Building Sustainable Urban Cultural-Creative Ecosystems

We strengthened the capacity of the partner organisations to design and implement participatory governance models within creative hubs. A core objective was to enhance competences related to share...

We strengthened the capacity of the partner organisations to design and implement participatory governance models within creative hubs. A core objective was to enhance competences related to shared governance, financial sustainability, and urban regeneration, while ensuring that the knowledge generated could be transferred to public stakeholders and policymakers. The project sought to address the lack of accessible, practice-based knowledge and tested models in the field of adaptive reuse and co-governance by fostering structured knowledge exchange between partners, hub coordinators, cultural operators, and public authorities. Another key objective was to nurture a transnational Community of Practice. By embedding an international dimension and cross-pollination of ideas between Bucharest and Marseille, the project aimed to improve the quality of organisational practices and build the capacity of stakeholders to work across borders and sectors. Ultimately, the project contributes to more inclusive and resilient models of urban revitalisation, positioning cultural hubs as drivers of community development, skills building, and civic participation, while supporting long-term institutional learning and policy-relevant innovation

Project management and implementation was an ongoing endeavour throughout the project, with tasks such as planning, executing, and evaluating project objectives. The Design & Testing of Trainings activity was structured around key-components, to co-create, test, and consolidate training formats addressing the key challenges faced by creative hubs. Capitalisation focused on creating durable and transferable resources that support knowledge dissemination and the replication of tested workshops at local, national, and international levels. These tools strengthen the capacity of cultural actors, public authorities, and community stakeholders to design, manage, and sustain cultural hubs based on co- governance principles. Dissemination strategy was conceived as a continuous process throughout the entire project lifecycle, starting with the announcement of the project launch and intensifying onwards. It combined digital, institutional, and community-based channels. Capitalisation outputs were disseminated through a final international event, website presentation, blog, articles in magazines, publication of the video on youtube channel, integrating the narratives into the corporate communication, on site and internally with the team.

The project generated a set of complementary outputs supporting knowledge transfer, capacity building, and sustainable co-governance models for cultural hubs. Key outputs included the co-design and delivery of four on-site workshops in Bucharest and Marseille, a group mobility at La Friche la Belle de Mai. As capitalisation outputs, the project produced the Best Practices Guide: Shared Governance of Cultural Hubs, available in Romanian, English, and French, in both digital and printed formats, accompanied by an illustrated video – “Recommendations for New Cultural Hubs” and a glossary of key terms. These resources translate tested methodologies, case studies, and lessons learned into accessible, transferable tools for cultural operators and public authorities. Additional results include the creation of a shared Padlet-based resource hub, a roadmap for stakeholders to support participatory urban development, and strengthened institutional cooperation, through a partnership with Bucharest City Hall focused on promoting co-governance models. Through the dissemination actions, these outputs reached local, national, and European audiences via public events, media coverage, partner platforms, ensuring visibility of the project results.