Horizon 2020 on Tour

Blog post by Callum Lee

Finding Value in European Project Funding

At European Creative Business Network (ECBN), we think that there are big opportunities for the creative industries in the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. Inspired by Geeks on a Plane, we put creative agencies on a train to find out more.

With our colleagues at the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN UK), we ran an intensive three-country tour of the great programmes and partners that could form the core of a successful bid for Horizon 2020 funds. When we weren’t visiting projects, we got participants working by asking them to design off-the-wall projects that might win Horizon 2020 funding. And we used Europeana Creative as a demonstrator project to show what could be achieved.

The Tour Aimed to Inspire, Engage and Find New Partners

Twenty creative agencies came along, either KTN’s UK partners or ECBN members. They included Creative England, ecce, Košice 2013, Nesta, MEDEA, Arts & Humanities Research Council, Creative Scotland, University of the Arts London and Brighton Fuse.

The tour aimed to study inspiring projects that show how European funding can bring real value to organisations and businesses, and to help them meet, talk to and collaborate with new partners for future projects.

The Waag Society’s FabLab in Amsterdam (image: Callum Lee CC BY 2.0)

Europeana Creative Project Partners Were Found at Every Step of the Tour

As we are proud of the Europeana Creative project, we made sure that some of the project partners on it were represented at every stage, including MFG, Europeana Foundation, Kennisland, EBN and also DG Connect. (We would love to have been able to include all 26 project partners.)

And we used Europeana Creative as an example of a great project that brings together partners from across Europe to do something inspiring. Although it isn’t a Horizon 2020 project (in that it’s not funded by the H2020 precursor, FP7), it’s still an innovative example of how digital technologies can be used to create real value from Europe’s cultural resources.

The tour outside A-Lab, a start-up incubator (image: Callum Lee CC BY 2.0)

Making Sure Projects Provide Value

If we learnt one thing from the tour, it’s making sure that you don’t win funding for the sake of it – but ensuring the projects you deliver bring your organisation real value. Again, Europeana Creative provides lessons. First, the project will have a legacy in the business models that are developed and in the Europeana Labs that are built. Second, it fits the bigger picture, as there is increasing recognition of the value of the cultural and creative industries in Europe, and re-use of digital content is an important strand in the Digital Agenda for Europe. And third, it provides us with a real example of how European funding can develop something innovative.

Harry Verwayen at Europeana (image: Callum Lee CC BY 2.0)