DIVERSITY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES Erasmus Project

Project Title

DIVERSITY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

Various censuses in EU-countries reveal that employment in the creative industries (design, cultural heritage, visual and performing arts, print media, television, cinema, new and digital media) has grown rapidly in the last few years. Nonetheless, ethnic minorities are still significantly underrepresented within this sector in Europe today. To address this issue, the two-year-project DIVERSITY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES focused on actively supporting this underrepresented young creatives in Sweden, Spain and The Netherlands. The partner organisations involved in this project are: SwIdeas (Sweden), Euroaccion Murcia (Spain) and Capture22 (The Netherlands). With regard to the primary target group – young people, aged 18 to 30, who have had higher educational training in the creative industries and who are at an early stage of their careers – the main impact objectives were:
• Improved career-oriented capacities and competences linked to their professional profiles (including: portfolio-building, networking/self-promotion skills, sense of entrepreneurship, growth mindset, finding funding).
• Greater understanding of the labour market and (potential) career paths (career-building).
• Increased employability and opportunities for professional development.
• Increased visibility and improved access to professional networks.
• Benchmarking tools for diversity management in order to manage the sector’s needs on how to promote integration.
• Strategic partnerships and exchange of Best-Practices between organisations and stakeholders from partner countries.
• Improved interaction between concerned stakeholders and awareness of urgency to secure diversification of workforce within the creative industries on a long-term basis.
This project also targeted organisations (non-profits and companies) within the creative and cultural industries with the aim to empower young talents, to understand the business case for wider representation and inclusion.

The project included the following modalities:

– The project set out to map the creative industries in each partner country and establish a network of participants. The mapping was the first IO of the project which was the main pillar to build the other two IOs of the project. The second IO is the Online Talent Hub: a knowledge resource portal to provide young creative talents resources to improve their capacities (e.g. providing resources to self-learning and non-formal learning). It also will serve on the long-term as exchanging experiences space for virtual mobility and knowledge-transfer between young talents and the industry.

– Blended Mobility Programme:
• Mobility programme: In each of the two years SwIdeas, Euroaccion and Capture22 selected young talents from each partner country for travel and accommodation for two-month work residencies at cultural institutions,or creative agencies within the partner region.

– Multiplier events:
• Annual symposiums (in each country) served as multiplier events connecting the local creative industry, policy makers and young talents. Participants addressed how to facilitate greater representation of diversity in creative industries, including, diversity management strategies, talent development and best Practices, while talents got the opportunity to network and showcase their work.

The results of the multiplier events were shared on the Online Talent Hub, through video, social media posts and live tweets from the event. In Spain one of the local TV channels covered part live. The project’s third IO is a digital publication which presents the results from the mapping research, share information, resources and Best Practices collected during the two-year-project, and presents a set of priorities on the diversity agenda for the creative industry network to focus on.

Considering the highly sensitive nature of issues related to integration and inclusion and the resulting sensitivities of governments with regard to local policies, it is in the project’s best interest to place young people from within the participating countries at the forefront of efforts and allow them to drive these initiatives beyond the two years of the project. In addition to the intellectual outputs, the multipliers events and blended mobility programme have contributed effectively to the sustainability of the project and multiplying its outreach. The project will reach out to an extended network of communities of practice, institutions, civil society organisations and young people-serving organisations to actively participate to get engaged and to build on the project’s outputs.

Main results and impact:
The project has opened new horizons for the young talents who participated in the blended mobility programme leading to further educational opportunities or to further employment opportunities. Furthermore, SwIdeas has bee invited to present the project at the MED forum, where it was nominated as one of the best practices in the Euro-Med region.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 75372 Eur

Project Coordinator

SwIdeas AB & Country: SE

Project Partners

• Capture22
• ASOCIACION CULTURAL EUROACCION MURCIA