Specialists from all over the world meet in Bilbao to continue promoting innovation in the Cultural and Creative Industries

• On October 25 and 26, the open conference "CCIs and Innovation Contrast" took place in Bilbao with the presence of 30 international specialists
• The Basque Government presented the results of a study on innovation ecosystems in which twenty regions around the world have been analysed to share knowledge and best practices
• The Minister of Culture and Language Policy, Bingen Zupiria, was in charge of the institutional opening of the CONTRAST conference at 9.30 am at Bizkaia Aretoa, in Bilbao

Following the success of the first CONTRAST conference in November 2021, on October 25-26, 2023, Bilbao hosted the second open conference CCIs and Innovation Contrast, an international event attended by 30 specialists in cultural and creative industries (CCIs) and innovation from around the world. This international event served to address issues related to the cultural and creative industries from the point of view of innovation, new technologies, new skills needed and sustainability and social inclusion, among other topics.

The event also served to present the results of a process of reflection and debate led by the Department of Culture and Language Policy of the Basque Government to create spaces for the exchange of best practices and the development of knowledge. The project called "CCIs and Innovation Contrast" started in the year 2021 where three groups of specialists worked together on different topics related to innovation in the CCIs such as Innovation, R&D and R&D&I Measurement itself. In this first phase, a pilot study focussed on the measurement and indicators of innovation, comparing the Basque Country and the European regions of Flanders (Netherlands), Piedmont (Italy) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

In this second phase, 21 regions from around the world have been selected, whose innovation ecosystems have been analysed and were presented at the open conference held in Bilbao.

For each region, a series of organisations and innovation projects have been analysed in order to identify the trends, characteristics and typologies that make these organisations innovative and pioneering within the cultural and creative sector in order to share this knowledge and best practices. The study also delves into the evaluation and design of innovation measurement in the cultural and creative industries.

This project is part of the efforts of the Basque Government’s Department of Culture and Language Policy to create spaces for the exchange of best practices and knowledge development. It is also included in the Basque Country’s RIS3 strategy, from its steering group Euskadi Creativa

International participation

The conference featured the participation of different international specialists in the area of cultural and creative industries and innovation such as: Nico Degenkolb (EIT Culture & Creativity), Cinzia Lagioia (Puglia Creativa), Valentina Montalto (UNESCO expert), Luca dal Pozzolo (Fondazione Fitzcarraldo), Pier Luigi Sacco (EIT Culture & Creativity), Jenny Tingvall Kornmacher (Region Skåne and EIT Culture & Creativity) and many more.

CONTRAST II speakers also include representatives from the different regions and best practice cases that have participated in the study on innovation ecosystems in CCIs on a global scale. Among others, the regions represented at the conference are: Washington, Cardiff, Finland, Valencia, Estonia, Denmark, California, South Africa, Antioch, Karnataka, Baden-Württemberg, Kenya, Uganda, Porto and Adelaide.

In addition to the representation of the regions indicated, different cases of good practices on innovation in CCIs selected for the study will be part of two parallel workshops to address, on the one hand, the topic of technology and skills and, on the other, sustainability and social inclusion. Some of the best practice cases that will participate in the conference are: Craft Design Institute (South Africa), Aus Design and Upmade (Estonia), Light ADL (Adelaide), Museo de Antioquia (Colombia), 4Humanz (Porto), Cultural Space Agency (Washington), Hijinx (Cardiff), Toy Clusters (Karnataka), TwispWorks (Washington) and Design Union (Finland).

The Open Conference will therefore be a unique space to understand and exchange on innovation ecosystems in different parts of the world.

More information:

• For more information and the results of the first phase of the CONTRAST project on the website of the Cultural and Creative Industries Service.
• Register to participate in the conference.
• Social networks of the project: X and LinkedIn.