IN SITU: Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas
IN SITU was a four-year project that combined research and experimental actions to advance the innovation-related practices, capacities, and potential of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) based in non-urban areas of the EU countries.
The IN SITU Project has concluded. But its legacy continues.
On 30 June 2026, the IN SITU project officially came to an end, bringing four years of research, collaboration and knowledge exchange to a close. Across Europe, the project explored how culture and creativity can contribute to more vibrant, resilient and sustainable futures for non-urban areas.
While the project has concluded, the knowledge, ideas and resources developed through IN SITU remain. This website brings together a rich collection of research publications, policy recommendations, practical tools, case studies, audiovisual content and the IN SITU Dialogues podcast.
We invite researchers, policymakers, practitioners, communities and all those interested in place-based development to explore these resources, revisit the insights generated throughout the project and carry them forward into new conversations, research and initiatives.
For any questions or further information, you can continue to contact the IN SITU team at:
in-situ@ces.uc.pt
The IN SITU journey may have reached its conclusion, but the ideas it set in motion continue. Explore the resources and be part of what comes next.
LOOKING BACK
VALMIERA 2026
11-13 May 2026
Valmiera,
Latvia
ŠIBENIK 2024
SUMMER SCHOOL
20-24 September 2024
Zlarin, Šibenik-Knin County,
Croatia
Conference
25-27 September 2024
Šibenik, Croatia
What is the rationale
behind IN SITU?
The non-urban constituency of the CCI sector has grown in visibility and significance over the last decade in Europe and internationally but is still vulnerable due to the lagging attention of research and policy to its needs, characteristics, and potential. In parallel, a small but growing body of research is pointing to innovation taking place outside of cities, and emerging ideas and observations indicate that how innovation processes occur in rural areas differ from those in cities.
What are our objectives?
The IN SITU project aims to better understand the forms, processes, and governance needs of CCIs located in non-urban areas of Europe and to advance the ability of non-urban CCIs to act as drivers of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability for the locales in which they are located. A core defining aspect of IN SITU is the interlinking of research and practice through place-based IN SITU Labs – hubs for networking, training and capacity building, and monitoring case studies in six non-urban regions across Europe, located in Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, and Croatia.
Involving both Europe-wide research and place-based experimentation, we aim to provide an in-depth knowledge of the direct and indirect effects, cross-sectoral connections and spillovers, innovative strategies and systems, and the needs of CCI practitioners in non-urban areas. We plan to generate new empirical and conceptual insights of value to academics, CCIs, and policymakers. We also aim to contribute to a more informed and enabled future for practitioners in cultural and creative industries based in non-urban areas.
IN SITU will contribute in
four dimensions:
1.Strengthen non-urban CCIs in the EU
IN SITU will:
- Catalyse new business models and approaches in non-urban CCIs;
- Strengthen capacities and connectedness of non-urban CCIs; and
- Enable non-urban CCIs to contribute to the growth and advancement of the broader CCI sector.
2. Advance inter-connection between innovation and cultural policy
IN SITU will:
- Assess how territorial innovation policies can enable and strengthen CCIs;
- Examine how territorial innovation strategies and cultural policy can be aligned to strengthen CCIs in non-urban areas; and
- Demonstrate how CCIs can be leading drivers of both economic and social innovation.
3. Demonstrate and strengthen the capacity of CCIs to contribute to the well-being and sustainability of non-urban communities
IN SITU will:
- Examine how CCIs contribute to cross-sectoral spill-over effects in other spheres;
- Study and demonstrate the ability of CCIs to address actual local issues, and contribute to culturally-sensitive local sustainability; and
- Promote and foster new cross-sectoral collaborations.
4. Inform the CCI sector
IN SITU will:
- Demonstrate how place-based specificities can generate value within cultural and creative work in Europe; and
- Analyze how cross-sectoral collaborations involving CCIs and other sectors can be advanced in practice.
