Umeå hosts EU conference on the future of the Cultural and Creative Industries post-Covid

On 2 September, 2020 Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth will open a discussion on the future of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) post-Covid. The “Cities, Design and Innovation” conference will feature keynotes, inspirational speeches and discussions on topics such as design for ethical AI systems, European digital sovereignty and social media platforms, new ways of registering intellectual property, upskilling and lifelong learning, urban environments as cross-domain hubs, system design for decentralised governance, social impacts of new technologies, the shift to circular economy, STEAM education and more.

The conference is curated by Michela Magas, the Founder and Creative Director of Music Tech Fest, Chair of the Industry Commons Foundation, European Woman Innovator Award-winner and Umeå resident. She says, “As curator of this conference, I have been very keen to enable discussion on the important role of CCI in the post-Covid era, as well as to learn best practice from successful CCI ecosystems and initiatives, where gender equality, inclusion, cross-domain collaboration and technological innovation are the key ingredients. We are thrilled to have some of the most notable experts who are driving the CCI policy agenda across Europe hosted by the thriving CCI ecosystem of Umeå.”

Cities, Design and Innovation is being hosted by the city of Umeå on the 2nd and 3rd of September, and is available live online for those unable to travel. The event is hosted by the Design by Umeå network and represents another step that the city and region have taken together to drive change in urban development through support of the Culture and Creative Industries. Anna Olofsson, Marketing Manager at Umeå municipality, is one of the key figures behind the Design By Umeå network. “We want to be an international leader in sustainable change, that focuses on people,” she explains. “We believe that the only way to succeed is by continuing to draw influences from others, from our surroundings and from the best that the industry has to offer.”

Joakim Sandberg, Head of Cultural Affairs for Region Västerbotten says: “This is a brilliant initiative. Bringing together top minds from the world with the people that make up our region’s cultural and creative industry will create waves far outside Sweden and benefit everyone involved.”

‘Cities, Design and Innovation’ will be a physical and a digital meeting place. The conference is a collaboration between the City of Umeå, RISE, Industry Commons Foundation, Umeå University (eXpression), and Region Västerbotten. “This international conference is an important part of building the design driven ecosystem for societal transformation that RISE wants to develop with an epicentre in Umeå,” says Albert Edman, Head of Development at RISE Umeå.

The CCI was identified as a priority during Umeå’s year as the European Capital of Culture in 2014 and has continued through Umeå’s second place in European Capital of Innovation 2018 and first place in the European Social Progress Index, where 270 regions were evaluated based on a number of criteria related to social life, civil society and trust. “The Creative industry is an early adopter when it comes to embracing the possibilities of technology in their work. They are also champions of a sustainable, responsible and prolific innovation that today’s society needs. It’s a multi-disciplinary industry with a mix of actors all driven by the cause to make a positive change,” says Marlene Johansson, Managing Director at eXpression Umeå.

“Despite the health crisis, we have made steady progress in galvanising the Culture and Creative Industries and setting the strategy for the new role of the CCI in the upcoming EIT CCI KIC”, says Magas. “This is an important step for this sector, since it is being recognised for the first time as one of the key European industry verticals, but even more for the fact it is seen as having very much a horizontal function of uniting all sectors and introducing new methods and mechanisms for cross-domain collaboration with new technologies.”

Speakers include:

• Pier Luigi Sacco – Head of Venice Office and Senior Advisor at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities, Professor of Cultural Economics, IULM University, Milano, and Faculty Associate, Berkman-Klein Center, Harvard University.
• Eva Kaili – MEP and member of the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
• Martin Kern – Director, EIT
• Barbara Stacher – Programme Officer, Cultural Policy, EU Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
• Anette Novak – Director General of the Swedish Media Council
• Bernd Fesel – Director of the European Creative Business Network
• Virginia Dignum – Professor, Wallenberg Chair on Responsible Artificial Intelligence, Umeå University
• Lucas Evers – Head of the Art-Science Programme, WAAG, Amsterdam
• Valentina Montalto – Joint Research Centre, European Commission
• Bror Salmelin – Founder, European Network of Living Labs
• Amy Loutfi – Pro-Vice Chancellor, Artificial Intelligence, Örebro University
• Matthias Rauch – Cultural Innovation Officer, and Head of the Cultural Urban Development Department of the City of Mannheim
• Susanne Fuglsang – CEO, Innovation Pioneers
• Mats Widbom – CEO, Svensk Form
• Ambra Trotto – Head of The Pink initiative at RISE and associate professor at Umeå Institute of Design
• André Cester Costa – Head of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Aveiro STEAM City‍
• Flora Krasniqi – Project and Research Development Coordinator, Polis University, Tirana
• Michael Lindblad ­– Associate Professor, Umeå School of Education, Umeå University, and Chair, Giron Sami Theatre
• Marlene Johansson – CEO, eXpression Umeå and associate professor at Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics
• Linda Gustafsson – Gender Officer, Umeå Kommun