IN4SFS project aims to increase the cross-border investment in Turkish, Greek and Romanian innovation ecosystems, while improving access to capital skills of startups working on green and sustainable technologies and established in those ecosystems. Through the network of investors that project partners have, IN4SFS project will provide the cross-border investment opportunities to startups working on green and sustainable technologies and located in Turkey, Greece and Romania. Access to finance helps startups to use their limited financial resources on innovation at a higher level, without generating a significant income, especially while working on innovation activities. The innovative activities lead to better results in terms of sales numbers, and the overall growth rate of the startups. IN4SFS project will support competitiveness, and global potential of green and sustainable technology-focused startups in Turkish, Greek and Romanian innovation ecosystems through foreign investments and improve the investment readiness of startups. To assist foreign investors located in the Netherlands, France and Denmark to access local deal flows, IN4SFS project will use the local project partners and establish information centers in Turkey, Greece and Romania. Through the knowledge of partners in local ecosystems, these information centers will help foreign investors to access local deal flows. In terms of informing foreign investors from the Netherlands, France and Denmark on local regulatory frameworks and supporting them to establish joint cross-border ventures in Turkey, Greece and Romania, four brokerage events will be organized. These events will be focused on investors and a joint cross-border venture opportunity will be looked for.

Operating with open innovation principles, ekip will establish a partner and network-driven policy recommendation engine to continuously drive the formulation and adoption of policy development recommendations for Europe’s Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs). This will result in support and guidance that strengthens the capacity for CCI-actors to engage in and contribute to complex innovation processes. The interplay between the projects activities will allow us to deliver two objectives – building the meta-network amongst ecosystems and developing the knowledge-based and participatory policy engine – which will come together in making the third objective – supporting the development for CCI-centered ecosystems – possible. The engine is designed to in three main phases (i.e. five steps) achieve this: -Assess needs for future R&I actions - List of defined policy areas together with a meta-network of networks covering all member states and the CCI diversity. -Mapping of needs CCIs; tech, invest, skill, regulation - Investigate prioritised policy areas looking broadly and across sectors, also focusing on recommendations that will (i) increase the CCIs’ readiness for green and digital transitions as well as for the rest of the economy and society. -Identify and propose key actions - Formulate policy recommendations, also giving practical guidelines of how to implement and track development in ecosystems. ekip brings together highly networked and diverse organisations with strong track-record in research, innovation, and policymaking for and with the CCIs. Beneficiaries from 12 countries with different social, cultural, and economic contexts. Leading universities with expertise on research and innovation in culture and creativity. Organisations with online data collection and analysis competences and visualisation skills. Specialised policy consulting companies and advisories will be linking practice, research, and innovation with policy development for the CCI.

Global labour markets are in constant change in response to emerging mega trends like ageing societies and rapid urbanisation. We are witnessing the replacement of traditional occupations by creative communities whose raw material is their ability to address those challenges, imagine new solutions and innovate. A major role in this change is played by the creative industries (CI) defined as “industries that origin in individual creativity and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of IP”. The CI are one of the most dynamic sectors in Europe (representing 3.3% of EU economy, and 3% of employment), but in Israel are characterized by a small market, with few employment possibilities and a need to compete globally.CLEVER aspires to be the catalyst of change in HE and vocational training for creative professions as well as the entire creative economy eco-system. This will be done by ensuring that graduates in creative disciplines are fitted with updated leadership and entrepreneurship capacities and skills that enable them to maintain life-long portfolio careers and to enhance 21st century creative economies.CLEVER will:• Develop a Creative Leadership & Entrepreneurship strategic plan for each participating Israeli HEI to serve as a roadmap for short and long-term implementation, including: curricula updates, new academic and LLL modules and business models.• Develop new teaching capacities and methods in the Israeli HEIs aligned to creative leadership modules• Pilot of academic and LLL educational modules To start a change through the entire Israeli eco-system CLEVER will develop:• Benchmarking report between the Israeli and EU creative economy practices• Creative Israel 2020 Whitepaper policy recommendationWith these outcomes CLEVER encompass all stakeholders in the creative economy thus ensuring impact, exploitation and dissemination of results beyond the project's lifetime.

DeuS is a 9-country project promoted by regional VET providers and cultural and creative industries representatives, variously linked to research and technological centres and public players, that even stand for 4 European Capitals of Culture, among past, presents and future designated cities. It lays its groundwork in the Open Design School pilot initiative promoted under ECoC Matera 2019, thought to be an open laboratory pivotal to the successful implementation of the ECoC programme. The project organizes a steady network to challenge the concept of urban sustainable development underpinning the Open Design School. It is in-depth discussed, tested and improved by benefiting from know-how, expertise, best practices and lessons gathered within close and comparable experiences from partners and stakeholders. It strives to enable EU regional environments and research-driven settings – both physical (Creative Open Spaces) and virtual (a multi-sided Creative Knowledge Platform) – that allow VET systems, professionals, researchers, policy-makers and local people to engage in iterative processes of innovation and problem solving to generate solutions to local challenges (RIS3) and deliver them to SMEs and other entrepreneurs, public bodies and everyone who need them. This approach enables educational opportunities in design and innovation, critical thinking and entrepreneurship to find creative and cost-effective ways to connect within and across regional territories. Cooperation and education provide opportunities to access skills, competences and research infrastructures. Players are all involved in feedback-loops allowing creative innovators to be more responsive and attractive. They can iterate, learn, and share with others, feeding innovation. Furthermore, joiners are allowed to assess social needs at local level and iteratively evaluate and improve their solutions by a trail-and-error approach that encourage sharing of lessons learned and best practices.

The SPECTRA proposal embodies the collaborative vision of 8 partners (including 3 associate partners) representing 4 regional ecosystems – an emerging innovator region in Bulgaria (North-Central-BG), moderate innovator region in Ireland (Northern and Western), together with lead innovator regions in Denmark (Hovedstaden) and Germany (Berlin). SPECTRA will put in place key ingredients required to equip the emerging innovator and moderate innovator regions with a more responsive, resilient ecosystem, capable of growing and developing coordinated responses to many challenges creative industries are facing to achieve the National and European goals. This will be based on interaction with 2 successful initiatives - Media Deals Investment Network and Creative Business Network. SPECTRA will harness and multiply the power of individual ecosystem initiatives to enhance participation of financiers/investors and women innovators - resulting in enhanced, more inter-connected, diverse, gender-responsive, competitive, and sustainable ecosystems. Additionally, SPECTRA will include activities that will encourage development of joint strategies and amplify collaboration. Stakeholders will benefit extensively from the advanced business support models developed to fast-track start-ups, produce scale-ups, avail of best practice, new systems, structures and tools, as well as data-driven & carbon-reducing challenge-based innovation methods, case studies, role models, cross-sectoral and intra-territorial learning - engaging over 1000 stakeholders over 30 workshops, experiments/challenges, huddles and roundtables, supporting over 100 start-ups and SMEs and creating an excess of 300 new linkages. SPECTRA measures will be integrated within the context of policy, economic, societal framework and implemented on a transversal and transdisciplinary basis, encouraging the maximum output in terms of potential for additional new linkages, interconnections, joint initiatives and replication.