ideas. Similarly to the Garter Lane Arts Centre, A Little Room is community oriented meaning that they try to reach all layers of society. One way of doing this is for example the recruitment of actors from marginalised areas who then participate in a prewritten play. The Quaker merchants dominated the city s provision trade in the late 18th century. O Connell Street was a very fashionable residential street and its proximity to the quays ensured that it also had a number of commercial premises such as the six floored Granary building where grain was prepared for milling. Today this building is owned by the Council and is home to the Architectural Department of Waterford Institute of Technology and the award-winning Granary cafe. The students of this school are working on projects in which they have to develop ideas to increase the area s attractiveness and to tackle challenges such as improving the accessibility of the area. An idea that was suggested aimed at opening up spaces in between buildings so that circulation of people through exciting little paths and spaces instead of the regular road could be made possible. Another creative place in the O Connell Street area that is also involved in making public space more attractive is the workplace of South East Makers. It is a great example of another community building that combines creative activities and energising public spaces. The workplace is filled with all kinds of old equipment from various disciplines that is now used for creative purposes. This enables the dedicated members of the workshop to share tools and skills during their spare time. One can sign up to become a member of South East Makers. The workplace works on a trust basis meaning that members get keys with which they can access the building. Every Tuesday night there is a meeting with all members and ideas are financed through the membership fees. A great project of South East Makers was the creation of lighting mushrooms. Shapes in the form of mushrooms were created with different colour lights inside them which were placed in a public space and would light up when someone walked pass by the mushrooms. The outcomes of this project were a lot of positivity and a more exciting public space. From these creative places, it should become clear that Waterford already has many dedicated, enthusiastic, and energetic creatives meaning that a lot of great initiatives are already present in the O Connell Street. The Creative Spirits project can truly be an extra stimulator and a resource of new knowledge to better facilitate these people s needs and attract and retain more creativity in Waterford so that the cultural node the city wishes to establish can be realised. 104

105 Financial resources allocated to the strategy/action plan It is intended that in preparing the Implementation Plan to support the objectives of the Regional Cultural Strategy in 2017 the Council will examine and quantify the financial resources needed to deliver the set objectives. Commitment has been received from the three local authorities to the Regional Cultural Strategy. The Waterford City Centre Management Plan is covered by the Municipality of Waterford. Implementation Related Challenges of the strategy Based on the questionnaire filled in by the Municipality of Waterford preceding the city visit and the experiences of the city visit itself, the following learning needs and good practices were identified related to the implementation related challenges. Ensuring the integrated approach in the delivery of the strategy and their related actions/projects Waterford City and County Council has a track-record in delivering projects in a holistic manner, yet regarding the implementation of the Management Plan and its cultural node, the following challenges are currently faced when fostering the integrated approach: better allocation of resources from high-level administration to interdisciplinary units, to further their formation and continued operation; achieve better cross-sectoral coordination; better manage the potential variations in perspectives among actors involved in implementation processes; achieve a common understanding of the conditions for an integrated approach by all involved parties; strengthening local leadership to facilitate creative ecosystems. Waterford indicated that it wishes to learn more about regional capacity building and how to involve stakeholders from various disciplines which is currently lacking. However, these challenges do not seem to be great bottlenecks because the Council already has experience with plans that were successfully implemented supported on all levels in the past. These plans and policies were first drafted after which the public would be consulted. The documents were amended or adopted subject to the consultation outcome. The plans were then finally implemented with all level support from the political side as well as from stakeholders and agencies. Also, a key element in the current Regional Cultural Strategy is Culture Led Social Development. The City Council considers social development as a social contract that should benefit the health and well-being of its citizens. There is a strong focus on community and culture in order to achieve this. Maintaining involvement of local stakeholders and organising decision -making for delivery Related to the previous challenge, Waterford has to find support from local stakeholders who are not represented yet in the ULG. The challenge is to engage with all stakeholders who should experience a sense of shared ownership of the project. This should be done through developing a long-standing reciprocal partnership based on a shared understanding of goals and know-how on how to manage goal conflicts. In order to realise this, Waterford needs to learn how to identify and make the most of catalysts who are the most innovative people acting as change makers and consequently relationships have to be built with them. The Creative Spirits project could provide Waterford with an understanding of different views and approaches to this challenge. 105

106 Another challenge and unique aspect of O Connell Street is that it can be considered a back street when compared to the busier Merchants Quay. In contrast to O Connell Street, much more economic activity, such as shops, hotels and restaurants, as well as circulation of traffic and people can be found on the Merchants Quay. Also, the Merchants Quay runs parallel to O Connell Street which causes many of the buildings and businesses to have their front doors to the Merchants Quay and their back doors to O Connell Street. This, together with the invisible border with the shopping centre, prevents O Connell Street from becoming a destination for people. It is therefore a challenge to build good relations with the businesses that have their back doors to O Connell Street and stimulate them to open up. Another challenge concerns the lack of social inclusion that persists in the O Connell Street area preventing inhabitants, who live near the street, from taking part in cultural events. A large Polish community lives close to O Connell Street but due to their different cultural background their cultural consumption is remote. The community refrains from participating in cultural activities that are currently dominated by Irish customs and traditions. Up until this point, the Polish culture has remained isolated within the Polish community, therefore not having a place in the broader society of Waterford. For the implementation of the Management Plan, it will be a challenge to include the Polish community and have their culture interact with the Irish traditions so that they can become mutually constitutive. The Polish community should therefore be involved during the development of the O Connell Street area so as to ensure a truly integrated approach. With regards to the ULG, it became clear during the city visit that currently all members of the ULG are employed by the municipality and they each represent a unit as visualised in the diagram below. These ULG members have the resources and the people to make the ULG the engine behind the Creative Spirits project. The group currently only includes Waterford City and County Council Staff but as the project develops, other pertinent stakeholders will be included on each strand (as visualised in the diagram below). Waterford s way of organising the ULG group by using three strands does ensure that the input of future ULG members will be directly processed by the municipality as the staff members are leading and in charge of the various subgroups. It is a good example of Waterford s multidisciplinary way of working as teams collaborate across departments to deliver the project which also relates to the challenge of the integrated approach. The following positions are represented in the URBACT local group: Deputy Chief Executive Director of Culture & Real Estate Senior Manager Major Projects Head of IT Head of Enterprise Project Coordinator Architect URBACT Local Group Creative Region Creative City & County Creative District 106