Ekip – Shifting how innovation actually works in Europe

The event is conceived as a working day dedicated to critical and operational reflection on European innovation systems, with particular attention to the still underutilized role of the creative industries.

Europe does not suffer from a lack of ideas, but from a shortage of infrastructures and mechanisms capable of enabling their circulation, connection, and scalability. The initiative aims to examine how innovation policies and cultural production can be rethought in an integrated way.

The event brings together policymakers, city representatives, and innovation ecosystem actors, with the goal of identifying key challenges and leverage points in the design of European innovation systems.

The program is structured into four sessions, guiding participants progressively from the definition of a conceptual framework to moments of practical application, and ultimately to a reflection on future perspectives and strategic positioning.

Agenda:

• Session 1: ekip Engine: Cross-innovation with the CCI, and Policy recommendations by ekip
  Rethinking the foundations: innovation policy meets cultural production
• Session 2: Investable innovation Portfolios, City prototyping, and Ecosystem inventory
  From ideas to investment: making creative innovation investable
• Session 3: Ecosystem building blocks, and Open innovation a standard practice powered by S3 and CCI Strategies
  From policy to practice: embedding CCIs in regional strategies
• Session 4: Financing Europe’s most transformative asset, New funding models for creativity and innovation – ekip beyond 2026
  Financing transformation: integrating creatives into Europe’s future frameworks

Registration deadline: April 24

Sign the Open Letter to the EC – 10 recommendations by ekip and the CCI community.