Following the Policy Round Table in Wallonia on 29 January, the Belgian partners had the opportunity to partake in a staff exchange to Barcelona on 19 and 20 February 2019.
Together, the Belgian and Catalan partners discussed:
- Regional policies to support cultural and creative SMEs and a first approach to the video games sector in Catalonia: meeting with the Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies from the Catalan Government.
- Ecosystem of Creative Hubs in Barcelona, with a specific focus on governance, business model, activities and services offered, community, etc.
They also visited:
- The first European 3D printing Incubator
- The Fabra i Coats Art Factory (multidisciplinary hub to support entrepreneurs on performing arts, music, audio-visual, visual arts, multimedia).
- Canodrom Creative Research Park (support to creative and cultural entrepreneurs, with a special focus on the gaming industry)
In general, the staff exchange began with an "owner's tour" before more exhaustive presentations and in-depth discussions on governance, indicators, business model and visibility.
The staff exchange in Barcelona was extremely informative. Each visit raised interesting points for the creative hubs policy in Wallonia and the hubs model in general, summarised by three main takeaways.
- Build a set of additional indicators to better measure the impact of creative hubs
- Develop a future model of creative hubs reinforcing a public-private management model
- Reinforce the competences of the profiles working in the hubs either by business competences or by creative competences.
These learnings can be applied to Wallonia’s Local Action Plan and guide them on improving creative hubs.
The participants felt that it was very instructive to visit and meet different structures. Each visit was a piece of the puzzle that they want to combine to obtain the most suitable model for Wallonia.
Experiences like these are why it is important to go abroad and not stay stuck in one region.
