EUROPE.RUHR

As an institute active at the European level, ecce not only promotes structure formation and information exchange between the Ruhr region and European partners, but also cultivates and strengthens international networks and promotes the visibility of the Ruhr as a creative location in Europe.

ecce represents the regional interests of the cultural and creative industries in Brussels, advises regional organisations on how to obtain support from Europe, promotes dialogue between regional creative companies and European markets and, by means of a variety of exchange projects and collaborations, supports international co-operation and the exchange of experiences between creative actors.

International exchange and cooperation

In order to strengthen the Ruhr area as a location for international collaboration and to promote artistic exchange in practice,
ecce supports various exchange projects and collaborations.

Know-How Transfer

In order to strengthen the Ruhr region as a creative hot spot by means of international and European collaboration projects,
ecce advises and supports cities, institutions and applicants from the cultural and creative industries
in applying for European funding programmes. 

In regular workshops, ecce informs and advises actors in the creative industries on EU funding programmes and opportunities with the aim of making European funding programmes for artists and creatives more accessible and initiating new European partnerships. In addition to formal information on the application process and the overview of existing European funding formats, these workshops usually also present best practices which have already been funded and that provide practical tips on how to apply.

 

The following EU funding workshops recently took place:

 

 

ecce supported the following cities applying in EU programmes:

Strengthen Networks and Drive Discussion

ecce is an active member in European networks, some of which have been initiated and established by ecce itself.  
These include the Network for Innovation in Culture and Creativity in Europe (NICE), founded in 2013 by ecce, which annually awards the NICE Award to innovative projects from the cultural and creative industries. Moreover, ecce has been organising conferences and debates in Brussels, as part of the European Creative Business Network, since 2010 – initially the European Cultural Creative Industries Summit, and the ECBN Policy Forum which has been operating under the name of the European Creative Industries Summit since 2015 and takes place annually in different European cities. The ECIS 2019 is taking place on 10. & 11. September in Helsinki. Since 2015, ecce has also been a member of the European Network on Cultural Management and Policy (ENCATC).