How creative industries are supported in Styria

Eberhard Schrempf

The public company Creative Industries Styria works in three main fields. The first is building an awareness about what creative industries are and what is their significance for Graz and Styria. This is very important because here, as elsewhere, the key thing about the industries is not the hype, not that it is modern and sexy but that it is a real and strong economic factor. The traditional economy and the wider public are not very aware of this. The second is the organisation of projects such as the Design Month in Graz. The aim of these projects is to highlight the work of creative people and designers in the city and the region. At the moment, we are organising the third Design Month. The idea behind it is to create a network that connects a variety of people and concentrates their public exposure. It has a small budget but is very effective and has a big impact. Another example of a project aimed at creating new contacts and connections is the “Designers in residence” programme. It helps to create new collaborations between designers and business partners. Both sides learn about how the other side thinks and communicates. The third area of CIS’s work is providing support services, e.g. help with fundraising, press and PR, etc. We also offer courses, for example a course in business English designed specifically for architects, people from the fashion industry or product designers. The Government of Styria invests into CIS’s network almost 1,5 million Euros a year. This is the budget we have for the networking work in the three mentioned above; there is another public company which provides financial support for the creative industries. We function as a kind of a platform – people in the creative industries speak a language different from the one used in rest of the economy and in politics. CIS functions as an interface – we translate the ideas of the people from our network to the language of classical economy and politics. We translate the ideas to show opportunities for the development of Styria.

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Eberhard Schrempf

Eberhard Schrempf

Managing Director of the Creative Industries Styria in Graz, Austria

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