Developing inclusive & sustainable creative economies
The DISCE (Developing Inclusive & Sustainable Creative Economies) project is set to improve and enhance the growth, inclusivity and sustainability of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the EU. Overall, the ambitious objectives of DISCE are: i) to support the development patterns of CCIs within the EU through research on new business models and inclusive growth; and ii) to re-shape understanding of what ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’ consists of in this context, shifting the CCIs (and CCIs policy) towards strategic goals of ‘cultural development’ that encompass both GDP and human flourishing.  DISCE is an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods project that builds on three pillars:  1) Robust statistical analyses, mapping and development of new statistical indices for a better understanding of the inclusive and sustainable development of CCIs in Europe; 2) In-depth case studies developing rich findings and nuanced understanding of the Creative Economies and their ecologies; and 3) Active co-creation and interaction with stakeholders to validate the policy relevance of the project, as well as the policy outcomes and achieve long-term impact and sustainability.  DISCE serves all the beneficiaries relevant research results, which will help and support stakeholders to fill existing information gaps in daily policy and decision-making processes. DISCE will bring out recommendations for actors how to react, function and decide in specific situations to promote inclusive growth and progress on the sustainable development in the field of CCIs.  The DISCE Consortium has six partners: University of Turku (UTU) as the Coordinator, Kings College London (KCL), Social Science Area of the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE) as ‘Research Partners’ and two ‘Stakeholder Partners’ Culture & Media Agency aisbl (CUMEDIAE) and Trans European Halles (TEH) both with wide networks in the field of CCIs.