IN SITU, the Horizon Europe-funded initiative working with cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Europe’s non-urban regions, has published three major new reports that together offer fresh evidence, practical tools and a new way of seeing cultural change beyond metropolitan centres.
The three reports are:
- Cultural Policy Proposals for CCIs in IN SITU Lab Areas
- Innovation Policy Proposals for CCIs in Non-Urban Areas
- IN SITU CCI Index Development
Co-creating Cultural Policy Where It Is Lived
Cultural Policy Proposals for CCIs in IN SITU Lab Areas sets out a practical, tested and evidence-based method for co-creating cultural policy with CCIs in non-urban contexts. Developed and applied across the six IN SITU Labs in Ireland, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Portugal (Azores) and Croatia, the report bridges the gap between everyday cultural practice and policy design.
- Part 1 introduces a fully replicable method, including plain-language definitions, a toolbox of participatory instruments, and a ten-step roadmap that guides the process from initial community connection through to strategic advocacy.
- Part 2 shows the method in action through a cross-analysis of six diverse territories, followed by concrete policy proposals for national and regional authorities, recommendations for the European Union, and tailored next steps for each IN SITU Lab.
The report is designed to be read flexibly, according to professional role and time available. At the same time, it actively encourages cross-reading: policymakers gain insight from practitioner tools; practitioners see how their work connects to policy frameworks; and researchers can link conceptual debates with lived practice.
Across the Labs, a consistent message emerges: non-urban CCIs are central to cohesion, identity, learning and well-being, yet current policy frameworks often over-privilege metropolitan models, short-term visibility and tourism-led metrics. The IN SITU Labs show that non-urban cultural ecosystems thrive when policy:
- Recognises social and cultural value alongside economic outcomes
- Lowers administrative thresholds,
- Brings decision-making closer to everyday practice.
Continuity, inclusion and local agency (not scale alone) prove to be the decisive variables.
Aligning Innovation and Territorial Policy for Non-Urban CCIs
Innovation Policy Proposals for CCIs in Non-Urban Areas complements this work by focusing on how innovation and territorial policies can better support the maintenance and development of CCIs outside urban centres. Drawing on IN SITU’s expertise in Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), extensive field experience, and analysis of European territorialised innovation projects, the report translates practitioner insights into actionable policy recommendations.
- Part 1 examines two key EU funding channels shaping innovation in non-urban areas: Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) under Cohesion Policy, and LEADER under the Common Agricultural Policy. The report shows how stronger coordination between the two can allow locally tested LEADER approaches to inform S3 priorities, while S3 investments help sustain and extend successful local practices.
- Part 2 analyses research findings from direct interactions with policymakers and local practitioners, grounded in a structured, multi-layered engagement process carried out within IN SITU in 2025. This included semi-structured interviews with local, regional and national institutional actors, alongside two Europe-wide policy workshops.
- Part 3 situates these findings within a broader research landscape, synthesising insights through a triangulation process that combines IN SITU research, earlier project reports, and external European research and policy frameworks.
- Part 4 presents a set of empirically validated, context-sensitive recommendations, organised by audience: general recommendations for policymakers and local stakeholders, additional guidance for EU-level policymakers, and targeted advice for local actors.
Together, these proposals highlight how innovation policy can move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and support non-urban CCIs through better coordination, institutional learning and place-based governance.
Making Cultural Change Visible Without Flattening Place
Complementing this policy-focused work, IN SITU CCI Index Development introduces the IN SITU Creative Ecosystem Change Index: a deliberately pragmatic approach to making cultural change visible across six peripheral European regions.
Covering the IN SITU Labs, the Index does not attempt to rank places or declare cultural “winners.” Instead, it focuses on direction and momentum: how ecosystems are adapting, consolidating, reorienting or thinning from where they already are.
Methodologically, the Index combines three complementary registers of change:
- CCI Change Index: Capturing structural and economic change through a harmonised inventory of creative, cultural and craft enterprises and employment.
- Cultural Celebration Change Index: Tracking public-facing cultural activity and enabling infrastructure, standardised so baseline size does not overshadow momentum.
- Cultural Vibe Change Index: Measuring change in mediated visibility across global digital platforms and media systems, explicitly treated as change over time.
Each pillar is expressed on a 0–100 cohort-relative scale, with the Top Line Index of Change calculated as an equal-weight average. Crucially, the Index is designed to be read alongside Lab narratives and local context, not as a standalone verdict.
A Shared Contribution to Future Cultural Policy
Together, the three reports offer an integrated contribution to European cultural and innovation policy. They combine participatory methods, grounded policy analysis and contextualised measurement to show how non-urban cultural ecosystems evolve and create value in ways that standard models often fail to capture.
At a time when cohesion, resilience and democratic participation are central to the European agenda, IN SITU demonstrates that culture beyond big cities is not peripheral—but fundamental to Europe’s cultural future.
DOWNLOAD REPORTS
- Cultural Policy Proposals for CCIs in IN SITU Lab Areas
- Innovation Policy Proposals for CCIs in Non-Urban Areas
- IN SITU CCI Index Development
For further information:
Prof. Dr. Julius Heinicke and Helena Walther – University of Hildesheim (SUH)
heinicke@uni-hildesheim.de
walther@uni-hildesheim.de
André Torre (INRAE)
andre.torre.2@inrae.fr
Patrick Collins – University of Galway (UG)
p.collins@universityofgalway.ie
Nancy Duxbury – IN SITU Project Coordinator
Centre for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra, Portugal
Email: in-situ@ces.uc.pt
Tel: +351 239 855 570
Web: https://insituculture.eu
The “IN SITU: Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas” project combines research and experimental actions to advance the innovation-related practices, capacities, and potential of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) based in non-urban areas of the EU. The project is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe Program (project no.101061747). It began on July 1, 2022, and will run for four years. The IN SITU project consortium comprises 13 Full Partners from 12 countries, consisting of 11 research institutions, a European-wide cultural network, and a national cultural foundation.
