Innovation with Impact: Why Culture is Essential
What do creatives, heritage professionals, policy makers and innovation experts have in common? At first glance, perhaps not much. Yet from 1–4 June 2026, they came together during the ekip Academy, a four-day training programme organised by Sound & Vision for ekip with one shared goal: exploring how culture and creativity can drive innovation with meaningful impact.
What do creatives, heritage professionals, policy makers and innovation experts have in common? At first glance, perhaps not much. Yet from 1–4 June 2026, they came together during the ekip Academy, a four-day training programme organised by Sound & Vision for ekip with one shared goal: exploring how culture and creativity can drive innovation with meaningful impact.
Through the European project ekip, Sound & Vision helps build a network of cities and regions that places Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) at the heart of innovation. Why? Because innovation is about much more than just technology. CCIs bring fresh perspectives, encourage collaboration, and help ensure that innovation reflects the needs and realities of society and democracy.
More Than Just Technological Improvements
When people think about innovation, they often think about technological breakthroughs. From the invention of the light bulb to the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence, technology is often seen as the driving force behind progress. However, innovation goes far beyond new technologies. Innovation with societal impact focuses on the introduction of new ideas, services or processes that help address big challenges in our communities. These challenges may relate to climate change, sustainability and the green transition. Or public health, social cohesion and economic resilience.
Tech companies definitely play an important role, but meaningful innovation requires cross sectoral contributions. Education, tourism, government and CCIs all bring valuable expertise and perspectives to the table. Yet CCIs are often overlooked in innovation policies and strategies. This is precisely what Sound & Vision aims to change through the ekip project.
Four Days of Creative Innovation
The ekip Academy took place in Tallinn, Estonia, from 1 to 4 June 2026. Fourteen ambitious policy teams from various European regions came together to work on innovative strategies centred on the power of culture and creativity.
While every team brought their own unique challenges, they were united by one key question: how can CCIs help drive meaningful innovation in our cities, regions and communities? Over the course of four intensive days, participants engaged in practical exercises, explored inspiring examples and learnt new methods for developing policies that enable innovation in their own regions. There was plenty of knowledge-sharing, discussion and collaboration. Four themes were central to the programme:
- Innovation Ecosystems and the Role of CCIs: Participants explored how CCIs can contribute to different forms of innovation. Beyond their role as creators, CCIs can act as catalysts for experimentation, out of the box thinking and new ways of collaboration to create societal impact.
- Policy interventions that support the swarm: CCIs are largely made up of small and individual actors - in ekip we call this the swarm. Policy approaches designed to support industries with big players do not work for CCIs. The Academy participants explored how to tailor policy interventions for the swarm of CCI actors.
- Future Narratives and Backcasting: What does a desirable future look like, and what steps do we need to take to get there? Through future-oriented methods and backcasting exercises, participants learned how to envision inspiring futures and identify concrete actions to make them a reality.
- Policy as a Tool for Innovation: Innovation does not happen by itself. Policy can play a key role in creating the right conditions for collaboration and innovation. During the Academy, participants explored inspiring examples from cities and regions that are already leading the way, and learned how to potentially apply building blocks from the examples to their own situations.
 |
 |
The Role of Sound & Vision
As a media heritage institution, Sound & Vision preserves the Netherlands' audiovisual heritage for future generations. Its collections document not only the country's history, but also its cultural developments, social changes and technological innovations.
The archives provide valuable context for understanding how innovation evolves over time. They remind us that innovation is never solely about technology; it is about people, culture, ideas and the societies in which they emerge.
Through the ekip project, Sound & Vision is working to strengthen the position of the CCIs within national and European innovation policies. The voice of heritage institutions often remains underrepresented in policy discussions, despite the important insights cultural heritage can offer when addressing future challenges.
Looking to Innovate with Impact?
The ekip Academy represents just one part of the wider ekip project. If your organisation wants to contribute to innovation with societal impact but is unsure where to begin, the ekip Knowledge Bank offers a valuable starting point. The Knowledge Bank contains more than 100 resources, tools, methods and examples designed to help organisations integrate culture, creativity and innovation into their work.
Explore the ekip Knowledge Bank and discover how your organisation can help shape innovation with societal impact.
