SPECTRA Study Visit to Copenhagen

The Study visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted by the Creative Business Network, was composed of several elements and took place over several days from 2-6 June 2023, including:

• 3 June ekip project Demo-Policy-Lab Meeting including SPECTRA partners.
• 4 June SPECTRA Partners visit Copenhill and Networking dinner at the Reffen Street Food Market.
• 5 June SPECTRA partners attendance of the Creative Business Cup Global Finals.
• 6 June SPECTRA Study visit with stakeholder initiatives.

As a part of the SPECTRA study visit, the partners had the opportunity to collaborate and network with another Horizon Europe project relevant to the strengthening of ecosystems – ekip -European Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries Policy Platform. The ekip project held a session on the methodology for the policy lab, hosted by the SPECTRA partner Creative Business Network, which was highly relevant to SPECTRA activities and targeted outcomes.

ekip brings together highly networked and diverse organisations with strong track-record in research, innovation, and policymaking for and with the CCIs. Beneficiaries from 12 countries with different social, cultural, and economic contexts. Leading universities with expertise on research and innovation in culture and creativity. Organisations with online data collection and analysis competences and visualisation skills. Specialised policy consulting companies and advisories will be linking practice, research, and innovation with policy development for the CCSI. Operating with open innovation principles, ekip will establish a partner and network-driven policy recommendation engine to continuously drive the formulation and adoption of policy development recommendations for Europe’s Cultural and Creative Industries. This will result in support and guidance that strengthens the capacity for CCI-actors to engage in and contribute to complex innovation processes.

The interplay between the project’s activities will allow the consortium to deliver two objectives: building the meta-network amongst ecosystems and developing the knowledge-based and participatory policy engine which will come together in making the third objective – supporting the development for CCI-centered ecosystems – possible.

On the second day, SPECTRA partners were invited to visit the Copenhill facility. Amager Bakke or Copenhill, is a combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant (new resource handling centre) and recreational facility in Copenhagen Denmark, located prominently within view of the city’s downtown.
The facility opened in 2017, and partially replaced the nearby old incineration plant in Amager, which is in the process of being converted from coal to biomass. The two plants play a major role in Copenhagen’s ambitions of meeting zero carbon requirements by 2025. The recreational components of the facility (the dry ski run, hiking trail and climbing wall) opened in December 2018, with an attendance estimated at 42-57 thousand visitors annually.

Copenhill was named the World Building of the Year 2021 at the fourteenth annual World Architecture Festival. It is estimated to cost $670 million and is expected to burn 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste annually. It also houses a sports facility designed by Bjarke Ingels Group with an 85 m (279 ft) tall, sloped roof that doubles as year-round artificial ski slope, hiking slope and climbing wall, manufactured by Walltopia (a Bulgarian company), is the world’s tallest climbing wall at 80 meters. The facility is a great example of creativity enabling cross-sectoral innovation. The partners met up with other stakeholders at the facility, to network and discuss topics of common interest.

On the 5th June, SPECTRA partners engaged with the Creative Business Cup. The Creative Business Cup (CBC) 2023 Global Finals was a celebration of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship from around the globe. This annual event brings together the most exceptional startups, industry experts, investors, and creative minds to showcase their groundbreaking ideas, products, and services. Taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, the CBC Global Finals is the ultimate platform for creative entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, and be inspired with many high-profile speakers and exciting pitches. The Creative Business Cup 2023 took place in Volume building, a revitalised regenerated industrial space that provided a creative environment for the event and for the SPECTRA partners to connect with attendees, presenters and stakeholders.

The last day of the study visit kicked-off with the visit to Confederation of Danish Industry – Host: Lise Thomsen, Head of DI Creative Industries at the Industriens Hus. DI is a private business and employers’ organisation representing approximately 20,000 companies in Denmark. They aim to provide the best possible corporate conditions for their member companies. They provide a range of supports including Advisory – legal advice, business services, global trading and more, as well as Events, courses and networks, business delegations, and assist with gaining of new knowledge.

This was followed by the SPECTRA partners project meeting, to discuss project progress and planning of next steps. Following a networking lunch, the SPECTRA partners visited Copenhagen Capacity – Host: Nikolaj Lubanski, COO. Copenhagen Capacity are the official organisation for attracting international companies, investors and professional talent to Denmark and the Greater Copenhagen Region. By facilitating close partnerships across industries, academia, and the public sector for more than 20 years, they are the go-to experts in promoting our region globally, making it an attractive destination for international talents and businesses. Their passion is helping international companies realise their business opportunities and local companies prosper with the world’s talented professionals.

Finally, the study visit was rounded up with a visit to Creative Denmark – Host: Christian Kierkegaard Michelsen, Project Manager, at the BloxHub and the tour of this innovative and creative facility.

Creative Denmark is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership that creates awareness about Danish creative strongholds internationally and the potential of Danish creativity in solving global challenges. They work to match international demand for creative innovation and human-centred solutions with the vast competencies in the Danish creative industries. Creative Denmark is funded by a strong group of public and private partners that count the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Ministry of Culture, the Confederation of Danish Industry, the Danish Chamber of Commerce, and the philanthropic association Realdania.

They are based in the BLOX building located in the heart of Copenhagen. BLOX is a national and international epicenter that engages people in sustainable design, architecture, and urban planning through collaborations, cross-sector learning, partnerships, events, and business development.

More details and more about lessons learned, can be viewed under the resource page on this website, in the published deliverable.