Circular Creatives is based on the reality that the creative industry will not return to its pre-pandemic peak unless a new way of supporting and upskilling creatives for modern business and future employment needs are introduced. The first Croatian partner of this project, Centar za kulturu Trešnjevka (CeKaTe), did the mapping of initiatives, past and presented which provided a very clear overview of the key stakeholders that needed to be involved to ensure a successful outcome for the Creative and Job Opportunities Exploratory Panel in Croatia.
In convening the Panel meetings, CeKaTe prepared a comprehensive listing of creative entrepreneurs, VET educators, those working with the unemployed, creative sector networks and development agencies, who were invited to join the project to share best practice approaches and solutions that are responsive to real need in the Zagreb region.
In the course of the project, CeKaTe decided to leave the partnership which introduced a new partner from Croatia, Polytechnic of Šibenik which is a higher education institution.
This change led to the shift in local perspective since the Polytechnic is situated in the coastal and heavily tourist region of Croatia with special emphasis on possibilities in upskilling the VET community to train creative entrepreneurs how to explicitly implement circular practices into their own business, while providing the knowledge and skills to people to learn how to start-up their own circular enterprise.
These are the meetings and workshops that provided the impetus behind the development of our Action Plan.
This online meeting was held on 5 May 2022 with 20 people in attendance representing
During Panel meeting 1, the background, overall project objectives, the vision of the Circular Creatives project and bigger picture were presented. The keynote moderators from CeKaTe introduced the context of the project while the others shared their personal experience on what circular creatives is all about.
A survey was circulated to the attendees to establish a baseline of knowledge. The results showed how some of the individuals attending were unsure about what circular economy was, while some individuals were carrying out best practices within their business/home life. The questions also included their view if their businesses were prepared/affected for the pandemic situation and if they were given the necessary help from the government or other bodies to switch to online business.
This in-person meeting was held on 13th April 2023 at the premises of the Polytechnic of Šibenik with 54 people in attendance representing
The focus of Panel meeting 2, was to delve deeper into the collective panel understanding of circular creatives. The meeting included a presentation by professor Jelena Šišara on circular economy models. She connected innovativeness and entrepreneurship which is characteristic of circular economy. She gave practical examples on how the circular economy works inside businesses and how to think about it and implement it in your own.
The panel was followed by the discussion on different aspects of circular creatives in different countries including questions:
It was concluded that a greater understanding of the needs and opportunities for circular creatives in general was welcome. The tool to achieve this was to organize trainings to encourage individuals into carrying out circular economy practices.
The third panel was organized in the protected area of the National park Krka. To be more precise, the panel took place at the eco campus Krka in Puljani on 18 May 2023 with 19 attendees.
Our team was accompanied by the representatives of the Park, the Tourist board of the Šibenik-Knin county, two local action groups and the center for new technologies and entreprenurship.
The Polytechnic of Šibenik works intensively on the project "Empowering creative circular entrepreneurs", whose goal is to improve the skills of creatives and those who train them in order to accept the principles of the circular economy as a key tool for adapting their business to a more sustainable model, which reduces costs, but also waste. with protection and creation of jobs. The discussion that followed was with the aim of improving the knowledge of our creative entrepreneurs who work mostly in culture, art and tourism and it was hosted by PhD Dijana Mečev, lecturer at the Polytechnic.
It was emphasized that circular economy is a process that will characterize society along with digital transformation, and sustainable development of tourism is not possible without circular economy.
These are some of the remarks that resulted from this panel: "The needs of society have changed, the opportunities have improved. Community and cooperation are the key words that connect young people like digital nomads...., the urban environment, protected nature, and circular economy. "(Diana Mudrinić, director of the Center for New Technologies and Entrepreneurship Trokut Šibenik)
It was emphasized that circular economy is a process that will characterize society along with digital transformation, and sustainable development of tourism is not possible without circular economy.
These are some of the remarks that resulted from this panel: "The needs of society have changed, the opportunities have improved. Community and cooperation are the key words that connect young people like digital nomads...., the urban environment, protected nature, and circular economy. "(Diana Mudrinić, director of the Center for New Technologies and Entrepreneurship Trokut Šibenik)
The Polytechnic of Šibenik introduced the possibility of a Circular Creatives training program, and the opportunity to pilot test the same. It was particularly important to identify the challenges and opportunities for circular approaches for creatives in the digital sector. In this regard, we are thinking in particular of creating a curriculum for sets of learning outcomes (micro-qualifications) at level 5 of the HKO in the part related to professional specialist training, and it is possible to access them at least from level 4 of the HKO. It is planned to create a minimum of four (4) such programs that would be accredited in accordance with the methodology of the Agency for Vocational Education and Adult Education (ASOO) for the development of adult education programs for the acquisition of micro-qualifications, partial qualifications and complete qualifications.
The National Park Krka - The aforementioned park has a scientific, as well as a cultural, recreational and educational role, and is therefore a great attraction for visitors. Their mission is to promote circular principles and most importantly, educate young generations through their constant organization of workshops with all levels of educational institutions (https://www.npkrka.hr/hr/posjeti/edukativne-radionice/).
The Tourist Board of the Šibenik-Knin County – The Šibenik-Knin County is oriented towards tourism. According to information from various publications and media, we can conclude how the tourism sector is doing one of the biggest drivers of employment and income, but at the same time one of the most intensive sector in terms of environmental impact. SMEs tend to be less proactive towards environment compared to larger companies which would mean that larger companies have less difficulties or greater financial opportunities for investing in the application of the circular economy in business. Some authors claim that SMEs with fewer than 250 employees are likely to profit from green innovations of products and services.
Considering the growth in the number of trips and the popularity of tourism, the previous linear business model, which is based on the "take-use-throw" strategy, does not provide adequate way of doing business. Striving to achieve the new principle of circular economy which is based on the "take-use-reuse" strategy is important. Travel and tourism participants can act as powerful drivers of circularity and benefit from the co-creation of circular principles and value capture within relevant value chains (UNWTO, 2020). With all this said, the Board is striving to work on raising awareness of the circular economy principles by organizing different events and manifestations in the region (https://www.adventurasibenik.hr/zero-waste/; https://web.facebook.com/cchangesibenik/?locale=hi_IN&_rdc=1&_rdr;
Trokut - Trokut Šibenik is a place for coworking and office space, for education and retraining, a place for entrepreneurship and strengthening the entrepreneurial and IT community. Their tenants are freelancers, digital nomads, developers, startups and other entrepreneurs in all stages of development. Together they form a community of entrepreneurship in Šibenik.
