Culturepreneurs will take place between June 2020 and March 2021 and is part of the Cluj Future of Work Project initiated by the Urban Innovation Unit in Cluj-Napoca, which was created by the Cluj Cultural Centre in partnership with the Centre for Innovation and Civic Imagination of the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca. First-time or seasoned entrepreneurs who sign up for the Program will have free access to training workshops and mentoring programs, as well as to dedicated spaces, equipment and financial prizes to implement their ideas. Culturepreneurs is dedicated to professionals in the cultural and creative sectors who are open to technology and who intend to develop sustainable projects.
\”The equipment and facilities provided through this EU-funded project will give the Culturepreneurs beneficiaries the opportunity to actually test the solutions or products they create and promote within the Project. Basically, they will be the first users of the Regional Excellence Centre for Creative Industries in Cluj (CREIC), which will provide the Culturepreneurs finalists with three laboratories equipped with the latest generation technology in terms of equipment and software, as well as with co-working spaces and other facilities required for entrepreneurship in creative industries,\” explained Ovidiu Cîmpean, director for Local Development with the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca and co-manager of Cluj Future of Work.
One of the Program strengths is that the participants will work and learn alongside professionals from the Transylvania Creative Industries Cluster, Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, Cluj IT Cluster, Transylvania IT Cluster, Transilvania International Film Festival, Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca and ZAIN Transylvanian Creativity Festival.
\”Through Cluj Future of Work, we are supporting a new format for the Culturepreneurs Program. We aim to provide new development opportunities for entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries. We bring together partners from academia, business and government who can create a learning experience suited to the uncertainties of our time, and we also provide access to technology and specialized consultancy,\” explained Anamaria Vrabie, director of the Urban Innovation Unit of the Cluj Cultural Centre and co-manager of the Project.
While Culturepreneurs is open to candidates from all over the country, who wish to implement their ideas, finalists are required to attend the program in Cluj-Napoca during January-March 2021 to develop the ideas submitted. The official start of the program will be on September 21st and the seminars that will follow in the coming months will take place online. Candidates can sign up until July 10th, 2020 by filling in an online form available on www.culturepreneurs.ro.
\”We are looking for people who want to make their ideas work, to grow as entrepreneurs. We created a program that would support, say, a designer who wishes to mass produce a new chair or a musician who dreams of setting up a record company or a programmer who wants to develop a digital publishing house. During the course of the Program, we expect to see their ideas evolve and change or even to see partnerships emerge between finalists. Through Culturepreneurs, we seek to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment in Cluj by fostering sustainable and creative projects, as well as to create a solid network of collaborations and partnerships,\” said Andreea Bercan, the manager of the Culturepreneurs Program.
Culturepreneurs is an entrepreneurship education program dedicated to professionals in the cultural and creative sectors and supported ever since its launch by Banca Transilvania. Now, at its third edition, the Culturepreneurs program is developed as part of the component focusing on the work in the cultural and creative sectors within Cluj Future of Work, the first project in Eastern Europe funded by Urban Innovative Actions.
Cluj Future of Work is a project initiated by the Urban Innovation Unit in Cluj-Napoca, which was created by the Cluj Cultural Centre in partnership with the Centre for Innovation and Civic Imagination of the Municipality of Cluj-Napocal.
Cluj Future of Work is co-managed by the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca and Cluj Cultural Centre as part of a consortium which includes eight other local organizations: Intercommunity Development Association Cluj Metropolitan Area, Transylvania Creative Industries Cluster, Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, Cluj IT Cluster, Transylvania IT Cluster, Transilvania International Film Festival, Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca and ZAIN Transylvanian Creativity Festival.
