As the EU’s renewed push for competitiveness defines Europe’s future, we came together for our annual Partner Conference in Porto to rethink the very notion of competitiveness. While current policies focus on horizontal enablers – from industrial strength to deep tech and renewables – another transversal driver remains underrepresented at the table.
Over two days, 150 creative minds from policymaking, cities, ventures, arts and cultural institutions gathered for the EIT Culture & Creativity Beyond Competitiveness Partner Conference from 5-7 November 2025 in Porto. Together, we challenged traditional definitions of competitiveness and explored what a more resilient, inclusive,and sustainable Europe could look like with creative collaborations at its centre.
“It’s time to reimagine how Europe shapes its digital creative future – reclaiming our agency and redefining how we create, connect and grow as Europeans with culture and creativity at the core,” stated Anette Schaefer, CEO of Culture & Creativity, in her welcoming remarks.
Culture and creativity contribute over €400 billion in annual value and employ seven million people in the EU alone. Yet their impact goes far beyond numbers: their values and practices strengthen other sectors, fostering innovation, imagination and societal resilience. Recognising this potential, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched its 9th Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) focused on culture and creativity in 2022.
“The cultural and creative sectors and industries are key to Europe’s competitiveness (…) Many other industries are in great need of their support. Almost every sector relies on design in some one way or another and the CCSI can help there, by enabling sustainable solutions that create a big impact,” shared Anna Lindén, Representative of the Governing Board of EIT Culture & Creativity, after taking the stage.
The first day of discussions unfolded at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, with the University itself serving as one of the conference’s key partners alongside its Science and Technology Park, UPTEC. Pedro Rodrigues, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, and Oscar Afonso, Dean of the School of Economics and Management, welcomed participants and reinforced the importance of values such as cooperation, inclusion and imagination.
To compete is to collaborate
Across the two days, the conference featured over 30 speakers, workshops and artistic performances, moderated by Isolde Hallensleben.
The first session showcased a vibrant discussion on challenging value-creation models in the creative economy, with Christina Melander, Chief Design Officer at Danish Design Center; Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius, Professor, author, and entrepreneur; and Shain Shapiro, founder of Sound Diplomacy and Centre for Music Ecosystems, moderated by Nathalie Lethbridge from EIT Culture & Creativity.
Given the vast diversity across the CCSI – from music and architecture to digital and design – panellists highlighted the importance of recognising each field’s unique strengths. Understanding these differences is key to unlocking new opportunities for cross-sector innovation.
The second panel built on this discussion, exploring trans-sectoral, cross-regional alliances for systemic transformation, with Alessandra Gariboldi, President of Culture Action Europe; Jenny Kornmacher, Cross-Innovation Strategist of Region Scania; and Alessandro Manetti, Curator at Barcelona Design Week, moderated by John-Paul Zaccarini from Stockholm University of the Arts. Discussions focused on redefining indicators of success and prosperity: future-focused innovation must measure the ability to cooperate, co-create and deliver quality of life – not only economic output. Sustainable practices, fair value creation and responsible resource use must guide the ways forward.
Both discussions reinforced a shared point: for cross-sector innovation to thrive, the right structures and spaces for collaboration must exist to support courageous experimentation. With fragmentation and inconsistent regulations across sectors and countries posing a key challenge for the CCSI, shared legal structures are needed to allow experts from different fields to collaborate on equal footing.
Policymaking for transformation
Policymaking plays a crucial role in evolving the idea of competitiveness towards collective thriving. Normunds Popens, Deputy Director-General of DG EAC at the European Commission, joined Pier Luigi Sacco, Professor of Economics at the University of Chieti-Pescara, for policy reflections. They pointed to the EU’s new Culture Compass as an opportunity to show that culture is self-standing, deserving recognition and support rather than being seen as an ancillary element of other sectors.
Yet, it goes beyond putting policymaking at the service of culture and creativity. Applying the practices and skills of culture and creativity to innovation across all areas is essential for sustainable and regenerative thriving. The second part of the policy reflections featured Solène Gautron, Policy Officer for the New European Bauhaus at the Joint Research Centre, in conversation with Ambra Trotto, our Director for Transformation, looking at how different NEB demonstrator projects are manifesting the values of sustainability, beauty and inclusion in communities across Europe, enabling systemic societal transformation.
The reflections showed how culture and creativity can help build long-term imaginaries, allowing us to understand the path paved so far while opening opportunities to tackle future challenges.
Putting theory into practice
As panel discussions underscored the power of culture and creativity to drive innovation, development and systemic change, the conference then brought these ideas to life. Top innovative ventures supported by EIT Culture & Creativity programmes took the stage, showcasing solutions from AI-powered adaptive learning to bio-based materials in fashion and carbon-cutting approaches in architecture – demonstrating how culture and creativity are shaping the green, digital and social transitions.
We also demonstrated the power of culture and creativity with artistic performances. Dancer Rafael Ferreira and a compelling reading by John-Paul Zaccarini offered participants a different and embodied way to relate to the concepts and ideas explored throughout the conference. In doing so, the performances reflected how creativity drives innovation and transformation, as a medium through which we understand, communicate, and connect.
Participants had the chance to collaborate in-situ, engaging directly in two sets of six workshops, ranging topics from ethics in AI to the upcoming EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034.
At the intersection of creativity and technology
On the second day at the Casa da Música, discussions turned to how knowledge is generated, shared and retained in the digital age.
Speakers François Bou, Artistic and Education Director, Casa da Música; Veronika Liebl, Managing Director Festival, Prix and Exhibition, Ars Electronica; and Nuno Jardim Nunes, Professor at University of Lisbon, explored how technology and creativity intersect to shape society.
The panel examined authorship and ownership in an AI-driven world, highlighting how human and machine collaboration can generate knowledge and inspire new ways of imagining the future. A central idea emerged throughout the conversation: technology is not neutral, and cultural practices are essential to guide it toward meaningful, inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
Yet, how do we manage authorship in an increasingly AI-driven world? Ziga Drobnic, Copyright Specialist at the EUIPO Observatory, provided concrete steps for IP valorisation and copyright ownership at the EU level. Holistic IP strategies and shared infrastructures are needed to unlock value, bridge sectors and support fair, sustainable creative ecosystems.
To wrap up a day of reflection, vocal artist and AI innovator Harry Yeff, known as Reeps100, offered an inspiring glimpse into how technology can expand human creativity. Through voice and visual installations, one of his recent projects transforms environmental data into poetic stories told by nature, illustrating the drastic consequences of climate change. His work has also turned the human voice into stunning visual narratives, democratising participation and fostering social cohesion. Overall, it shows the immense transformative potential that emerges when art, technology and science intersect.
Building an ecosystem for collective action
Bridging disciplines – from culture to academia, business, and research – was the essence of the Beyond Competitiveness conference. It was about creating a common language and practices that allow participants to operate from their strengths while contributing to a shared mission. About designing shared rules of the game and choreographing togetherness. About tapping into our collective intelligence for the collective good.
“When we think about the future, there is a need for more collaboration and understanding. EIT Culture & Creativity can become the platform to facilitate these conversations and exchanges going forward,” stated Anette Schaefer.
Because, in the end, it’s not about doing better than others, but with others.
Eager to join our next annual Partner Meeting? Explore our membership and become part of this ever-growing community shaping Europe’s cultural and creative future.
