Embracing Digital Trends & Participatory Culture

The social impacts of cultural and creative production with respect to major societal challenges:

1. income, social and educational inequality; 
2. climate change and green transition; 
3. new educational-cultural crossovers and the role of digital technologies; 
4. new innovation crossovers with non-cultural industries such as mechatronics, health, environmental sustainability;
5. new hybrid models of physical-digital tourism; 
6. fostering social cohesion and facing the migrant crisis.

New business models that can support emergent forms of digitally-empowered co-creation.
The Millennials, Generation Z and Generation C as digital users are naturally familiar with co-creation practices and there is great demand for new digital innovation-driven business models. These new socio-cognitive trends hold great promise for the future business development of cultural and creative production. Of course, industry priorities must be considered in the business model regeneration process, but users’ active participation in product-related content creation is essential in the current phase of strategic restructuring of digitally-driven content industries. A best practice is provided by the Digital Fashion Technology sector, whose digital users are often involved in product co-creation by providing tips and insights about their own body-shape fit and product design preferences. 

The role of cultural and creative production in the post-pandemic repurposing of public spaces.
The pandemic can be a real turning point for the re-conceptualisation of public spaces, given the forced physical redistribution of the workforces from central business districts and physical workspaces to remote work empowered by new digital tools. Retail spaces, business office spaces are increasingly abandoned, with corresponding effects on the housing markets targeting the working class: the whole structure of the cities is changing profoundly, and with it, the meanings and identity of urban spaces. A culture-led rethinking of public spaces can be a key strategy for a collective re-purposing of meaningful urban spaces, supported by the power of the digital in creating communities and managing the commons, as demonstrated for instance by the “social streets” phenomenon.

Understanding the role of emerging technologies in the new cultural and creative ecosystems (AI, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Internet of Things, etc.).
There are many evident examples of the possible technological implications of digital innovation scenarios, such as the so-called "cryptoart". A new kind of artistic content production is being provided by means of brand-new digital tools and strategies such as blockchain affordances. Same for new emerging job positions such as augmented-reality makeup artists that create face filters for social media. The impact that these new forms of exchange and production may have on the cultural ecosystem is broad and diverse, but mainly connects to the paradigm shift regarding the ownership and dissemination of cultural content. 

The role of cultural and creative production in the development of new circular economy models.
The debate about culture and the creative industries has moved away from a linear value chain logic to address new circular and network approaches, as embodied in the notion of the creative ecosystem. This re-conceptualisation, which is largely driven by the new imperatives of the green transition and of socio-environmental sustainability, has caused both policymakers and creatives to reconsider creative processes in a holistic perspective. It has also led to a reconsideration of the very definition of culture and the creative industries, one that can no longer be just limited to revolving around the artist and the creative professional only, but must also include the manifold processes and activities of making, distribution, exchange and archiving of content. Taking into account the expanded production system of culture means following its complex ramifications through time and space, as the circular economy vision urges us to do.