Dr. Jude Ortiz of NORDIK Institute joins the International Advisory Board for a new project on cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas of the EU
Longstanding researcher with the NORDIK Institute, Dr. Jude Ortiz, has joined the International Advisory Board for a new major project exploring cultural and creative industries in Europe. The project “IN SITU – Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas” was launched on July 1, 2022, with a 48-month duration. Coordinated by the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, the €4 million project is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme.
Despite the increased visibility and importance of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) based in non-urban areas of the European Union in the last decade, there is a noticeable lack of research and policy attention to their specific needs, characteristics, and potential. IN SITU 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.
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 also 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 project brings together 13 institutional partners in 12 countries: the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (coordinator); National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland); European Network of Cultural Centres (Belgium); Utrecht University (Netherlands); National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (France); MONDRAGON Innovation & Knowledge (Spain); Kultura Nova Foundation (Croatia); University of the Azores (Portugal); University of Turku (Finland); Latvian Academy of Culture (Latvia); Bifröst University (Iceland); National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts “Kr. Sarafov” (Bulgaria); and University of Hildesheim (Germany).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 Theatre and 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).
For further information, please contact Nancy Duxbury (IN SITU Principal Investigator, Centre of Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal) at duxbury@ces.uc.pt.
