On 5 April, 29 European organisations met in Cologne, Germany, to legally establish the EIT Culture & Creativity Association. The Association will serve as a legal platform for the core partners to connect and organise themselves as a community in the General Assembly. EIT Culture & Creativity, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a European Union body, will consist of a group of legal entities that will be incorporated during 2023, including a non-profit association and a limited liability company (GmbH) under German law, as well as the Co-location Centres, which will be subsidiaries of the GmbH established according to their respective national laws. “This is a milestone for us. So far, we have come into being thanks to the unremitting commitment and support of all the organisations that have accompanied us on this journey. With the creation of the Association, we now get an institutional agency to create a better future for Europe driven by culture and creativity,” says Bernd Fesel, acting as CEO. EIT Culture & Creativity is designed to honour the EIT’s principles of openness, accessibility and good governance. Furthermore, its non-profit status facilitates access for other non-profit or publicly funded organisations in research, art, culture or education.
All 29 organisations, including ETT, have joined EIT Culture & Creativity as primary partners in this initial act. New memberships will follow to reach at least 50 core partners by the end of 2023. Moreover, there will be additional opportunities for involvement from 2024 onwards for a wide range of stakeholders acting as individuals or entrepreneurs to become members of the CCI to benefit from its services, contribute to its achievement, and establish strategic goals.