“We have unique values within art and culture, which are underused resources. When we realise the importance of cultural and creative sectors and industries, we also realise how much LU has to offer, with its great breadth,” says Anna Lyrevik, senior advisor to the vice-chancellor on art and culture and chair of the steering group for the Knowledge Information Community (KIC) on Culture and Creativity.
Back in 2017, the European Commission’s then president, Jean-Claude Juncker, held a keynote speech on how Europe should continue to build upon fundamental values in democracy, culture and the arts. The world is in a climate crisis, peace is brittle, democracy is in retreat and polarisation and populism are on the rise. By making the most of the strength that Europe has within the area of culture and the arts, we hope that our competitiveness will improve. Since then, the EU has also invested heavily in the area of culture and the arts, and there are now several calls for application from which to seek funds.
“It is not without good reason that the EU announced a KIC in culture and creative industries – the largest investment in culture and innovation in the world – that can push the development of society in a positive direction. By the time it arrived, we were already in the starting blocks,” said Bo Ahrén, former Lund University pro vice-chancellor for external engagement and member of the project group for the KIC work.
Support from all faculties
Lund University, as the only core partner in Sweden, became part of the consortium “Creative Futures” which comprised 50 main partners from 20 different European countries and was led by Aalto University in Finland. “Creative Futures” came second, but Lund University sees great opportunities to seek funding in the calls for application that the winning consortium will launch in 2023. The entire University, with all its faculties, has contributed to the preparatory work and to the development of exciting areas of innovation.
“All the preparatory work has laid the groundwork to be better able to initiate and work on various development projects. We did not wait until we were inside a KIC before starting the project; I have seen a different mentality among our researchers as the project progressed. The alacrity and interest in joining interdisciplinary projects in this area has increased, compared to five years ago. An important lesson has been in communication, both outwards and inwards,” says Bo Ahrén.
Strong team spirit
A campaign office with a core staff of six from Lund University and the innovation platform Future By Lund was established in February 2021, with the initial aim of becoming part of a consortium.
Getting to be part of a strong KIC consortium takes collaboration with industry and the ability to identify strong areas of innovation that researchers and businesses have in common. Future by Lund has been a very strong partner in this work. They are tackling societal challenges by matching them with companies and researchers.
“As a group, we have worked together to create common contexts and areas of innovation. Above all, we have shared knowledge that has enabled us to navigate through fairly complex environments within the university, business, local government and innovation ecosystems. A hugely important lesson from this KIC work has been that it requires a big dose of teamwork. A team with completely different skills that come together and interact,” says Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, project manager at LU Collaboration with long experience of innovation work between different organisations.
Anna Lyrevik underlines the team spirit and how they travelled to the General Assemblies of the Creative Futures consortium as a united team with a common agenda.
“We have had an open attitude and we aroused interest around Europe when we talked about concrete projects. We have several players, with different roles, but with a well-prepared plan,” Anna Lyrevik explains.
That in itself represents a win. Through cultivating relationships, the campaign office, along with several colleagues, has gained a real overview of the current state of cultural and creative industries in Europe. Today, Lund University is also regarded as university of culture, and receives constant requests for collaboration in this area.”
Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth is also clear about the benefits of all the work that has gone into the process.
“Even if our consortium did not win the role of leading Europe’s cultural KIC, we have been part of the discussion and that has generated new collaborations and actual innovation projects. Getting to grips with the powers within a European KIC has been a somewhat messy process, but it has been worth it. What is the alternative? Sitting and watching from the side lines? You put yourself out there in the scrum, you present your content and explain what you want to do. Then you get plenty of offers.”