Stimulating CCI in mid-sized urban centres to boost competitiveness
Mid-size cities can produce sound achievements in conventional economic terms, but when compared to larger urban centres they are generally less competitive in developing or attracting high value-added, creative activities, innovative services and young talents. ‘Economies of scale’ is only part of the issue, however: they also face outdated perception of funding and commercialising cultural and creative activities, weak recognition of the creative potential of heritage and poor entrepreneurial skills of CCI actors. 5 STIMULART partner cities realised their shared interest in enhancing CCI through transforming organisational and financing frameworks and exploiting unexposed human and institutional capital, vacant urban infrastructure, and an obvious (but commercially often neglected) source of creativity: local culture.

Macro and micro level interventions are combined into a cohesive system, where CCI actors adapt to the changing framework, while industry requirements are fed back into policy development. Scopious capacity building improves capabilities of the partnership and CCI stakeholders of the cities, with transnationally tested, universal tools and methods organised into a comprehensive CCI Repository. At the same time, focused Strategies and Action Plans target missing CCI criteria and recognised obstacles in each location, with carefully selected pilots testing key innovative interventions. These pilots (a CCI mentoring system; a creative mechanism utilising vacant spaces; IT-based CCI networking; a fast-prototyping & user-testing facility; a dedicated Creative Shop) are all aimed at strategic objectives of each location and are relevant for the partnership and beyond.

The versatility of partners will enable STIMULART to produce smart, varied and long-lasting solutions, adaptable to a wide array of CCI eco-systems, thus inspiring the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs and innovators to make smaller cities more competitive.