On 9-10 December 2026, EIT Culture & Creativity hosts the second edition of its annual Ecosystem Forum in Vienna, Austria. Under the theme Harnessing Disruption, the Forum will explore the transformative role culture and creativity can play as we navigate a period of profound volatility.
At a moment when old certainties are giving way, the need to come together has rarely felt more urgent. Over two days, representatives from the cultural and creative sectors, public authorities, industry and academia will gather at MuseumsQuartier to chart a new course forward.
Climate crisis. Geopolitical instability. Sweeping technological change. The ground beneath us is shifting. Yet this is not unprecedented, nor is the outlook entirely bleak. Historically, periods of upheaval have also been periods of renewal, creating the conditions for societies to move beyond outdated systems.
Disruption is, by definition, an interruption or major disturbance in the normal flow of things. Often sudden and unexpected, it breaks with the status quo, creating cracks that reveal what is missing and making room for what could come next.
We tend to think of progress as linear: we develop plans, improve what exists and diligently move along roadmaps. But disruption breaks that line. With no established path ahead, it creates both the opportunity and the urgency to move beyond incremental change and chart entirely new directions.
The European opportunity: Culture and creativity as catalysts for change
In the search for new ways forward, the cultural and creative sectors have a transformative role to play. Natural sandboxes for innovation, culture and creativity are inherently experimental. They bring into being what does not yet exist, imagining, testing and refining as they go until something new takes shape.
They are also spaces of convergence. The challenges we face don’t sit within the boundaries of one sector, and neither can the solutions. Creative practice is where technical possibility meets human need. It runs through the products we design, the materials we develop, the technologies we build and the experiences through which we engage with them, helping shape solutions and systems that can take hold in society.
While increasingly recognised as the missing connective tissue across disciplines, this role remains far from fully realised. Fragmentation within the sector and limited integration with broader industrial innovation continue to hold back its full economic and societal value.
For Europe, this represents a particular opportunity. Its cultural depth and creative talent are not simply part of what defines it; they are a capacity it can draw on as it searches for new ways forward. The potential is already there; what is needed now is an integrated infrastructure to connect and support it.
This is at the heart of EIT Culture & Creativity's mission. We bring together a unique partnership spanning cultural and creative organisations, academia, research, and industry to actively dismantle these silos and strengthen the foundations for a more resilient cultural and creative ecosystem. The Ecosystem Forum is where this ambition moves into action.
The programme
This is not a conference designed simply to be watched or caught up with afterwards. Expect bold keynotes, conversations between people who don’t usually share a room, let alone a stage, and artistic performances that put imagination to work. The programme invites participants to take part, challenge familiar perspectives and help shape what comes next.
Who better to put that idea into practice than La Fura dels Baus? The Forum will kick off with a dedicated masterclass by the iconic Catalan theatre group on cross-disciplinary survival and structural disruption. Pioneers in bringing technology and culture together, their immersive productions have long stood out for breaking the fourth wall, turning audiences from observers into active participants. In the process, they expose something bigger: when familiar structures fall away, creating what replaces them becomes a collective act.
The work will continue beyond the auditorium. The Forum will bring together EIT Culture & Creativity’s Strategic Topic Groups: think-do tanks bringing the community together around key challenges and opportunities for the sectors. Their first workshops will take place in Vienna, creating space to exchange perspectives, identify shared priorities and turn them into areas for action.
The Forum closes the year with its sights set on the next. The conversations, connections and ideas emerging in Vienna will help lay the groundwork for a shared direction and joint roadmap for 2027 and beyond.
Because the question is not only how Europe responds to disruption, but what it chooses to build from it. That choice calls for vision, courage and a willingness to look beyond.
Participation in the Ecosystem Forum is open to EIT Culture & Creativity partners and invited guests. Interested in taking part? Get in touch to learn more.