On September 22-23, 2022, Prague hosted the European Creative Industries Summit, which is an annual top showcase of activities in the European creative industry. At the beginning of the conference, Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela highlighted in his speach the potential of creative industries for the overall transformation of the economy and society.
He also emphasized that the Czech Republic has a long and rich tradition in creative industries and has inventive people with creative abilities. Creative industries can significantly help to increase prosperity by acting as a stimulator of innovation and an accelerator of development. Traditional industries are being penetrated by modern technologies that will shift the production of products and services to a higher added value. He also mentioned that the creative industries figure as one of the 9 domains of research and innovation specialization in the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Intelligent Specialization, so they are among the priority areas that the Czech Republic supports in various forms. The newest project to support startups in creative industries is the Czechinvest agency's Technological Incubation program.
The ECIS22 conference was held in Prague for the first time in history, as part of the presidency of the Czech Republic in the EU Council. The conference brought together creative professionals and policy makers from different European countries to share experiences and discuss current issues across a diverse range of creative industries. Hana Třeštíková, councilor for the area of culture, exhibitions and tourism, spoke on behalf of the capital city of Prague. She emphasized that Prague has been a natural center of culture and creativity for centuries, where performing and visual arts meet with public space, architecture and modern technologies.
This year's summit was devoted to the theme of "ALL GREEN", i.e. green transformation, which has a very significant impact on the cultural and creative sectors. Many contributions were made to the issue of air protection, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy savings and the search for alternatives to fossil fuels. It applies to practically all - large cultural buildings such as theaters, galleries, libraries, castles and other cultural monuments, enterprices providing industrial operations producing design products, public space in cities and towns, as well as associations and civic society running interest-based activities. Transformation is necessary and ubiquitous, the whole world is going through a green, social and digital transformation and the cultural and creative industries offer a way to go through this transformation sustainably, ethically and with high economic added value.
ECIS22 was organized by Creative Prague (the organization of City of Prague) together with the City of Prague, ECB Network and under the auspices of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.
