The Western coastal periphery of Ireland is a region that includes Galway County and City, Roscommon County and Mayo County and has a vibrant cultural and creative industries sector, particularly around traditional and contemporary music, theatre and performance as well as a significant cluster of film and television production companies.

With the report "Gender dimension of CCIs in non-urban areas“, IN SITU publishes an important view on inequalities and discrimination based on gender in the cultural and creative sector that attempts to move away from a urban-centric perspective in order to focus on rural areas. The report was developed by the IN SITU research team of the University of Hildesheim with the support of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and of the IN SITU Lab partners, whose networks made it possible to conduct qualitative interviews.

How does cultural and creative work contribute to place-based sustainability and resiliency? — This is the topic of IN SITU Webinar #3, the last (but not least!) event of the IN SITU webinar series "Creative vitality in non-urban areas?". On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 14h30-16h30 CET, our hosts and IN SITU partners Mark Justin Rainey (University of Galway) and Ieva Zemite (Latvian Academy of Culture) will guide us through a panel discussion with our speakers Patrick Collins (University of Galway - IN SITU Partner), Jude Ortiz (NORDIK Institue, Algoma University - IN SITU International Advisory Board Member), Leandro Pisano (Interzona Cultural Association), Markéta Dolejšová (Aalto University - CreaTures: Creative Practices for Transformational Futures) and Arja Lemmetyinen (University of Turku - DISCE: Developing Inclusive and Sustainable Creative Economies).

How can CCI innovation ecosystems be fostered in non-urban areas? — This is the focus of IN SITU Webinar #2 on Monday, October 30, 2023, 14h30-16h30 CET. Hosted by Carolina Castaldi (Utrecht University — IN SITU Consortium partner), the webinar will include presentations and discussions of insights arising from the projects RURITAGE: Heritage for Rural Regeneration; FLIARA: Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas; IN SITU: Place-based Innovation of Cultural and Creative Industries in Non-urban Areas; research conducted in the United States by Tim Wojan (National Science Foundation); and lessons from the EMES Network on fostering social innovation and social enterprise.

Over the next four months, the IN SITU project will present three webinars to address key themes that support the work of cultural and creative ecosystems in European non-urban areas. Together with cultural and creative organisations and initiatives, EU research projects, as well as IN SITU partners and advisors to learn from their insight and experiences, to discuss common challenges.