CREATIVE AGENTS

Connecting the Creative and Cultural Industries with Sustainable Development

CREATIVE AGENTS_LOGOCONTEXT

The Project CREATIVE AGENTS aims to support VET providers to adapt their training into the needs in the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) sector by creating a new job profile, the Creative Agent, who will encompass entrepreneurial spirit, digital know-how and a green approach to their practice. Creative Agents will be capable of creating synergies among different economic sectors and will be able to strongly communicate and cooperative with local communities and actors. With online training to be widely used as the chosen work-based training medium, the project aims at making the training offer of VET providers more relevant to the current and future needs of the economy and society.
The Creative Agent will be able to adopt innovative strategies to better account for the role of cultural and creative sectors, promote greater complementarities between culture and other economic sectors, support cultural and creative entrepreneurship as catalysts of new models of economic and social value creation, invest in digital infrastructure that can amplify advances in cultural and creative sectors.
The partnership aims to develop a new VET programme in order to bring the vocational training offer closer to the requirements of the labour market, especially in the sector of CCI. Creative Agents project foresees the development of an open online platform through which users (CCI experts, practitioners and professionals but also VET providers and trainers) can benefit from learning in an autonomous way.

 

PARTICIPANTS

The main targets are expected to be Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) experts, practitioners and professionals but also VET providers and trainers in the CCIs, artists, cultural and social entrepreneurs as well as people interested in self-entrepreneurship. Other categories include Public and private cultural or creative institutions, small cultural and creative enterprises and other related entities, tourism agencies, chambers of commerce, representatives of sectoral/national/local organizations, associations, foundations, SMEs from other industries that are keen to create synergies with the CCI industries.

 

OBJECTIVES

The key objective of the project is to provide the professionals or future professionals in the Creative and Cultural Sectors (CCS) with the necessary creative, green and digital skills to develop alternative sustainable practices that adapt to the needs of the CCI sector and promote the cross-fertilization of arts, culture and sustainability. The project builds on sustainable alternatives to train a new professional figure capable of:

  1. Put in practice new innovative solutions and sustainable alternatives;
  2. Work with new partners at the community level to increase the participation of local stakeholders;
  3. Adopt smart digital distribution formats;
  4. Collaborate with the CCS practitioners to create joint actions and movements at the local level;
  5. Contribute to the well-being of citizens, social innovation and cohesion.

Remaining aligned to the UNCTAD objectives the project aims to:

  1. Integrate CCS in the post-pandemic economic growth strategies increasing the professionalisation and employability of Creative Agents;
  2. Promote the creation of decent jobs by accelerating the training in sustainable cultural and creative tourism, arts, heritage conservation and community-based activities;
  3. Contribute to the creation of a knowledge-based creative economy in which human creativity and ideas are vehiculated through technology, collective expressions and the respect of the cultural values and diversity of the communities;
  4. Reinforce the interaction between CCS and sustainable development by creating enabling environments for green growth, innovation and community empowerment.

 

ACTIVITIES

The project proposes to develop a new job profile, the Creative Agent, who will acquire new marketable skills, highly relevant in the post-epidemic scenario and based on the evolving labour market requirements of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) sector. The new training programme will support VET providers in the adaptation of their training offer to changing skills needs in the CCI sector thus enlarging the training offer to more sustainable, green and digital skills.

Additionally, the following activities are planned under the implementation of the project:

  • Management Creation of administrative guidelines: 4 Transnational meetings + meeting minutes
  • Evaluation: meetings evaluation questionnaire, project progress questionnaire, Results evaluation tools and multiplier events evaluation questionnaire;
  • Evaluation Reports: mid-term and final evaluation report, Result reports
  • Project Risks Analysis (PRA)
  • Dissemination and exploitation
  • Project graphic design
  • Project website
  • Project mailing list
  • Newsletters
  • Informative brochure
  • Creation of Social Networks
  • Meetings with local stakeholders, transnational project meetings of the partners and multiplier events in all countries.

 

METHODOLOGY

A first approach based on assessment on the needs of the CCs which will lead to the development of the Occupational Profile of the Creative Agent.
A report on the analysis about new trends in CCs with a sustainable approach, competences, training needs and entrepreneurship opportunities is created.

  • A report on the results conducted with the expert groups and focus groups and its implications is elaborated and shared with the partners to be taken into consideration in the designing of the course.
  • With the result provided we will select the modules and start with the development of the training.
  • From the inputs provided in the primary report and with the conduction of desk research and a focus group we can set up the structure for the toolbox with the methodology to organise the cultural labs
  • The feedback collected from the cultural labs will support us with the final development of modules for the CREATIVE AGENTS training.
  • Toolbox for Cultural labs and Final development of training program: E-Learning Platform In the third result, the partners will work to convert this training program into an e-learning platform. It will also include a set of questions and answers to perform the self-assessment. All contents will be published on the electronic platform. A user manual for the platform with a video will be created.

 

RESULTS

The project will produce the following Project Results:

  1. Occupational Profile of Creative Agents: The first result will include the development of an Occupational Profile of Creative Agents.
  2. Toolbox for Cultural Economy Labs: The result will be a toolbox that project targets, creative sector or actors involved in social innovation/economy, will use in order to plan, organize, deliver and monitor (the impact) the Cultural Economy Labs.
  3. Creative Agents e-learning platform & Deus Platform community of users: Partners aim to convert this training program into an e-learning platform. It will also include a set of questions and answers to perform the self-assessment. All material can be found on the electronic platform.

 

IMPACT

The project aims to create a new learning and training programme for Creative Agents who will encompass entrepreneurial spirit, digital knowhow and a green approach to their practice. Creative Agents will be capable of creating synergies among CCs but also other different economic sectors, put in practice new innovative and sustainable solutions and, in addition, the “CREATIVE AGENT” will be able to strongly communicate and cooperative with local communities and actors. Creative Agents foresees the development of an open online platform through which users (CCI experts, practitioners and professionals but also VET providers and trainers) can benefit from learning in an autonomous way. Based on n Design Research (PR1), the partners will produce a methodology guide and Toolbox to implement Cultural Labs (PR2) and the training for the CREATIVE AGENTS. All the P.R. will be hosted in an e-learning platform. (PR3).

 

LONG-TERM IMPACT

Apart from the above tangible results, the project will produce intangible results such as:

  • An increase in entrepreneurial skills with the improvement of specific training in innovation, creativity, green and digital skills that will allow them to work on the new post-pandemic scenario
  • Promoting the cross-fertilization of arts, culture and creativity with a sustainability approach
  • Raising awareness of the importance of culture and creativity to heal the society and activate sustainable development
  • Put in practice new innovative solutions to power creativity and its application (Generate social impact, cross-fertilization with other sectors, wellbeing for local communities
  • To promote new local, regional and /or national projects to improve the skills and training
  • Increase the mobility and connection of creative professionals between EU countries
  • Lead to the adoption and use of training materials that would be developed by a wide range and number of training providers
  • Complete the gap between theoretical and practical training in the actions to be taken to improve opportunities in creative industries
  • Collaborate with the CCS practitioners to create joint actions and movements at the local level
  • Contribute to the well-being of citizens, social innovation and cohesion.

Project card:
Start: 31-01-2022 – End: 30-05-2024
Project Reference: 2021-1-CY01-KA220-VET-000033339/1
EU Grant: 237.474 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training
Partners:

SEAL CYPRUS, Cyprus https://www.facebook.com/sealngocy
SGS TECNOS SA, Spain https://www.sgs.com/
CONSORZIO MATERAHUB INDUSTRIE CULTURALI E CREATIVE, Italy https://www.materahub.com/en/
EYROPAIKO INSTITOYTO TOPIKHS ANAPTYKSHS, Greece https://eurolocaldevelopment.org/index.php/en/

ARISTA DEKA LIMITED, Cyprus https://aristadeka.eu/