Participation within the CRE:HUB project provided a great opportunity for the Regional Development Agency Centru, Intermediate Body for the Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020, to learn and exchange experience on policies that support the Cultural and Creative Industry sector, with partners form other EU regions or countries.
An important achievement within the project was the realisation of the regional action plan, a document developed with the support of the regional local stakeholder group members and based on the experience gained in the 1st phase of the CRE:HUB project.
First step to ensure that the lessons learnt from CRE:HUB were and will be implemented systematically, was to present and highlight to the decision making body of Centru Region, the importance of CCI sectors, the challenges addressed by the European Commission in relation to the companies in this sector and the necessity to intensify the support for the companies in this sector in the programming period 2021-2027.
The implementation of the action plan developed during the first phase of the project is related to the Action 1 (aims to improve the Priority axis 2 of the Regional Operational Programme, the Priority investments: 2.1 and 2.2.), the only action directly linked to the policy instrument addressed within the CRE:HUB project. Actions 2 and 3 were considered complementary and their implementation will assure a strategic support for the Cultural and Creative Industry sector in the region. These two actions are related to the creation of a thematic group on CCI sector and an application for a business incubator in CCI sector.
Concretely progresses were registered in the implementation of all the actions, but influencing the policy instrument through the first Action included in the Action Plan is limited and conditioned by the Managing Authority of the Regional Operational Programme in Romania. The Managing Authority decides if and when a new call for proposals is launched and this aspect is limiting also our intervention.
Our “mission” of supporting the CCI went beyond the context of the policy instrument and we have successfully manage to influence other national program for start-ups - START-UP Nation Programme - in order to create more opportunities for the companies in these sectors and increase their access to finance.
