Press releases

Cultural and creative industries can be urban regeneration models for the town of Cahul. This was discussed in a Workshop held today, 18 March by Organisation for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in partnership with the Business Incubator of Cahul. The event was organised as part of the European cross-border project RESTART_4Danube “Regenerating urban areas to boost creative industries for a stronger Danube region” bringing together in virtual format around 50 participants: entrepreneurs, public authorities, NGOs, education and research institutions, but also representatives of project partner countries.

Opening the event, Orest Dabija, Head of the Directorate for Arts and Creative Industries at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research reiterated the importance of promoting and developing these industries.

“Cultural and creative industries are seen as the intellectual drivers of the economy. They cover everything that is produced by artistic and scientific creativity and has industrial potential, i.e. it enters the economic cycle, produces value, generates public revenue, creates jobs, profits and helps regional and national development”.

At the workshop, Andrei Chistol, National Expert on Cultural and Creative Industries it has come up with recommendations that can strengthen these industries in the region.

“The role of creative industries in the development of cities is to organise an appropriate framework for dialogue and cooperation between decision-makers, representatives of firms and organisations active in the creative industries sector and individual creators and entrepreneurs, so that they can get to know each other, self-promote themselves, carry out joint projects and act as a lobby group vis-à-vis local authorities”.

Raisa Tofan, ODIMM Project Manager RESTART4_Danube stressed that these industries represent the talent economy in which highly-skilled and potentially more creative people are trained. The results of a study carried out by project partners were also presented. RESTART_4Danubewhich will form the basis for the development of a Joint Strategies for Creative Urban Regeneration in the Danube Region. The project will set up a network of creative urban service hubs in the Danube Region, with a hub planned in the city of Cahul.

In the discussions, participants of the workshop came up with policy proposals and suggestions to improve the creative business environment in the city of Cahul, harnessing heritage, existing industrial spaces and implementing innovation, increasing opportunities for access to finance and training for the cultural and creative industries sector. In this context, the Romanian Partners suggested to initiate a collaboration between IPA Craiova and Bogdan Petriceicu Hașdeu State University of Cahul, other relevant local actors to facilitate technology transfer and innovation.

Studies show that in recent years in The European Union creative industries have had the greatest growth dynamics among the economic sectors of the bloc, resulting in more than one value added generated by companies active in the sector (11 % of all EU companies). EUR 600 billion and jobs for 12 million people. Cultural and creative industries are also a key sector for the competitiveness of the European Union, maintaining a share of 40 % of total global industry.

The RESTART_4Danube project is co-financed by 3 European Union funds, the European Regional Development Fund, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ERDF, IPA, ENI). The aim of the project is to improve framework conditions and policy instruments, building on regional and local smart specialisation strategies, for a new model of urban regeneration, with the contribution of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs). The project uses a quadruple helix approach through the collaboration of 11 public authorities, 7 business support companies and organisations, 4 higher education and research institutions and 3 civil society actors. The European project is managed by the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (Romania). The countries participating in the RESTART_4Danube project are: Romania, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, Serbia, Estonia and the Republic of Moldova. ODIMM, as a direct partner of the Project, has the role of contributing to the implementation of all objectives and facilitating the participation of the Business Incubator of Cahul, as an associated partner.

For more details about the project, you can go to the official page — https://odimm.md/ro/proiecte/programul-transnational-dunarea/restart-danube or http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/restart-4danube .