Cultural and Creative Industries in Traditional Industrial Regions as Drivers for Transformation in Economy and Society
Digitization, circular economy, renewable energies, artificial intelligence: Industry is currently experiencing the arrival of another transformation cycle. In the near future, industries will operate and appear differently – with profound effects not only on production modes but also for working and social environments.

To enable Central Europe´s traditional industrial regions to persist, there is need for both: economic innovation and societal development. Culture and creative industries (CCI) – known for their alternative working structures and lateral thinking character – could come in as a core driving force on both levels of this transition.

However, traditional industrial regions – being historically focused on technological innovation – have until now rarely discovered the potential of CCI. Additionally, culture and creative workers prefer urbanity – a social factor usually less developed in non-metropolitan industrial settings. At the same time, such regions do hold specific location assets for attracting CCI, e.g. producing industrial companies, vacant old-industrial sites, personal networks.

In InduCCI, Central European industrial regions have teamed up to tackle jointly the challenge of fostering CCI. Through policies and trainings, they intend to bring about supportive frameworks for CCI in industrial regions – on regional, national and EU levels. Through pilot actions, they investigate the potential of CCI as economic actor and innovator as well as driver of social change and new entrepreneurship. Most promising approaches are made available in a toolbox to other industrial regions and European CCI networks for policy take-up.

Via CCI, a new pioneer spirit in Central European industrial regions could come into being – thus reviving a cultural heritage and developing a distinction, for which these regions once were known and famous for.