URBAN CREATIVE POLES DOCUMENTATION UCP SUMMER SCHOOL

Transcription

1 URBAN CREATIVE POLES DOCUMENTATION UCP SUMMER SCHOOL AUGUST 12 TH 16 TH 2011 COTTBUS (D) Cottbus, 25 th October 2011 Faculty 2 Chair of Urban Management Prof. Dr. Ing. Silke Weidner Dipl. Ing. Jens Gerhardt M.Sc. Dipl. Ing. Marc Altenburg Dipl. Bw. (BA) Nadja Riedel M.Sc Kathleen Friedrich B.Sc. Sebastian Franz B.Sc. Geoffrey Kanig B.Sc. Part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Funds)

2 DAY 1 August 12 th 2011 Introduction and bicycle tour Creative Cottbus The first day of the summer school should serve as introduction to the UCP project and the different backgrounds of the UCP partner cities. After a short welcome by Jens Gerhardt and Nadja Riedel (BTU) the participants were ask to introduce themselves and their work to the others showing pictures, webpages or videos of their work. Following that the group from each city shortly summarized the first results of the SWOT analysis which were conducted in each UCP partner city. In the afternoon it was time to discover the cultural and creative life in the city of Cottbus. Therefore all the participants went on a bike tour through the city which was led by Stadtagenten e.v., an association in Cottbus which deals with urban development and the participation of citizens in urban planning processes. At the different stops representatives of the institutions explained their daily work and the situation of CCI in Cottbus. Some stops of the bike tour included: Jana Drews, arthouse movie theatre Weltspiegel Stefan Restemeier, LEUCHTSTOFF* light design and planning Robert Amat Kreft, quasimono and city journal BLICKLICHT Sascha Kahle, art gallery and bar FANGO Jörn Hannitzsch, CHILLOUT LICHT DESIGN, light designer Zick production art association Cottbus and bar MARIE Strombad Cottbus and club CHEKOV Matthias Körner, painter and photographer Fig. 1: bicycle tour Creative Cottbus 2

3 Fig. 2: night club and bar Quasimono Fig. 3: art gallery and bar FANGO Fig. 4: exhibition at the art association Cottbus Fig. 5: studio of the Cottbus painter Matthias Körner the copyright of the photos has Moritz Maikämper 3

4 DAY 2 August 13 th 2011 Minutes to The ideal working environment for creative and cultural industries (location factors for CCI centres) Sebastian Franz B.Sc. The second day of the summer school was opened by a presentation by Monika Schwan from the Kreativagentur Friedrichshain Kreuzberg in Berlin. The Kreativagentur is a coaching and business development centre for CCI entrepreneurs which mostly offers one on one coaching aswell as different seminars. The CCI entrepreneur can choose from a variety of coaches with different backgrounds and topics who fits the best for her/his needs. The coaching is usually set up for a longer period of time in order to help the entrepreneur at different stages of the development process. Monika was accompanied by one of her clients who described his work and experiences with the Kreativagentur. After the presentation the first workshop of the summer school started. Tasks of the day The major task of the day can be mainly divided in four parts: 1. Collecting information of every member of the partner cities on their current working situation within working groups. 2. Discussing and ranking of location factors, which are important for CCI businesses. 3. Finding out, what are the most important location factors for the successful establishment and development of a CCI centre. 4. Choosing and discussion of a possible location for a CCI centre in Cottbus after visiting them in groups. It can be added, that the results of points two and three are not to be seen in relation to any specific of the partner cities, but as a summary of the most important location factors in general. Fig. 6: workshop athmosphere 4

5 Important location factors for CCI businesses and the establishment of a CCI centre There are four location factors, which were pointed out by each of the groups to be very important: Type of office Level of rent Central location in the city Lively urban environment Other location factors such as the general infrastructure (highways, public transport and airports), the existence of local cooperation, networks and contacts or the proximity to other creatives can be stated as very important criteria pointed out by the participants of the workshop. Of course a prospective CCI centre should also pay attention to those kind of location factors but also other aspects were also discussed by the participants. The vast majority of the participants agreed upon the fact, that a CCI centre should be there in the first place for start up businesses, which are in need for a different treatment compared to established businesses in creative industries. As far as the administration of the centre is concerned it should work closely linked with the CCI entrepreneurs who are working there and might be located there as well. Furthermore the possibility of local coaching programs and workshops should be provided. Businesses located in the CCI centre should be part of different types of companies to generate a mixed group of creative branches. Furthermore the proximity to other creative businesses as well as to clients and partners is important. It was stated, that the centre should have a good accessibility, which doesn t actually mean it has to be located in the city centre, but it s not excluded either. Even without being directly in the centre of a city, a location can be close by to a lively urban neighbourhood as well as partners and other creative businesses if a good accessibility is granted. The factor of a lively urban neighbourhood includes cultural events of the CCI centre as well. This could be reached by exhibitions or concerts as well as the establishment of a restaurant or café, which is connected to the CCI centre and draws attention to the location. Another very important fact mentioned by the participants was, that the project CCI centre should be able to continue its work beyond the UCP project period, whereat the ownership of the property and the interests of all stakeholders plays an important role. As for detailed measurements there s a variety of options and proposals for the establishment of a CCI centre. For the level of rent for example a special system could be established. The CCI centre of Tartu, Estonia uses a system called 2+1+1, which basically means, that the rent for a creative business stays the same for the first two years and is then raised annually. Another question then is: how long should a business be able to stay in the centre which the participants could find a final decision on. But access points could be, that businesses, that want to stay longer than the time appointed in the contract have to pay an amount, which lies far above the last rent in the system. At the same time it is desirable that an already established business (being there at least for the in the contract appointed time) provides its space for a new business. Another key point are co working spaces within the building, where businesses can share equipment like printers, etc. as well as to subsidise or at least support the funding of office equipment for businesses. 5

6 4. Where should a CCI centre in Cottbus be located? One important objective of UCP in Cottbus is the establishment of a local CCI centre as there are no institutions like that at the moment. The participants therefore discussed different options where and how a CCI centre could be set up. The local municipality was asked to list four buildings which are in their proprietorship and the summer school participants were asked to rank those options. All buildings are vacant at the moment which would allow a development in the nearer future. Nevertheless the building conditions differ very much. The four buildings are going to be described briefly and the recommendations of the workshop participants are summarised after that. Fig. 7: possible locations for a CCI centre in Cottbus Altmarkt 25 Fig. 8: Altmarkt 25 The first building is located directly in the historic city centre of Cottbus at the central town square, the Altmarkt. The building itself used to be a department store and was then used for the local art collection. At the moment it is obviously in a very good shape from the inside as well as the outside. The floor plan is essentially characterised by a very generous layout and provides a lot of space over three storeys. But it is here to say, if the working spaces should be arranged it is unlikely, that the space would be sufficient, because the walks would narrow the possible working spaces. Because of its former function as a department store the building 6

7 doesn t allow a lot of daylight to come into the rooms which could be a deficit e.g. for artists such as painters, which need bright rooms and a large amount of sunlight. Am Amtsteich 17/18 Fig. 9: Am Amtsteich 17/18 The building at Am Amtsteich is located approximately 400m away from the historic city centre (Altmarkt) and situated behind the local art museum Dieselkraftwerk. The proximity to this institution provides a lively urban environment (which attracts people who are interested in creative work) as well as a high image of the location. Even though it isn t located directly in the city centre, the location is well known and easy accessible. Problematic could be the low number of available parking spaces close by as well as the proximity to other historic residential buildings (events might cause disturbances). As well as the building located at the Altmarkt, the floor plan has a generous layout and the building structure is in very good condition. Unlike the former department store, this building has already well arranged working spaces which could be easily divided even more if it should become necessary. Because of the large size of the building, the CCI centre should be developed in stages. This building was chosen by the workshop participants as best location for a possible CCI centre in Cottbus. Schwanstraße 11 Fig. 10: Schwanstraße 11 The third building is located directly on one of the main street of Cottbus the Bahnhofstraße, which leads directly from the train station to the city centre. It is approximately 700m to the historic city centre, but only 200m away of the biggest shopping centre of the city. Other cultural locations like the event centre Gladhouse or the cinema Weltspiegel are close by as well. 7

8 The building is constructed in Wilhelminean style and used to be a residential building and is integrated in a dense residential area. After 1990 the building was used as a medical centre. The floor plans provide many potentials for future working spaces. From the obvious look at the building, last reconstruction works took place somwhere in the late 1980ies or 1990ies so it can be assumed that a lot of construction work will be necessary to create an up to date standard. During that time a freight elevator was installed on the outside of the back of the building which might be helpful. Like the building Am Amtsteich this location might bear some difficulties when it comes to have different events (e.g. concerts etc.) as it is very close to other residential buildings. At the moment the Bahnhofsstraße is under construction to be a boulevard instead of a thoroughfare which might bring an improvement to the whole neighbourhood. This building was ranked as the second option by the participants, but not as a really favourable one. Bahnhofstraße 29 Fig. 11: Bahnhofstraße 29 The last building is located directly located at the Bahnhofstraße as well and is nearly as close to the city centre and the facilities as the third building. It is also integrated in a dense residential environment, which might lead to problems. This building is by far the smallest building of all above described. Nevertheless it has a spacious floor plan, which provides a high degree of flexibility in organising the working spaces. But similar to the building before it will be necessary to carry out a lot of construction work to establish an up to date standard. It could be an option for a future CCI centre, but as well as before a not very favourable one. For a better understanding and to summarise the statements given by the workshop participants the four buildings are listed after its favourable order: 1 st Am Amtsteich 17/18 2 nd Schwanstraße 11 and Bahnhofstraße 29 3 rd Am Altmarkt 25 List of illustrations the copyright of the aerial photos has bing maps; the copyright of the workshop photos has Sebastian Franz 8

9 DAY 3 August 14 th 2011 Minutes to Funding and marketing of funding programs public marketing activities Kathleen Friedrich B.Sc. The topic of the 3 rd way was to discuss different approaches of funding of CCI in the UCP partner cities and in the countries. Additionally it was discussed who public or city marketing activities should include CCI which means if CCI should be promoted (e.g. like Hamburg or Berlin do) to improve the image of a city. The day started with a presentation by an expert s presentation of Frank Trepte from Leipzig, Germany. The contents of his presentation are briefly described below. The myth, challenges and opportunities of creative cities the Leipzig example Frank Trepte, KREATIVES LEIPZIG e.v., Leipzig After introducing himself, Frank Trepte started giving a presentation about the myth, challenges and opportunities of creative cities. In the first part he spoke about the cultural and creative industries (CCI) in general. To lead to the topic he asked the participants, what creative industries means to them. Exemplary answers were: The creative industries are generating new ideas. You can find many networks in this branch. This business is defined by many people that are working artistically. For other participants the work in the creative industries means not only to love its job, but also to earn a living. Mr. Trepte emphasized that the people belonging to the creative industries are very different. On the one hand there are many diverse branches that belong to cultural and creative industries; on the other hand, each person working in another sub sector of CCI has other work and office requirements. Because of this diversity that is only examined, if all sub branches of CCI are considered, it is very difficult, to promote the whole sector. Another problem for funding he pointed out is that nearly each city claims to be a creative city. So, which city should be promoted? And what about the cities that do not affirm to be a creative city Are they losing the competition about potential inhabitants or investors? Mr. Trepte believes that is it that way and those normal cities are staying behind all creative cities. The conclusion of the first part of his presentation was that it is very hard for people working in creative industries to earn a living. That is why a sponsorship of this sector is absolutely necessary. In the second part of his presentation, he presented questions that should be answered and discussed by the participants in small groups according to their hometown. The answers to the different questions are summarized briefly below. 1. What does creative industries mean to you/your local community? Does it mean that there is a creative atmosphere, some new technologies or new workingarrangements, like co working? The most relevant answers of the participants were: Creative industries means generating income a hobby that became a job artistic work 9

10 collaboration with other types of industries, because nearly each business needs the CCI (e.g. for marketing or software input) no awareness of the branch in publicity and economy an enhancement of the quality of life in a city an improvement for a city identification education (workshops to raise the awareness of the branch) to be an indicator for the society strong CCI = vibrant city 2. What is the geographical scope of your creative industries? Are there special locations within a city that are used by the creative ones? Is it a whole district, the entire city or a region that is characterized by a strong CCI? Do you need a place for CCI that existing in reality or is a virtual location in the world wide web also imaginable? Most of all participants interpreted this question as: Where should the creative industries be located in a city? The answers to this question were very different. Some participants said the creative industries should only be located in one street or ensemble of building, because that would create a point of reference for all people who are interested in the CCI of their city. Other participants said it would be better to have a creative district. Some participants remarked the difficulties of localizing the whole sector in only one city. There could be the danger that all creative ones that are not living in this city are excluded from the whole sector and the sponsorships. Fig. 12: group discussion 10

11 3. Which creative industries should be promoted? Who should be promoted in which way? Why should one be supported? Should there be a promotion with money or with resources, like working equipment or food? The answers for this question varied from each city. The participants from Klaipeda said that in their city the cinemas should be promoted. All other branches of CCI are strong enough and do not need a support. Most participants expressed that all branches should be promoted in the same way. They didn t see any reason, why one sub branch should not be supported. Frank Trepte remarked that in Leipzig are some difficulties in this vein. The architects, one sub branch of the CCI, don t see themselves as members of CCI. That s why most of them don t know that there are some special promotion programs for them and their branch. In Estonia they have to deal with another problem. The branches of CCI are split to different cities in the country. So one city is popular for music, film and cinema; another city is famous for literature. To get promotion, the creative people are bound on the city where their branch is located. Fig. 13: Frank Trepte, Kreatives Leipzig e.v. 4. How should the CCI sector be organized? Formal or informal? Should there be a network in real life or online? Some participants said they wouldn t like a formal organization to establish the creative industries in a city. Most of them are afraid that the publicity/municipality would only follow their own aims, but not support the ideas of the creative ones. Frank Trepte confuted this assumption by telling that in Leipzig the project Kreatives Leipzig which aims at connecting all different CCI branches and functions as a representative when dealing e.g. with the municipality. The network is still developing but as more members are joining and events are organized it is becoming a more and more representative organization for CCI in Leipzig. Because Kreatives Leipzig was funded by people who work in CCI and is slowly developing the project is accepted very well by the creatives in Leipzig. 5. Should there be a common identity/branding? What do you think about a joint marketing program? This question was discussed very extensively because nearly every answer showed advantages and disadvantages of a common identity. The group from Tartu, Estonia pointed out that there is no common branding in their country which creative people can identify with. 11

12 In Linköping, Sweden, it would be helpful to have a common identity, because it would be appreciated and become aware much more than a logo of a small, only regional known company. The risk, common identity salvages is that you also support enterprises, whose work is not attractive for the image of the city. That s why it is often a personal decision, if a common identity is helpful for the business. In Leipzig there is also a discussion of creating a common identity. The problem is that most of the people working in CCI don t want to have this branding, although they possibly would be more successful in their business than they are today. Frank Trepte said that many creative ones in Leipzig would be ashamed, if they would be more successful only because of having the common logo. On the other hand, the people who already run their business prosperous don t want to have a common identity, because they are managing themselves since a long time and established an own popular trademark. The conclusion of discussing those examples was the idea that a common identity should only be created, if it develops on its own and if it doesn t destroy the image of the established CCI companies. 6. What is the role/influence of public institutions? Should the public work as the driving agency? What about financing or funding initiatives from the municipality? The discussion of this question showed that the cooperation of the CCI and the administration is very difficult and should be improved in every of the UCP partner cities. The biggest problem mentioned by nearly every participant who was already in contact with the administration, is to find a contact person that is responsible for CCI. In most cases there are different contacts in the different departments of the local administration. That wouldn t be a problem, the participants said, if the contact persons of each department would arrange with each other. Because they often don t, it is very challenging for the creative ones to work together with the administration. 7. What is the ultimate objective of promoting creative industries? Why are you doing promotion? Do you promote jobs, festivals or possibilities to participate? Does promotion has an influence on the attractiveness of a city? This question wasn t discussed in detail. Mr. Trepte stated that in his point of view the promotion of CCI is very important, but often starts too late. In Leipzig the municipality/administration started the public relations not until the newspaper New York Times published an article about the CCI in Leipzig. Prior to that, the municipality didn t think about promoting this sector. In bringing the third part of his presentation to an end, Mr. Trepte asked each participant, why he/she came to the UCP Summer School and what he/she did expect from the UCP project: to maybe start some projects together with other participants international networking to learn about best practice examples of the other cities to get support for own projects to enhance the awareness for a big branch that nobody knows international contact what CCI is and in which way everybody can do something in this project to hear about (common) problems and good solutions 12

13 new ideas transfer ideas to do networking and probably find new work partners to understand the needs and the aims of the whole CCI to learn about things that should be considered while strengthen the CCI to get information about CCI input to overthink own ideas In the last part of the presentation had the title Learning form Leipzig (?). In this part, he described the project Kreatives Leipzig which started in 2010 by launching a website ( deutschland.de/index.htm). First, it was only a blog where interested people could get information about cultural events or where they had the possibility to search and find people working in creative industries in Leipzig. In September 2010 Kreatives Leipzig was transformed into a registered association. Now the association has about 60 members and acts as intermediary between its members and the city administration. It is financed by its members. The association organizes different projects, like Le Klub Analog a monthly meeting for an informal discussion about different topics concerning the CCI. Participants are creative people from CCI, officials from the municipality of Leipzig and other interested people. On an average this meeting is attended by 80 persons. Next to this association, there are also other projects dealing with CCI in Leipzig. At the open data online platform it is possible for creative entrepreneurs to get information about the statistics of the City of Leipzig, which they could use to develop some new applications, for example. Another project is Business Speed Dating, where 12 to 15 people from CCI and the same number of people from other businesses meet. In a short period of time (5 minutes) the conversational partners change, so that every person from CCI speaks to different people of other industries. E.g. the next Business Speed Dating connects people from gastronomy and catering with CCI entrepreneurs of branches like PR/advertisement, interior design, event management and product design. After the presentation of Frank Trepte the participants of the summer school came together to discuss different aspect about funding and marketing of CCI in their home town and in their national context. World Café: The World Café was managed by Marc Altenburg. At the beginning of the World Café he explained the workshop method World Café and explained some rules and hints everybody should follow. After that the participants came together in small groups (4 5 people). Each group appointed a moderator and discussed the following four questions and noted down there answers. After half an hour the participants (except for the moderator) switched tables and discussed the questions within another group. Questions: 1. What funding programs exist in your city, region or country? How do you get information about those programs? 2. Have you applied for a funding? What experiences have you gathered regarding the funding programs? Did you profit from the program? What prevent you from taking funding? 13

14 3. What do you think about those funding programs: Are they done right, should they be changed? Should important aspects of your work, or of the creative industry in general be funded which ones? Shall programs be structured in another way, for other objectives? What kind of funding did you look for but couldn t find any help? 4. How is the city promoting itself and its companies? Are creative and cultural companies considered and do you profit from the marketing activities? Fig. 14: World Café discussions After having three discussion rounds the results of the discussions were hung up so everyone can see them and add to them. The moderator of each group presented the most important facts that were worked out during the World Café to the others. 1 st group moderator: Valerija Lebedeva, Klaipeda Fig. 15: World Café posters of group 1 14

15 The results of the group discussion were that in every country you can find funding programs on different levels. There are some EU programs or national and regional funding programs that are procured by the ministries of culture or the municipality. Information about those programs you often can find at the internet. Programs for Start Ups are mostly managed by the local employment center. Although there are some positive aspects of the current programs, the group worked out some suggestions for improvement. One important thing is that there should be more experts who advise and inform about the different programs. This measurement would make it much easier for the creative ones to find the right funding program. It was suggested that it would also be helpful to get consultation about the topic How to write an application for sponsorship. Another important annotation is the idea of funding children education in cultural and creative affairs. The discussion of question 4 and the comparison of all cities had shown that the best promotion of CCI is done in Tartu, Estonia. The city is well known as a city with a strong, traditional culture. Every year there are some events and festivals that strengthen this image. In Klaipeda and Zielona Gora the city is promoted as a part of a touristy and attractive region. Linköping also got the image to be a very attractive city to live, but the promotion of the CCI could be improved. Cottbus defines itself mostly by the coal mining and the company Vattenfall, the local soccer team and the university. All cities, except Tartu, are defining themselves not prior by the local CCI. In nearly all cases this is also emerged that the websites of the cities are not designed beneficially for the companies working in CCI. 2 nd group moderator: Ahto Sooaru, Tartu Fig. 16: Notes from 2nd group One important thing, the second group worked out, is that there are a lot of funding programs, but often it is very hard to find information about them. On the one hand there should be a better support of people who are searching for such programs; on the other hand those programs should be promoted so that everyone knows about them. The application papers should also be simplified to motivate the people, to apply for funding. Another big problem that was drawn up is the funding of already well established companies. For Start Ups it is very hard to get funding. This should also be changed. There should be much more micro programs that make it possible for more people to get a smaller amount of money. In the participants point of view those programs would be easier to 15

16 accomplish and a benefit for more creative people. It was criticized that it is very hard to trace where the funding goes to. It is usually not possible to comprehend who got money for which project. Therefore transparency should be improved. For question 4 it was said that the marketing strategy of each city often doesn t consider the CCI, e.g. due to the historic development of a city. That is why the people working in the creative sector often do not profit from all the city promotion activities which could also be improved within the UCP project. 3 rd group moderator: Liis Ring, Tartu Fig. 17: 3rd group flip charts Group 3 worked out that there are different impressions about the funding programs that are available. Especially the participants from Zielona Gora and Cottbus didn t know about special funding programs the city offers. The national or international funding programs are known very well. Nevertheless these programs seem to be common, there are some difficulties in the realization of those funding. Most of the participants, who applied for a funding yet, were not successful. One reason they noted is that the available amount of money is too little so that not many people can benefit. In other cases, when Start Ups apply, it is very hard for them to get money, because often professionals also apply for the same funding. That s why the normal funding programs should be split up for Start Ups and professionals. It was discussed that one part of the total amount of money should be only available for Start Ups and the rest of the money could be procured for professional applicants. Because of these problems, the participants suggested some changes. The first thing that should be changed is the general structure of funding programs. Especially the local and regional sponsorships if they currently exist should be split up to smaller amounts of money. One advantage could be that it also would be possible to apply, if you plan small, short time projects. Another benefit is the increased number of people who could get money. The application process should also be shortened. Mostly the applicants are self employees who are deterred to apply for a funding, because of the time they have to spend on filling out the appli 16

17 cation forms. Beside these suggestions there is also another remark, which should be considered by changing or developing funding programs. Finally the promotion of CCI and funding programs were discussed. In nearly each city, except Tartu, Estonia, are big problems in promoting the cultural industries. Especially in Cottbus the situation is disastrous. There is no information about CCI at the website of the city. The situation in Linköping is not as bad, but also improvable. Particularly small companies would be glad to get help with promoting their products. Funding programs also should be promoted much better. 4 th group moderator: Kathleen Friedrich, Cottbus Fig. 18: Flip charts of 4th group Because this group was smaller than the others, only two discussion rounds were done. Nevertheless the results of this discussion group are similar to the outcomes of the other groups. Three important topics were worked out. The first topic that was discussed is that the application forms are very difficult to understand and to fill out. That problem was named as one of the most important reasons why many participants did not apply for a funding, yet. For the future they would like to get help by filling out these documents, so they also can benefit from funding. Another thing that was criticized is the structure of the funding programs. Most participants did not know how a program works, because they didn t apply for a sponsorship yet or they didn t get information about the different procedures a program has. Especially the lack of transparency concerning the granting of money was discussed very hard. In most funding programs the wider public is not informed about the whereabouts of the money. There is no document that shows, who gets how much money for which project. That should be changed, so that everybody has the possibility to get information about the projects that are funded. To show how a funding process also could run, the participants of the first round draw a scheme. They created a funding model for which the wider public can apply for to visit a cultural or creative event or buy CCI products. For example: If person A wants to buy a painting, but doesn t have enough money to afford it on his/her own, A can apply for that special funding. The artist gets money from the fund to draw/paint a picture for A and A only has to pay a fixed amount of money to the painter. At least the artist will get the same money as he/she would do, by selling his/her painting in the normal way. To discuss this new model in detail there was not enough time. Though it doesn t claim to be better than the common 17

18 funding programs it shows that there also is another possibility to fund the CCI. Other topics that were discussed were the missing funding programs for Start Ups or for equipment. The participants would desire that new programs are created, that not only fund projects, but also the equipment, that is necessary to develop and realize these projects. Finally it was worked out that the promotion of CCI is just not enough. The participants said that the city/municipality should promote the creative industries much more. Especially the promotion at the city s website is very important for the people working in CCI. After the World Café all participants went to the art museum Dieselkraftwerk, where they got a short input to the history of the building from Stephan Pönack. Afterwards the participants had the possibility to visit the exhibitions. Fig. 19: UCP summer school participants at the art museum Dieselkraftwerk (pictures by Moritz Maikämper) The copyright of the workshop photos has Sebastian Franz. 18

19 DAY 4 August 15 th 2011 Minutes to International (location factors for CCI centres) The third and last topic for all participants was to develop ideas for transnational cooperations in terms of networking and other activities (e.g. on the internet and real life meetings). Therefore the participants worked together in international groups to think of possible ways to work together transnational also with the support of UCP. The first part of the day enclosed a presentation of Ignas Kazakevicius, director of Klaipeda Culture Communication Centre in Lithuania who spoke about Cultural decentralization in Lithuania. Possibilities for creative industries in regions. He illustrated to work of the Culture Communication Centre and explained current and future projects. As most of the groups developed similar ideas for the development of transnational cooperation the following notes represent only a summary of the different ideas. Fig. 20: Presentation of ideas for transnational activities Ideas for transnational cooperation (THE BIG5) THE BIG5 = UCP partner cities = Zielona Góra, Tartu, Klaipėda, Linköping, Cottbus Every partner city should be brought together under a trademark; e.g. BIG5 (Baltic International Group), which has a platform/network on the internet The platform of the BIG5 are addressed to creative people (e.g. for exchange) as well as to people who are interested in CCI (e.g. customers, other companies who look for business partners in CCI) Target groups: programme managers, city government, creative companies, inhabitants (audience, clients), artists, Exchange (via internet, as well as in real life) plays a key role for the creative people in the BIG5 (e.g. in exchanging experiences of working techniques, gaining access to a wide mar 19

20 ket [e shop], exchanging products/services [e shop], exchanging expertise and knowledge [event series: summer academies, joint festivals, etc.], exchanging human resources) Existing CCI networks should be used as well. Not to compete or replace, but to complement one another Every partner city should play an administrative role within the network. Possible partners, institutions and the matters of work are stated below: Cottbus: a new institutional background needs to be established, e.g. a city representative who acts as a direct contact person for CCI entrepreneurs, the contact to the local economic development agency EGC needs to be improved and has to fit the needs of CCI, additionally a contact person/association to connect CCI as needed, a centre for CCI should be established where creative people work together Zielona Góra: the university should play an important role for the fostering and connecting of CCI Linköping: new administrative structures for the fostering and support of CCI should be established (e.g. within one department at the municipality, or an independent association, creation of a CCI centre) Klaipėda: Klaipeda Centre for Communication of Culture, Culture Factory, KEDA (Klaipeda Economic Development Agency) should furthermore act as representative of CCI Tartu: Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, Cultural Department of municipality should furthermore act as representative of CCI The main goal is to engage a wide spectrum of creative branches within the network to ensure growth and sustainability of the network. How could a system like the BIG5 work? What features could be integrated? The administrative part of the BIG5 is an association of elected representatives of each city. ( Council of CCI ) A common website should be established which. Some features of the website are listed here: The association of all UCP partner cities runs/administrates the BIG5 with all its tasks (care for the common website, e shop) An e shop distributes creative products to customers and might reach an international market due to a well organised trademark An interactive Google map of CCI in the five cities on the website to allow customers and creative people to find companies and customers, make contacts, etc. Next to the virtual work on the internet, event series such as exhibitions, residencies, festivals, workshops, coaching, seminars, conferences and summer schools should be an inherent part of the BIG5 as well. The funding for the project could come from the UCP project. But it should also be checked how Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci or other EU fundings (initial funding) could be used. A more sustainable way of funding could be a membership fee. The amount would have to be regulated on basis of income and size of participating businesses. The fee could be established after the network has reached a certain size (e.g. certain number of members) also to insure its sustainability after UCP has finished. In the future it is possible to extend the catchment area of the platform to other European countries and cities (in the Baltic Sea Region). 20

21 Fig. 21: group work Some images of the posters from the group work: Fig. 22: ideas for transnational cooperation 21

22 Fig. 23: ideas for transnational cooperation in UCP Fig. 24: poster with ideas for transnational cooperation The copyright of the workshop photos has Sebastian Franz. 22

23 DAY 5 August 16 th 2011 Final presentation and discussion with UCP project partners On the last day of the summer school the participants presented their ideas to all UCP project partners. The presentation was seen as an important part to illustrate the special needs of CCI entrepreneurs and creatives to the UCP project managers. The suggestions which have been made during the summer school should be considered in the future work of UCP. It was highlighted that international face to face events like the summer school play an essential role in order to create transnational connections and cooperation between the five UCP partner cities. They provide the basis to establish virtual networks and cooperation. It should therefore be checked if there are possibilities to initiate more events like this within the UCP project. Some images from the final presentations: The copyright of the workshop photos has Irina Hoppe. 23

24 List of participants Title Name Surname City Mr. Altenburg Marc Cottbus Ms. Bunikytė Rūta Klaipeda Ms. Cammona Alicja Zielona Góra Mr. Dauksys Mantas Klaipeda Mr. Franz Sebastian Cottbus Ms. Friedrich Kathleen Cottbus Mr. Gerhardt Jens Cottbus Ms. Graf Sabine Senftenberg Ms. Hamm Simone Cottbus Mr. Hasiuk Artur Zielona Góra Mr. Kanig Geoffrey Cottbus Mr. Łagutko Tomasz Zielona Góra Ms. Lebedeva Valerija Klaipeda Ms. Nilsson Karolina Linköping Ms. Olejko Angela Tartu Ms. Ong Terje Tartu Ms. Riedel Nadja Cottbus Ms. Ring Liis Tartu Ms. Roostik Mari Tartu Mr. Schaub Felix Cottbus Mr. Sooaru Ahto Tartu Ms. Sutkute Jurga Siauliai (Klaipeda) Mr. Torell David Linköping, Ms. Vaskyte Viktorija Klaipeda Ms. Viveland Sofia Linköping Ms. Wysoczanska Joanna Zielona Góra Mr. Zagajeweski Arkadiusz Zielona Góra 24