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Table of Content

#SDECE2025 - June 3rd, Brussels

#SDECE2025 - June 4th, Brussels

Key Outcomes and White Paper

Gallery

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<aside> <img src="/icons/location_gray.svg" alt="/icons/location_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Venue: AT60 - House of the Austrian Economy, Avenue de Cortenbergh 60, 1000 Brussels, BE

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<aside> <img src="/icons/calendar_gray.svg" alt="/icons/calendar_gray.svg" width="40px" /> June 3rd 2025, 14.00 - 18.00 June 4th 2025, 9.00 - 16.00

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<aside> <img src="/icons/video-camera_gray.svg" alt="/icons/video-camera_gray.svg" width="40px" /> In Person

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Background Information

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#SDECE2025 - June 3rd, Brussels

From Practice to Policy: European Strategic Cultural Autonomy

A Cross-Project Dialogue

As part of the Strategic Industry Dialogue on the European Creative Economy 2025, this high-level preparatory session gathered key EU-funded projects in the creative and cultural sectors to collaboratively shape policy recommendations on skills development. This initiative directly contributed to the shared goal of advancing Strategic Cultural Autonomy, and a resilient, innovative, and democratic European Creative Economy.

The session invited project coordinators and policy leads from seven flagship EU-funded initiatives - **SACCORD, CYANOTYPES, PACESETTERS, CREDEX, Label4Future, CRAFT-IT4SD, MOSAIC, and GreenCCIrcle** - to present their work and aims, co-create cross-sector insights, and align recommendations with the four key policy pillars of #SDECE2025.

A key outcome was the first draft of a joint White Paper on Cultural Autonomy, to be showcased at the main Strategic Dialogue on June 4, 2025.

Purpose and objectives

• Bridge practice and policy by connecting on-the-ground knowledge from EU-funded projects with EU-level policy frameworks.
• Contribute to Strategic Cultural Autonomy by identifying concrete actions on skills that reinforce Europe's global cultural leadership.
• Foster cross-project synergies through thematic dialogue and collaborative policy drafting.
• Deliver actionable policy recommendations to EU institutions, national governments, and sector stakeholders through a shared White Paper.
• Support projects in meeting their policy impact objectives, including project KPIs and deliverables related to stakeholder engagement, policy contribution, and dissemination of results.

Agenda - June 3rd, 2025

13.30-14.00 Arrival and registration

14.00-14.15 Welcome and context

Overview of the Strategic Dialogue and framing of the session within EU policy priorities.

14.15-15.30 Project Pitch Round (5min per project)

What has your project learned about skills, and what should policy do about it?

15.30-15.50 Thematic Mapping Exercise

Participants cluster their recommendations under the four SDECE themes.

Theme 1: Single Market and Competitiveness

Theme 2: Sustainabilty, Green CCIs and Resilient Economy

Theme 3: European Democracy Shield

Theme 4: Strategic Cultural Autonomy

15.50-16.10 Break

16.10-17.10 Collaborative Policy Labs

Groups draft 2–3 recommendations per theme, grounded in project evidence and needs. (based on the previous session, where projects shared their individual work)

Theme 1: Single Market and Competitiveness

Theme 2: Sustainabilty, Green CCIs and Resilient Economy

Theme 3: European Democracy Shield

Theme 4: Strategic Cultural Autonomy

17.10-17.30 Presentation & Feedback

Each group shares their drafts; discussion for refinement and convergence.

17.30-17.50 Roadmap & White Paper Process

Discussion on next steps, contributors, and coordination for the paper.

17.50-18.00 Closing

#SDECE2025 - June 4th, Brussels

Strategic Dialogue on European Creative Economy and Cultural Autonomy

The European creative economy, contributing over 4% of the EU’s GDP and employing nearly 12 million people, remains a driving force for innovation, cultural expression, and economic growth. As digital transformation and global shifts reshape the sector, ECBN/CreativeFED launched the Strategic Dialogue on the European Creative Economy and Cultural Autonomy to engage policymakers, creatives, and stakeholders in shaping future EU policies. This high-level roundtable, taking place in Brussels and will convene government, industry, academia, and civil society to discuss strategies that foster innovation, protect intellectual property, and reinforce Europe’s creative leadership.

This high-level roundtable provided a unique platform to discuss strategies for fostering innovation, supporting cross-sector collaboration, protecting intellectual property, and reinforcing Europe’s creative leadership. Participants engaged in rich exchanges on the opportunities and challenges facing the sector in a rapidly changing digital, social, and economic landscape. The dialogue also explored how EU-level policies can better support skills development, inclusivity, and resilience across the creative industries.

Key outcomes included the drafting of policy recommendations for strengthening Strategic Cultural Autonomy, identifying concrete actions to boost skills, mobility, and collaboration in the sector, and fostering cross-project synergies among flagship initiatives such as SACCORD, CYANOTYPES, PACESETTERS, CREDEX, Label4Future, CRAFT-IT4SD, and GreenCCIrcle. The event highlighted the vital role of creative professionals, educators, and policymakers in co-creating a resilient, innovative, and democratic European creative economy.

This Strategic Dialogue marked a pivotal step in shaping the next EU policy cycle for culture and creativity, ensuring that the sector’s economic, social, and cultural contributions are recognized and reinforced across Europe.

Agenda - June 4th, 2025

9.00-9.30 Registration and Poster session of EU Projects

9.30-10.00 Opening

Inspirational Talk: A Myth for Europe – the role of CCIs in building a European dream

10.00-10.30 Keynote

Dr. Christian Ehler MEP – Current Political Framework for the European Creative Economy

10.30-11.00  Break

11.00 -13.00  Four Provocations

11.00 - 11.30 P1: Creative Skills for a Sovereign Single Market and Competitiveness: Cultural Autonomy as a Economic Strategy

11.30 - 12.00 P2: The Creative Economy as an Engine of the New Clean Industrial Deal: Sustainabilty, Green CCIs, Resilient Economy

12.00 - 12.30 P3: Creatives For Europe - European Democracy Shield: Creativity as Democratic Infrastructure

12.30 - 13.00 P4: Strategic Cultural Autonomy for Global Expansion & Cultural Diplomacy

Key Outcomes and White Paper

On June 4, 2025, over 70 policymakers, creative professionals, and EU project leaders convened in Brussels for the Open Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Europe’s Creative Economy. Organised by ECBN/CreativeFED, this milestone event launched a long-term dialogue on how culture and creativity can shape Europe’s future resilience, competitiveness, and sovereignty. The dialogue introduced Cultural Strategic Imagination as a critical concept—building on cultural agency, autonomy, and sovereignty—to unlock the transformative role of the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) in Europe’s green, digital, and democratic transitions.

Key outcomes and policy recommendations across six strategic themes:

Creative Skills & Competitiveness

• Recognise creative skills as transversal enablers of innovation.
• Propose a European skills recognition framework, foresight hubs, hybrid curricula, and new tools like Art Coins and micro-credentials.

Green Deal & Sustainable Innovation

• Embed CCS into the EU Green Deal, circular economy, and public procurement.
• Develop new cultural sustainability indicators and creative labs to drive behavioural and systemic change.

Creativity as Democratic Infrastructure

• Position culture as a pillar of democratic resilience.

Cultural Autonomy as Smart Power

• Reframe cultural autonomy as a strategic digital agency.
• Invest in public cultural infrastructures, European AI models, and ethical, open-source tools to ensure cultural sovereignty.

Representation & Strategic Procurement