Abstract:

Funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme, and coordinated by the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, the €4 million project brings together leading research approaches to economic evolution and diversification, processes of innovation, non-urban place-based planning, and entrepreneurship in CCIs. The project aims to contribute to increasing the capacity of CCIs to act as drivers of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability in their local context.

Over its four-year duration (July 22- June 26),  IN SITU seeks to provide in-depth knowledge on the effects of cross-sectoral connections, innovative strategies and systems, and the needs of CCIs’ practitioners in non-urban areas, complementing this with proposals for cultural and innovation policies and frameworks. IN SITU includes a capacity-building programme to enable CCIs to address some of the key issues in their communities/regions.

The core defining aspect of IN SITU is the interlinking of research and practice through place-based IN SITU Labs -hubs for networking, capacity building, and monitoring case studies in six non-urban regions across Europe, located in Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, and Croatia.

The initiative includes an array of high quality research projects, professional development opportunities, conferences and workshops.

Project Lead :

Dr. Jude Ortiz

Project Partners:

The IN SITU project is also accompanied by an array of Outreach Partners within Europe and internationally: Culture Action Europe, DigitalMeetsCulture.eu, EMES – Research Network for Social Enterprise, Creative Scotland, United Cities and Local Governments – Committee on Culture, Cultural Development Network (Australia), Creative City Network of Canada, SPARC: Supporting Performing Arts in Rural and Remote Communities (Canada), and Sustaining Theatreand Dance (STAND) Foundation (South Africa).

In addition, the project has an International Advisory Board of seven leading international experts working on CCIs and culture-based work in non-urban areas. In addition to Dr. Ortiz, Algoma University, representing Canada, these experts include Chris R. Gibson, University of Wollongong (Australia); Susan Luckman, University of South Australia (Australia); Avril Joffe, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa); Patrick Brouder, Vancouver Island University (Canada); Tim Wojan, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and National Science Foundation (United States); and Sylvia Amann, Inforelais (Austria).

Publication:

Press Release July 25, 2022

Research Reports:

1. State of cultural policies for CCIs in non-urban areas (06.05.2024)
2. Gender of cultural and creative occupations in IN SITU Lab Areas – Supplemental analysis (23.04.2024)
3. State of policies and S3S on innovation and CCIs in non-urban areas (02.04.2024)
4. Socioeconomic resilience and pathways for growth (05.01.2024)
5. Gender dimensions of CCIs in non-urban areas (29.11.2023)
6. New domains in CCIs in non-urban regions (31.10.2023)
7. Case studies (30.07.2023)
8. Socioeconomic contribution and spillovers of CCIs in non-urban regions (03.05.2023)
9. Drivers of innovation of CCIs located in non-urban areas (12.04.2023)

Webinars