The 3rd stakeholder meeting took place on Friday 30th March at the Chamber of Commerce of Aitoloakarnania, Agrinio. The meeting was welcomed by the Deputy Regional Governor Mr. Lytras and the President of the Chamber of Aitoloakarnania, Mr. Tsichritzis, who declared their full support to the project's objectives. At the same time, they stressed that the region has significant comparative advantages and that actions should be planned for the whole area and not for individual regions. The Project Team, represented by Mr. Papaspyrou, presented the project and stressed the need for active participation and the creation of a critical mass as a prerequisite for future exploitation.
The stakeholders had the opportunity to enjoy an excellent presentation of Dr. Laopodis Vassilios, founder & President of CulturePolis and a former European Commission executive, on the “Development Opportunities through Cultural & Creative Entrepreneurship". He focused on the fact that the industry is a reality in Europe and Greece and stressed that there have been many attempts to "institutionalize" such efforts. He emphasised on the need for incubators and the way they could be structured to be effective and not to create "fashion" structures that are simply created for the absorption of Community resources. He concluded by pointing out that Cultural & Creative Entrepreneurship is not a panacea but a good opportunity to be properly exploited, so let's help future entrepreneurs make it happen! Then Ms. Mouse, representative of a social cooperative enterprise, offered the perspective of the people active in the field, highlighting the challenges and prospects of business in the Cultural and Creative Industry. He stressed that this corporate form is a very good vehicle and that collective actions seem to flourish. An important point was the tremendous interest from other people in selling their creations through them, thus confirming the existence of a significant offer that seeks to be matched with the corresponding demand. However, a major obstacle has been the difficulty of realistic costing of the produced cultural - creative product, which acts as an inhibiting factor in achieving significant sales. It has become clear that it is necessary to provide training services for the development of business models as well as funding for the further development of the businesses. Finally, Mr Robolas Georgios, member of the Chamber of Aitoloakarnania, proposed some interesting actions. Emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to the development of the sector rather than the localist targeting, he proposed a series of actions, mainly through the creation of a cultural route linking the Cultural Industry and Traditional Professions to the Ancient Theaters of the prefecture of Aitoloakarnania.
Through a productive open discussion with all the attendees, the exploitation of the Agrinio Fumigants as a multi-cultural multi-site came to the fore and the multiple actions that could be housed there were discussed. It appears that there is lack of information and knowledge on the exploitation of financial instruments and European resources, and the need for a more active role of local government was presented as a solid demand from the participants. As a conclusion, it has emerged that the necessary maturity has been achieved and there is strong will for collaboration that will produce creative results.
