Our CreatINNES Project consortium is happy to announce that our web-platform for blended learning called “CreatINNES Academy” is ready. It is created under Erasmus+ Program with the participation of six partner organizations from Germany, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary and France. The coordinator of the work on the development of the web-platform is the team of professionals of our Bulgarian partner Budakov Films EOOD.
What is “CreatINNES Academy”?
The web-platform “CreatINNES Academy” provides effective organization of the learning process and ensures secure access and registration of all users. It contains two training programs: “Entrepreneurship for CCI freelancers and startups” and “Creative Thinking for Innovation”. The training programs have been developed with the participation of all partners from the CreatINNES consortium. Each training program contains 8 modules with very well selected short-burst of information which is clear, concrete and easy to be memorized.
You can enter CreatINNES Academy by following the link: http://moodle.creatinnes.eu . Create your user profile and start your learning journey.
The Users of “CreatINNES Academy“
All interested students, organizations and people with activities or professions belonging to the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) ca be trained or can have self-training through the web-platform. Training Program 1 “Entrepreneurship for freelancers and startups” will fulfil their need for knowledge in business development, financing and IPR.
Also, non-CCI startups and small companies who need more creativity in their working process are welcome. Training program 2 “Creative Thinking for Innovation” is for them.
Navigation of “CreatINNES Academy”
“CreatINNES Academy” is aesthetically designed to provide easy, free and secure access for every user. The platform is based on the Moodle software package, designed to create web-based educational courses and websites. The “CreatINNES Academy” interface is designed to provide learners with easy-to-use learning materials in six different languages. For many potential users, may be, our training platform will be the first that they will use.
INI-Novation Bulgaria is proud to be partner of the so-called LEARN IP project consortium. The LEARN-IP project targets the development and exploitation of an online training programme to support cultural heritage managers and cultural tourism actors with the effective use of digital technologies to check for compliance with Intellectual Property Right (IPR) regulations. IPR generation has hardly been included in the curricula of formal cultural heritage and tourism education. This has to be changed, because IPR can not only protect rights, but can also be used to develop new business opportunities for those involved. European IPR owners need access to effective ways of protecting their values internationally for growth and competitiveness to avoid that the economic and social potential of IPRs gets lost. They need skills to identify, protect, apply and valorise it. When their ideas, brands and products are pirated and counterfeited, expertise and jobs are affected.
This is exactly where our LEARN-IP comes in: the training programme will act as an online “guided tour” through IPR regulations and will indicate what can be done to legally protect your property, expertise and knowledge. The training will also show when professional help is recommended.This is considered to be very important, because in the professional world very often there is also a financial issue, since legal advice for IPR can be expensive and can hardly be covered by smaller institutions.
In 2021, great support is opening up for financing initial steps towards IP protection: The “Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund” is a 20 million Euro grant scheme created to help European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access their intellectual property rights. Supported by the European Commission and the EUIPO, the “Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund” is aimed at businesses that wish to develop their IP strategies and protect their IP rights, at national, regional or EU level. The fund is covering IP pre-diagnostic services (IP scan) and/or trade mark and design applications. Each SME can be reimbursed up to a maximum of EUR 1 500. More information can be found on the Ideas Powered for business hub: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/online-services/sme-fund.
If you are interested in the LEARN-IP project and if you would need support in setting up your IP strategy, please contact us under info@ini-novation.com.
Great news are coming! Within the European project “CreatINNES – Strategic Partnership for Innovation and Business Skills Development in Cultural and Creative Industries Sector”, two training programs for blended learning are already developed targeting Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Europe.
We are six partner organizations INI-Novation GmbH (Germany), Budakov Films (Bulgaria), Business Information Center “INNOBRIDGE” (Bulgaria), Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation (North Macedonia), Teleberry Kft (Hungary) and Alanam (France), and fully dedicated to our mission – to provide support for CCI startups and freelancers via innovative training programs based on knowledge co-creation and cross-sector collaboration between creativity and business.
CCI face Challenges
The Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) are acknowledged as a source of copious innovation and a key driver for economic growth, increasing the competitiveness of the European economy, especially in specific sectors such as tourism, cultural heritage, and design. Despite its overall economic significance, the field of CCI has faced a lot of challenges, especially nowadays COVID-19 situation, when all industries slowed down their activities.
The training programs are based on large-scale survey conducted in Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, France and North Macedonia among CCI and business sectors there. Based on the received answers, skills gaps were identified and analysis of the training needs was prepared. By exploiting the mutually reinforcing impact of the two sectors, we developed CreatINNES Training Programs to support the innovation and growth of the economy in the European regions.
Two Multilingual Training Programs by CreatINNES
„Entrepreneurship for freelancers and startups“ and „Creative Thinking for Innovation“ are the two training programs developed by CreatINNES consortium. These programs will promote a range of skills needed by CCI entrepreneurs and start-up owners to be successful and thrive in today’s competitive world. Each training program contains 8 modules with very well selected short-burst of information which is clear, concrete and easy to be memorized. The training materials are short and clear enriched with good practices and current trends. Thanks to the practical tests for self-assessment after each module, the learners will be able to monitor their current progress. The training materials are organized in a way that allows learning at any time, in any place.
Easy Accesses for Learners
“CreatINNES Academy” is aesthetically designed web-platform to provide easy, free and secure access to the both Training Programs. The platform is based on the Moodle software package, designed to create web-based educational courses and websites. At the moment the platform is tested and analyses are prepared. The “CreatINNES Academy” web-platform will be available in the spring of 2021.
Dear Stakeholders, we developed CreatINNES Training Programs for blended learning with diligence and professionalism, because we believe that in this way we contribute to the development of the next generation of designers and creative entrepreneurs!
Soon, you will receive detailed information about both training programs.
Monasteries are sacred places for spiritual life. They preserve valuable knowledge and cultural heritage, therefore often become guardians of local traditions.
In the past, monasteries were strongly associated with the regional development also on an economic level by producing wine, beer, food and different items for religious practices. Nowadays, many of them continue their active role within the local communities.
SKIVRE Project, funded by Erasmus+ EU Program, is dedicated on collecting good practices from the European monasteries. The SKIVRE partners, under the guidance of INI-Novation Bulgaria OOD, assembled already 31 good practices showing variety of monastic economic activities which have financial benefits for the monasteries themselves and for the people in the region.
We realized that the monastic production does not obey the typical marketing laws that govern secular production. Monks and nuns use old traditional recipes that they have kept for centuries and strictly follow. The food and drinks produced in the monasteries are mostly ecological and completely natural. These qualities are attractive to local buyers, as well as to those who visit the monastery as tourists.
Our collected good practices will be soon available for free on a specially designed educational platform of SKIVRE.
Bellow, the first 10 good practices are shortly presented:
Good practice 1: Bildhausen Monastery in Germany
The monastery emerged from an endowment that enabled the foundation of a Cistercian monastery in 1158. The monastery is run by the Dominikus-Ringeisen-Werk, a church foundation under public law. Since 1983, a recognised workshop for disabled people has supplemented the existing housing offer with a multitude of job opportunities. Many of the handcrafted products manufactured in the workshops are offered and sold in the monastery shop as well as online.
Good practice 2: The Bronnbach Monastery Shop “Bronnbacher Klosterladen” in Germany
The monastery shop in Bronnbach is a multifaceted facility serving both the sale of monastery products and the purchase of entrance tickets for the listed monastery complex. From this good practice you will learn how to run the monastery shop successfully by applying strategic marketing.
Good Practice 3: The International Trappist Association – International Network to Protect Brand and Values
The International Trappist Association (ITA) unites twenty Trappist abbeys located all over the world. A variety of products for sale are produced by Trappist monks and nuns in these monasteries. It’s a non-profit association, dedicated to assist the members in the production of goods and in the pursuit of standards of excellence.
Good practice 4: MANIFACTUM – Good Things from Monasteries
The German company MANUFACTUM. has been providing the range ‘Good Things from Monasteries (“Gutes aus Klöstern”) for 18 years. It comprises over 300 monastic products from across Europe, including body care products, food, linen, clothes, crockery, sweets, wine, spirits, remedies, books and CDs. Its catalogue has products from 65 European monasteries.
Good practice 5: Authentic Monastic Products with a Strong Brand – Tsurnogorski Monastery “St. St. Kozma and Damian” in Bulgaria
Tsurnogorski monastery “St. St. Kozma and Damian” has an important place in the ecclesiastical, cultural and political history of the Bulgarians of the present-day Central West Bulgaria. In order for the monastery to perform its religious activities, it needs both – financing and generation of its own income from economic activities such as animal husbandry and agriculture. The monastery has started its own production of dairy products – buffalo yoghurt and cheese. Additionally, the monks produce dried sausages from high quality buffalo meat. The monastery maintains its own monastery shop.
Good practice 6: Digital Storytelling for Monastic Products linked to Mount Athos, Greece
“Mount Athos eShop – Product Exhibition of Mount Athos” is operated by a reseller dedicated to promoting the work of Mount Athos Monks. It is not owned by the monasteries of the Mount Athos, but dedicated to their monastic life. An eShop makes available to the public authentic handicrafts which are being produced with care by monks at the Holy Monasteries, Sketes and Cells of Mount Athos, highlighting an important aspect of monastic life.
Good practice 7: Digital Storytelling for Monastic Products: Saint Augustin and Serafeim of Sarov Monastery in Greece
Saint Augustin and Serafeim of Sarov monastery in Greece, founded in 1984 and located close to Nafpaktos and Patras cities, is one of the few monasteries which already offers directly an e-shop for selling their products without any reseller and operates social networking accounts about their products. The monks are producing a variety of monastic products such as food, drinks, artefacts e.t.c.
Good practice 8: EUCOSMIA e-shop, Greece
The monastery was built during the second half of the 10th century. About 50 monks live today in the monastery, where is applied an extensive construction project in order to restore the larger buildings. Apart from the frescoes and the masaics, the monastery has in its possession a large number of unique portable icons, manuscripts and religious objects. EUCOSMIA is producing and distributing two series of products: food, drincs and care products. EUCOSMIA has also presence in popular Social Media such as Facebook, Instagram as well as has a YouTube channel.
Good practice 9: Kloesterreich – Feel Free to Step Away from your Daily Routines, Austria
The association Kloesterreich was established in Austria and has members in five European countries. Currently it includes altogether 22 monasteries from Austria, one from Germany, one from Switzerland, one from Hungary and two from the Czech Republic. Convents and monasteries offer room for body, spirit and soul. They share their treasures of faith, prayer and their rich cultural heritage with the coming interested people and pilgrims.
Good practice 10: Authentic Monastic Products with a Strong Brand – Kremikovtsi Monastery “St. George the Victorious” in Bulgaria
Kremikovtsi Monastery “St. George the Victorious” is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery founded during the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th–14th century) and re-established in 1493 by a local Bulgarian noble, the monastery includes two churches. Of these, the older medieval church is notable for its highly regarded 15th-century frescoes. Nowadays, Kremikovski Monastery is a functional one. Under а clever guidance, the monastery develops in many directions: production, managing a monastery shop, online sales and distribution, social activities and active investments for reconstruction.
Soon, we will publish the next 10 good practices collected in SKIVRE project.
In September 2018, six European organizations from Germany, Bulgaria, France, Macedonia and Hungary got together in Darmstadt and kicked-off a three year (2018-2021) project named Strategic Partnership for Innovation and Business Skills Development in Cultural and Creative Industries Sector –CreatINNES. It is a European project funded by ERASMUS+ funding scheme 2018 – 2021. INI-Novation GmbH is the project coordinator.
Our Goal
We are dedicated to the project collaborating in a strategic partnership to respond to the education and support needs of Creative and Cultural Industries. Our mission is to bring creativity and business together with the goal to boost innovation and growth of the economy in our regions. We believe in creativity as a shield against ordinariness feeding innovation. Therefore, CreatINNES provides support for CCI start-ups and freelancers via innovative training programmes based on knowledge co-creation and cross-sectoral collaboration.
The start
At the end of September 2018, the German coordinator INI-Novation GmbH invited all CreatINNES partner to kick-off the project in the Technology Innovation Center in Darmstadt. In every project this is a crucial moment for the future teaming. Long working sessions, jointly discussed and decided activities, and inspired smiles at the end of the meeting – first nice results are already achieved.
INI-Novation Bulgaria committed to training in cultural tourism in Bulgaria:
In cooperation between INI-Novation and 15 European experts, nine training units for providers of cultural tourism products and services in rural areas were created. Herewith, the European initiative EUROPETOUR supports the economic development of rural cultural tourism.
Over the past three years, the EUROPETOUR initiative has developed a modular training programme for cultural and touristic actors and institutions in rural areas in order to meet the needs and wishes of guests interested in culture even better and to make better use of the opportunities offered by social media. It is about destination characterization, development and positioning of touristic products and services, marketing strategy and planning, distribution and sales channels, communication strategy and planning, networking and cooperation, financial planning, development of a business plan.
The training modules are available free of charge in German, English, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Italian and Polish at www.europetour.tips and are already being successfully used for training in eight European regions.
Social media as a focal point of training in cultural tourism
Separate “Guidelines for Social Media in Rural Cultural Tourism” provide practical tips for the successful use of social media in rural cultural tourism and evaluate success factors of already existing good examples from all over Europe. For INI-Novation, this guide is particularly important: “The social media in particular can be of great help in attracting and satisfying guests, but we need in-depth knowledge for professional use, which EUROPETOUR now provides us with”.
Training modules for the European tourism market
In addition to INI-Novation Bulgaria, the European regions and countries Bukovina (Romania), Heilbronner Land (Germany), Cantabria (Spain), the Marche (Italy) and the Europe-wide network “Future for Religious Heritage”, the German cultural tourism network KIRA for Heilbronn-Franken, the German-Polish network “Klosterland” and the Austrian network “Kreativ Reisen Österreich” contributed to the development.
INI-Novation Bulgaria is proud to have participated in the development of the training units, “because we were able to bring in experience from our background as business developers and marketing expetrs and thus ensure that the training units start exactly where is need further training and can immediately apply it in practice,” says Angela Ivanova, project manager for Bulgaria.
The EUROPETOUR initiative has now been awarded the European Heritage Year Label by the European Commission – an award for projects promoting the preservation of cultural heritage. “We are of course particularly proud of this sign of European appreciation for our region”, says Angela Ivanova.
For further information:
Angela Ivanova, EUROPETOUR project manager for Bulgaria
Email: angela.ivanova@ini-novation.com
EUROPETOUR team with Angela Ivanova INI-Novation Bulgaria OOD
The city of Veliko Tarnovo, a hotbed for cultural traditions & crafts production in north central Bulgaria, hosted the training session, organized by INI-Novation Bulgaria, as part of the International Tourism Fair “Cultural Tourism”.
This event proved to be a great success: representatives from municipalities, art organisations, tourism agencies and single start-ups showed a lot of interest in the presentations of EUROPETOUR partners Karin Drda-Kühn (Kultur und Arbeit e.V., Germany), Angela Ivanova (INI-Novation), Wolfgang Kniejski (INI-Novation), Lacramioara Beilic (Bucovina Tourism, Romania) and Antonio Kuzmanovski (Macedonian start-up “WheninX“).
THE MULTIPLIER EVENT
After an introduction about the vision of EUROPETOUR by Karin Drda-Kühn (Kultur und Arbeit e.V., Germany), Angela Ivanova (INI-Novation Bulgaria) presented the EUROPETOUR training modules and one of the main topics of interest for the Bulgarian tourism stakeholders and mainly startups in tourism: Positioning, branding, marketing of cultural tourism in rural areas and the importance of networking. Her presentation was built on so called case-based learning: By providing a best practice example surrounded by theoretical knowledge and practical exercises, a better understanding about the specifics of the topic was achieved.
After that, Lacramioara Beilic (Bucovina Tourism, Romania) presented the region of Bucovina as a best practice example and opportunity for collaboration between Bulgarian and Romanian stakeholders. She highlight her “vision for networking”, sharing what the Bucovina region did for addressing the specific needs of cultural travellers in a successful way.
Wolfgang Kniejski (INI-Novation Bulgaria) gave a deep overview of financing instruments with special emphasis on topics such as value generation chains in cultural tourism, business planning, sales and distribution, as well as market-oriented financing. Best practise examples were provided and many insides about how to build a successful project idea were discussed.
At the end, a best practice presentation about distribution policies from Macedonia complemented the event. Antonio Kuzmanovski, CEO of the Macedonian start-up “WheninX“, presented a service-driven technological solution for fostering cultural programmes for locals and visitors.
You’re a start-up, and you’re looking for investors to support your business. This seminar is for you!
INI-Novationorganises on 2 December 2014 in Darmstadt (Germany) a seminar targeted at young entrepreneurs and start-ups who are looking for financing sources in the pre-Seed, the seed, the start-up and the expansion phases.
Besides providing theoretical knowledge regarding financing models, concrete real-life scenario examples will also be used to illustrate strategic financing and the different alternative action steps. Current challenges faced by the participants will also be taken into consideration for the analysis of different financing possibilities. Practitioners will give insides to support entrepreneurs accessing proper financing models. At the end of the seminar 5 start-up concepts will be pitched, reviewed, commented by experts and presented in front of users on a LILA Lab on 3.12.2014 .
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