The EIT Culture & Creativity Innovation Forum came to Nice for its 2025 edition, convening more than 150 key figures from across Europe’s cultural, creative, and innovation sectors. This two-day forum provided a timely exploration of how creativity can power a circular, sustainable, and inclusive future. Rolf Hughes, our Director of Education, shares some of his highlights below.
The summit took place across two beautiful, atmospheric venues—the Théâtre National and Campus Trotabas, and was organised in partnership with MIN4CI and the City of Nice.
Under the theme “Creativity Meets Circularity,” the forum tackled one of Europe’s most pressing challenges: how to embed circular economy principles into the cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI) while advancing the objectives of the European Green Deal (the EU’s strategy for achieving climate neutrality by 2050), the Circular Economy Act (the EU’s framework to promote sustainable products and reduce waste), and the New European Bauhaus — the EU’s initiative that unites sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics, connecting the Green Deal with our culture, living spaces, and experiences.
With over 30 high-level speakers, including celebrated architect Winy Maas, MEP Christian Ehler, and a video address from Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, the forum offered rich insights and hands-on engagement with the future of circular innovation.
Participants discussed the ways in which the CCSI can act as a catalyst in reshaping value chains, building economic resilience, and advancing societal transformation.
Break-out sessions were dedicated to discussions on circularity across EIT Culture & Creativity’s five priority areas: architecture, cultural heritage, fashion, gaming and the audiovisual sector.
The cultural heritage panel , for instance, spotlighted the sector’s potential to lead in innovation — not just through high-tech solutions but also through grassroots, accessible practices.
Here are some of the main takeaways:
- Digital innovation (VR, AR, AI) is transforming how cultural institutions manage resources, improve accessibility, and engage new audiences.
- Participatory practices, such as heritage tourism pathways, are enabling communities to co-create and sustain cultural value.
- Low-tech approaches, like museum-based second-hand shops and repair cafés, which would promote long-term device usage over replacement by inviting customers to bring their devices in for repair, demonstrate that innovation in circularity doesn’t always require cutting-edge technology.
- There was a strong call to rethink value in the sector — shifting from visitor numbers to qualitative experiences and using new performance metrics that measure social and environmental impact alongside economic outcomes.
The message was clear: cultural heritage organisations must position themselves as change agents in the circular transition, championing inclusivity and sustainability in equal measure.
Pictured: Architect Winy Maas delivering the keynote speech.
The fashion industry panel delivered key insights on how to realign this fragmented sector with circular values.
Important takeaways included:
- The urgent need to reconnect the fashion and textile supply chain, especially given its geographical dispersal.
- A call for textile literacy at all education levels, starting from early childhood, and the implementation of immersive “learning tours” for policymakers.
- Recognition of the vital role of micro and small businesses — often family-run and serving as custodians of traditional practices and know-how. Their voices must be amplified, and their survival supported through meaningful partnerships with larger fashion players.
The panel underscored the richness of heritage and craft in European fashion and the need to valorise human-scale production models that are often overlooked in mainstream sustainability dialogues.
Through countless encounters—some programmed, others informal—the Innovation Forum in Nice showcased how creativity and circularity can—and must—intersect. Whether through immersive digital tools in museums, grassroots innovation in gaming communities, or systemic shifts in architectural production, the event reinforced the cultural and creative sectors’ pivotal role in driving Europe’s sustainable future.
By linking resilience, inclusion, and environmental consciousness to creative entrepreneurship, EIT Culture & Creativity is helping shape the future of innovation—not just for the sector, but for society as a whole.
Join our online community for CCSI professionals, the Digital Hub, to stay up to date and register for upcoming events.
