The document describes the Eurasian Creaspace Networking (ECN) project, an ASEF-sponsored cultural program that aims to bridge cultural actors between Asia and Europe through small and medium creative spaces. The project will offer ten financial aids for cultural professionals to participate in study visits to Valencia and Kunming, as well as workshops. It seeks to identify best practices for creative space management and innovation through case studies. A publication on best practices will be produced to share the knowledge gained from the project.

1. EURASIAN CREASPACE NETWORKING
Eurasian Creaspace Networking
Contact: Chuan Li
chwanlee@outlook.com
An ASEF sponsored project Partners: Econcult (University of Valencia)
Cultural Industry Institute (Yunnan University)
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2. EURASIAN CREASPACE NETWORKING
SUMMARY
ASEF
In March 1996, the leaders of 25 European and Asian countries, together with the
European Commission, convened in Bangkok, Thailand, for the inaugural Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM). This historic summit paved the way for the establishment of the Asia-
Europe Foundation (ASEF) one year later in 1997. ASEF is the only permanently
established institution of ASEM and is funded by voluntary contributions from its member
governments and shares the financing of its projects with its civil society partners across
Asia and Europe.
ASEF Creative Networks
ASEF Creative Networks supports collaborative projects that favour the building of
cultural/artistic networks in Asia and Europe. Through this programme ASEF seeks to
strengthen its role as a connector between cultural networks in Asian and Europe since
the past 15 years.
Eurasian Creaspace Networking
Eurasian Creaspace Networking (ECN) is an ASEF-sponsored cultural programme
organized by Investigation Unit of Economics of Culture and Tourism (Econcult), of
University of Valencia (Spain) and Cultural Industry Institute of Yunnan University
(China).
ECN aims to bridge cultural actors between Asia-Europe small-and-medium creative
spaces and formulate best practices for space, creativity and innovation through study
visits and workshops.
ECN offers ten financial aids to Eurasian cultural actors to participate in the programmes.
A publication about best practices of creative space for innovation is to be published as
outcome of the project.
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3. EURASIAN CREASPACE NETWORKING
CONTENT
BACKGROUND OF THIS JOINT PROPOSAL & PARTNERSHIP
The joint proposal origins from the cooperation of an annual new silk road international
forum project by Econcult of University of Valencia (Spain) and Culture Industry Institute
of Yunnan University (China) since 2016, due to the fact that Valencia and Yunnan
are two points of reference along the Silk Road that connects mediterranean and Mekong
regions.
Based on the EU-funded projects of CREATIVMED and 3C4 INCUBATORS, Econcult
has profoundly participated in the research of culture, creativity and local development for
mediterranean region and produced outputs e.g. toolkit and publications, related
knowledge can be spread to Asian peers to initiate local creative economy for social
development.
The forum project aims to promote cultural and creative industries, theoretically and
practically, in Europe and Asia through dialogues and networking among scholars,
professionals and officials especially from mediterranean and Mekong regions, among
which, Eurasian Creaspace networking is proposed to become a platform to connect
local creative professionals from small-scaled formal and informal space for culture,
creativity and innovation, on the purpose of exploring how this emerging cultural plan
method reactives bleak building, fertilizes local culture and art as well as reforms
competition model from manufacturing to creative economy.
See http://www.uv.es/spaces
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
1. Strengthening the international networks of small-scale formal and informal
creative spaces between Asian and Europe.
Small creative spaces as new phenomenon emerge throughout european and asian
cities recently. Although these scattering spaces seek for networks for survival and
cooperation, most of connections are within the same region instead of inter-continent
between Europe and Asia. e.g. {compound}{compound} from Swiss, Spain, UK and
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4. EURASIAN CREASPACE NETWORKING
Greece. Therefore, it is significant to establish new intercontinental connections between
Asian and European partners.
2. Identify common tools and methodology of autonomy of creative space; identify
key questions such as financing, access credit, access to market, mobility,
entrepreneur incubation, innovation, in order to share governance capability and
experience, especially from european and asian perspectives, and enhance the
effects of smart local cultural planning.
Small creative spaces have different organizational forms and niches. For example, they
may serve as co-working, ecological transition and sustainability, public/private
partnerships, social entrepreneurship and participatory and shared governance, but all of
them are established for common missions to initiate cultural creativity and social
innovation. The best practice guidance refined from case studies aims to achieve
sustainable space programmes by offering guideline on space planning and operation,
innovation process management and performance valuation etc.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
The project focuses on local small-scale formal and informal spaces in the cultural and
creative industries as cultural planning approach. The main aim is to strengthen
intercontinental dialogue and exchange of cultural professionals, scholars and policy
makers in related to this kind of spaces, and to seek best practices of these small
creative space management for culture, creativity and innovation.
For this end, two dimensions of events are included:
1. Study visits
Two study visits are open to ASEM countries to preselected city Valencia and Kunming
for learning innovative business models. 10 scholarships (at least each 4 for Asia and
Europe) are provided to cover international travel and accommodations.
2. Workshop about best practice of creative space for creativity and innovation
Space managers, scholars and officials are invited to two round-table workshops for case
studies about how space to initiate culture, creativity and innovation.
The project is result-oriented. In addition to study visits and workshops, a best practice
guidance of small-scale space management will be fruited as highlight, a particular
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project website is to adopted as open-resourced by English, Chinese and Spanish so as
to achieve maximized and globally accessible to the public.
DEFINITION OF NETWORK AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY
In the ECN’s context, Network is defined as an organizational mechanism and
sustainable strategy to facilitate the dialogue, interaction and collaboration to achieve the
learning and understanding between Asian and European counterparts in cultural and
creative sectors, as well as the contribution to theoretical and applied understanding
about the relationship between space, creativity and socio-economic innovation through
Eurasian perspective and experience.
The sustainability of ECN is to be achieved in time and space dimensions by
organizational, strategic, interactive and informational ways:
1. In organizational way, ECN originates and involves in the proposed annual New Silk
Road International Forum organized by University of Valencia (Spain) and Yunnan
University (China) (see application form), which exclusively focuses on the cultural and
creative industries in Asia and Europe. And this networking can be formalised and kept as
one of activities under annual forum, dedicating to the Eurasian cultural and creative
theme.
2. In strategic way, ECN aims to define a long term strategy - design a work plan
structured by main items of interest identified (internationalization, social innovation,
digitalization) and establishing priorities, in order to concrete work-groups and calendar of
activities after the project; in order to realize this strategy, a financial plan is to be
designed by identification of call for proposals, funding issues, and other main
institutional source.
3. In interactive way, ECN pays emphasis on the experience sharing and knowledge
accumulation, so as to codify tacit knowledge through learning by interaction.
Considering its public property, knowledge is not a lump-sum outcome, it will spill over
beyond our participants, and hence our networking is long term and sustainable in space
dimension.
4. In informational way, we identify the nature of network as the transformation of
information, and hence we will digitize the process and outputs of this project as open
source for universal access on Internet, which allows the information to be conserved and
diffused sustainably in the time dimension.
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THE ASIA-EUROPE PERSPECTIVES WITHIN THE PROPOSED PROJECT
The establishment of small formal and informal local creative space is an emerging
approach of cultural planning in many european and asian countries. Different from the
"shock-and-awe" approach that requires enormous investments on huge cultural
facilities, the new approach focuses on formal and informal spaces for local artists and
offers involves repurposing obsolete industrial and commercial facilities, further small-
scale may be more economically sustainable and can complement the growth of
knowledge industries.
There exist asian and european perspectives and practices in this approach. Asian
spaces emphasize more on economical "efficiency", i.e. dedicating to entrepreneurial-
friendly environment, start-up business incubator and forming creative economy
ecosystem, an example is Shicui Culture & Art Mall in Kunming. European one
emphasizes more on social "fair", i.e. stressing on local heritage conservation, wide
access to local artists and residents, public good and service supply and social inclusion
etc., las Naves in Valencia is an example.
Additionally, financial structures that european spaces rely heavily on public funds
meanwhile asian ones on private funds also impacts business mode of these spaces.
Different asian-european perspectives offer complementary viewpoints and
methodologies to seek a balanced and integrated best practices guidance between fair
and efficiency to other local creative place cases.
METHODOLOGY
1. Study visits
On-site experience is better than any other second-hand study materials in the field of
cultural management. Study visits will provide creative space managers and
administrators opportunities to establish networkings and study on site to extreme
content.
2. Round-table workshop
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Round-table workshop can create an institutional and effective occasion for cultural
professionals, scholars and policymakers to engage in discussion of different business
model as well as sharing the experience of cultural planning, execution and evaluation in
the local creative space, which in turn constitutes to the base of case studies and
formulation of best practices with asian and european perspectives.
3. Publications
A publication of best practices guidance of local small-scale space for culture, creativity
and innovation is adopted as an important output of the project. The printed publication is
beneficial to the knowledge diffusion, which allows the network members the possibility to
share their practices and the public and cultural professionals to search for good
practices. Additionally, three languages versions (Chinese, English and Spanish) can
improve the diffusion and spillover effects from ASEM members region to the other part
of the world like Latin American countries.
Timeframe & activities of the project:
Activity 1: Study visit -1
Title of the activity: Experience and challenge: small creative space in Europe
Dates: 22/06/2016-23/06/2016
Total number of participants: 10
Venue: Las Naves; Benimaclet Neighbour; Naquerant Espais; Cabanyal Íntim.
City, Country: Valencia, Spain
Type of event: Closed-door
Activity 2: Round-table workshop -1
Title of the activity: Best practices of eurasian creative spaces for innovation
Dates: 24/06/2016
Total number of participants: 15
Venue: University of Valencia
City, Country: Valencia
Type of event: Open to public (free of charge)
Expected audience members: 20
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Activity 3: Study visit -2
Title of the activity: Chance and growth: small creative space in Asia
Dates: 23/07/2016-24/07/2016
Total number of participants: 10
Venue: Green Lake 1.0; South Asian Culture & Art Mall; Kunming Old Street; Jingding
1919; Zi Yun Qing Niao (Yunnan Cultural and Creative Expo Garden).
City, Country: Kunming, China
Type of event: Closed-door
Activity 4: Round-table workshop -2
Title of the activity: Best practices of eurasian creative spaces for innovation
Dates: 25/07/2016
Total number of participants: 15
Venue: Culture Industry Institute, Yunnan University
City, Country: Kunming, China
Type of event: Open to public (free of charge)
Expected audience members: 40
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PARTICIPANTES
Eligibility:
1. Any geographical space, except virtual digital space, which holds and incubates
any kinds of creative activities and/or enterprises, creative activities are
referred by UNCTAD’s classiCication of creative economy;
2. Any creative space, in broad sense, should be small and medium scale (not a
park or cluster, but it can be a hub); it can take both formal and informal
organizational form and infrastructure;
3. Any creative space should locate at the Asian and European member countries
of the Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM); countries from Greater Mekong region
and Southeast Asian are preferred.
4. Any creative space, which has willingness to establishing network between
Asian and European counterparts and to sharing its managerial experience
and practice.
5. Any representative of creative space to participate in ECN activities in Valencia
(Spain) and Kunming (China) should be nationals of one of 51 member
countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEF).
Submission method
Any cultural actors who are dedicated to such a creative space can submit a
subscription by 20 March 2016 to a designated e-mail address, with:
1. A 500-word abstract written in English, the abstract should be a brief
introduction of a certain Asian small and medium creative space, including its
location, activities, members, governance form, Cinancial structure and
innovation highlight.
2. Short curriculum vitae of participant with complete e-mail, phone, mailing
address and nationality.
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