CREZI+ is a creative space within the urban area of Palermo born by a cooperation agreement between the University of Palermo and the Municipality of Palermo for promoting research and innovation in the creative sector. CREZI+ is a cross-border contamination site to trigger social innovation processes and foster the growth of creative enterprises, involving creative industries to actively contribute to this process, mentoring potential entrepreneurs, providing advisory tools to develop technology products and applications needed to set up new creative industries or support scale-up phase, finally enhancing knowledge exchange and open innovation processes,  accomplishing in such a way the so-called “third mission” of the University.

Accordingly with this blended approach it integrates (i) community engagement processes (ii) self-employment promotion, (iii) innovative start-up incubation, all connected by some shared tools as (i) a digital library, (ii) vertical creative making workshops, (iii) exhibition and meeting areas, (iv) incubation workspaces. The site is about 1.000 sqm within an area counting about 20.000 sqm of covered spaces.

The first stage of the CREZI+ project has been financed by the partners and it has recently got a significant grant by Fondazione con il Sud, a private foundation that is supporting innovative projects in the southern part of Italy.

Données de contact des acteurs impliqués

Nom et Prénom: Umberto La Commare Qualité: Professor

Organisation: University of Palermo

Adresse: Viale delle Scienze. 90128 Palermo (Italy)

Email : umberto.lacommare@unipa.it Site web : www.unipa.it

 

Nom et Prénom: Fabio Montagnino Qualité: Director Organisation:Consorzio ARCA

Adresse: Viale delle Scienze – Edificio 16. 90128 Palermo (Italy) Téléphone: +39 091 6615611

Email :   f.montagnino@consorzioarca.it

Site web :                         www.consorzioarca.it

Ancrage dans son contexte

Cultural and creative sector counts in Sicily 26.447 enterprises, subdivided as follows: Advertising: 1.759 (6, 7%)

Artistic creation and literary creation: 9.095 (34, 4%)

Museums and preservation of historical sites and buildings: 1.426 (5, 4%) Printing and publishing: 5.066 (19, 2%)

Radio and television: 2.094 (7, 9%)

Retail and distribution: 4.425 (16, 7%)

Software: 2.582 (9, 8%)

(Source: Cluster Observatory, 2014)

All Southern Italy counts 119.440 creative and cultural enterprises (i.e. 26, 9% of the total for Italy). Sicily therefore      counts 6,0% of the total number of enterprises of this sector in Italy (which counts

443.208 enterprises) and it is placed as eighth in the ranking of the Italian regions. The number of its cultural and creative enterprises increased of about 16% in the last three years.

The spinneret presents a prevailing creative connotation (54, 1%) strongly concentrated on the creative-driven goods and services production. Valorization of cultural heritage plays instead a marginal role due to the prevalence of public sector.

The role of creative industries is particularly important in the young entrepreneurship start-upping as they represent around one-third of the ‘young’ enterprises.

The Cultural productive system plays also a fundamental role in Sicily on the tourist expenditure level. Among the 75, 8 billion euros of tourist expenditure in Italy in 2014, the part directly activated by cultural industries is of about 28, 3 billion euros, i.e. 37, 3% of the total. In Sicily this percentage decreases to 26, 6% but it is still a remarkable level with an activation mainly connected to the cultural heritage.

The total level of expenditure activated by cultural industries in Sicily is of 1.400,2 million Euros, i.e. 5, 0% of the national level.

(Source: Report “Io sono cultura 2015”, Fondazione Symbola)

The creative sector in Sicily is constantly growing through a set of projects in the fields of music and video production and distribution, contemporary art, publishing and services. There are also interesting examples of attempts of networking and strategic partnerships.

The creative texture in the island is moreover focusing on building ecosystems supporting both the promotion and starting up of creative industries. Building the ecosystem seems a priority for launching the sector in Sicily, a creative ecosystem, i.e. a place of innovation and transformation opportunities helped through a clever and dynamic network of relationships and exchanges.

The overall objective of CREZI+ is to encourage the interaction of the higher educational system of the  University (and its produced  know-how on  new technologies) with  the creative texture of   the

Sicilian region further to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth where smart growth means to develop an economy based on knowledge and innovation, sustainable growth means to promote a more efficient use of resources for a greener and more competitive economy, inclusive growth means to foster a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial development.

The context analysis reveals that Sicily is a “Knowledge Creation” Area and gives some positive signals in the areas of public funds for research and development and in the vitality of the ICT sector, evidencing the existence of some areas of excellence in the territory.

Cultural heritage and creative industries are two strategic sectors in which Sicily need to invest for the specialization of micro enterprises and SMEs of the area in the technologically-advanced sectors. First of all because the island is full of cultural resources and handcraft traditions and what they need is to innovate and invest in ICT to increase the growth rate and enlarge the market; second, because investments in creative industries encourage business through the bottom-up demand (smart communities, smart cities, and social innovation) and widely contribute to the citizens quality of live.

CREZI+ connects culture and creative of the entrepreneurial world, with education, training and research coming from the academic world through promotion of new creative entrepreneurship.

Visibilité de l’action

The objectives of the CREZI+ communication are:

1. Creating and dynamising an ecosystem crossing creativity as an innovative tool to increase enterprises’ competitiveness
2. Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and creating new creative enterprises in the field
3. Creating a network of knowledge exchange and open

First objective is reached applying community building strategies which can reinforce awareness and trust into the project among the participants. This is done through direct contact and communication tools addressed to entrepreneurs and stakeholders in community mapping experiences and social events.

The second objective is reached creating communication materials and events able to involve young people and free-lancers in the CREZI+ activities. Techniques of promotion and transmission of the entrepreneurial spirit are fundamental to encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Communication about mentoring strength this spirit and transform it into real new enterprises addressed to the market. Storytelling tools, for example, will be produced and have a multiplier impact on other potential new entrepreneurs. The most effective communication tools in this case are social networks and communities on line; further to organize business competition events; using a lot of videos to capture attention.

Finally third objective is reached through creating appealing communication tools on the web to share data and story-telling about the process also using video documentary.

Transférabilité

CREZI+ is an organic intervention in which three levels – educational, entrepreneurial and social ones

– are strictly interconnected and reinforce each other. For this reason it has a strategic character and can be replicated in different contexts and in other regions/countries.

The project can be replicated where adjustable ecosystems are present and adjustable to the production of economic value, through the combination of incubation processes and community building dynamics, not only for the sector chosen in this project but also to other sectors which can be considered strategic for the economic development of a territory. This can mean that the process CREZI+ is applying in Palermo’s area can become a “format” to be used in different contexts as it designs a process which can be useful to local governmental bodies or private organizations in their own territorial contexts.

Durabilité

The operating model is set to be lean and sustainable and major revenue lines has already been defined based on the experience in the incubation services and connected to the concrete effects that these services are able to generate in terms of development of the assisted start-ups. Complementary lines are also activated, connected to the identity of CREZI+ community: the space enables laboratories, workshops and training courses addressed to social and technological innovators community. The use of “shared workshops” is regulated by a low-cost sharing system, with monthly and / or annual subscriptions, which structures the community use of the place. In order to achieve a higher level of resiliency, the CREZI+ system in any case is integrated into the broader operational model and subject to specific projects in order to connect it to national and European networks and attract more investments enabling the further expansion of equipment and services.

The sustainability is ensured at all the levels, particularly:

• at a social level: the mix of physical and virtual interaction fostered by the project capitalizes on other collaborative networks established under the HUB, NETKITE, TCBL projects already run by ARCA; it also takes advantage from the international project networks of ARCA and the international sectorial networks ARCA is member of (i.e. European Network of Living Labs, Enterprise Europe Network, HUB centers, Sustainable Development Solutions network, etc.…); engaging the physical and virtual business community allows CREZI+ entrepreneurs to act as engine of local development and catalyzer of the territorial innovation ecosystem. Moreover, a specific attention is deserved to encourage self-entrepreneurship of less advantaged representatives of the local community, underlining the inclusive value of the promotion of entrepreneurial culture;

at a structural level: follow-up initiatives are run to provide the creative entrepreneurs assisted by CREZI+ with the facilities needed to carry out their activities, pooling the resources of their members and also the spaces for co-working identified within the municipal areas. The establishment in Palermo of CREZI+ through the regeneration, requalification and the use of a requalified urban  space, owned by the municipality but available for collective use, allows to access and nurture a

proper environment for entrepreneurial lab work and networking. These spaces are conceived for social innovation and cultural start-up initiatives and get the most from advanced technologies, testing and prototyping services to set up making labs (design, media, textile, handicraft) supporting business development. The facilities identified are also operational as aggregation spaces and living links between citizens and new solutions providers, between senior entrepreneurs and start-uppers, between technology enablers and cultural innovators.

– at an economic and financial level: the start-ups generated and the companies upscaled need to  be financially viable and profitable; a network of investors is made available for feasibility checks and a virtual bank for bartering competences and exchanging skills are encouraged within the platform in a sharing economy approach. The collaborative virtual environment links with operators which in other parts of Italy and Europe are experimenting social innovation business models, thus enlarging the market and the range of opportunities for the new entrepreneurs.

Caractère Innovant

Creative Industries – “cycles of creation, production and distribution of goods and services that use creativity and intellectual capital as primary inputs”. These “constitute a set of knowledge-based activities, focused on but not limited to arts, potentially generating revenues from trade and intellectual property rights” and “comprise tangible products and intangible intellectual or artistic services with creative content, economic value and market objectives” (UNACTD 2008) – are an essential part of the economic system, and their contribution to the social and economic performance of any country is more and more recognized. Creative enterprises are knowledge- intensive in nature and can become an important factor for sustainable economic growth, inclusive development and social innovation in “moderate innovator” economies.

Several projects have demonstrated that creative entrepreneurship plays a major role in developing dynamic CIs, which entails creation and innovation as well as bringing businesses and communities together in networks. It is more crucial than ever for entrepreneurs with business acumen, commercial abilities and emotional competencies to complement the usual skills and services of traditional artisans in order to transform the sector. Opportunity-driven entrepreneurship is essential to support entrepreneurs who are willing to continuously innovate, to set up “green businesses” and to engage in new learning to remain competitive.

Innovation factors that CREZI+ proposes are based on the creation of a local creative ecosystem, an environment that should be ensured in order to guarantee an industry’s inclusive and sustainable development. Such an environment is one that promotes creativity and innovation itself, comprising numerous aspects – from infrastructure development to local governance, to fiscal and legal frameworks. Such an enabling environment, creating connections between innovative enterprises and local stakeholders, ensures also the sustainability and durability of the creative ecosystem and streams from the systematic coordination of all relevant actors – from the public sector to the private sector, civil society and educational institutions – involved in CREZI+.

Impact

CREZI + wants to be a decisive transformation engine of the reference territory. This action is developed on a local scale (neighborhood) and, more generally, on the entire urban territory. The first expected impact is to redefine the scale of values and the degree of “self-esteem” of the territory as a prerequisite for a social redemption and sustainable economic growth. The highly scalable start-up location within the ecosystem and its natural interaction with the local social fabric of reference favor, on one hand, the establishment of a microfile that can stimulate the technological upgrading of existing businesses, and, on the other, emulation and understanding mechanisms for the acceleration of new economic activities and their projection on national and international markets. CREZI+ activates therefore an educational process based on the intersection between the typical path of innovative start-ups and social and production segments that are usually strange and peripheral to the new dynamics of value generation. The emergence of a mixed, transversal ecosystem produces significant social impact (especially for the most successful start- ups) and in all cases guarantees access to new opportunities and understanding of the new dynamics of labor and production at a wide range of the population.

Placement of activities in a wider network, as well as fostering exchanges of experiences and increasing opportunities, tend to consolidate the project of a city that is capable of combining entrepreneurial development and social inclusion. By doing its own theory of change, CREZI + changes the meaning and the representation of its closest reference context.

The impact on the territory will be exponential compared to viral capacity to showcase a new role for the area where CREZI+ is born within the city. A role based on the production of innovation and thought to produce economies and a new history of social innovation.