CULTURAL BEES: Promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth

The “Cultural BEES” project develops a training programme and a digital toolkit to teach young people entrepreneurial skills in the cultural and creative industries, with a particular emphasis on cultural heritage. Through a combination of interactive teaching and experiential learning, participants will acquire the knowledge and competences needed for the ethical use of cultural heritage in economic, cultural, and social development.

The central question of the programme is why young people are key actors in culture, the creative sector, and heritage-related activities, and how they should be encouraged to take an active role and identify employment opportunities in the cultural and creative industries. The aim is to go beyond the passive involvement of young people in heritage practices and to empower them to co-create cultural heritage as a source of innovation, sustainable entrepreneurship, and local identity, while respecting ethical principles, cultural rights, environmental protection, and intergenerational solidarity.

The training programme is aimed at secondary school students (15–18 years old) and future young entrepreneurs (18–30 years old). The first module introduces students to the basic concepts of cultural heritage, creativity, entrepreneurship, and digitalisation, as well as the role of cultural and creative industries in addressing challenges such as climate change, mass tourism, gamification, and social inequalities. The second module targets young people who have completed formal education and it also covers topics such as business planning, project writing, management and promotion of new products and services.

The programme will be publicly available on a digital education platform and will promote experiential and interdisciplinary learning, the use of digital tools, critical thinking methods, discussions, the analysis of good practice examples and fieldwork. It will be accompanied by a digital toolkit for teachers and experts in education, heritage and culture.

The project brings together eleven partners from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia, and Poland. Its aim is to promote innovation and growth at local, national, and European level and to develop new curricula that enable young people to develop scalable and replicable business models in the cultural and creative industries. The preparation of the training programme was led by the University of Nova Gorica, Graduate School, Cultural Heritage Studies.

Authorship of photos: University of Nova Gorica

University of Nova Gorica

(Partner) Nova Gorica

All projects of Slovenian producer

Participatory Art for Invisible Communities (PAIC)

Foreign producers in the supported project

JA Europe (leader)

Belgium (EU)
JA-YE Cyprus (partner)

Cyprus (EU)
INNOEUSPHERE (partner)

Cyprus (EU)
MATERAHUB (partner)

Italy (EU)
Danmar Computers LLC (partner)

Poland (EU)
JA-YE ITALY (partner)

Italy (EU)
Isola Catania Impresa Sociale Srl (partner)

Italy (EU)
ANCI LOMBARDIA (partner)

Italy (EU)
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT BULGARIA (partner)

Bulgaria (EU)
University of Economics - VARNA (partner)

Bulgaria (EU)

Funded projects

stART point - a platform where performing arts and young people get connected (stART.)

Heritage Understanding & Participation Hackathon: Co-creating Cultural Heritage Experiences with and for youth (Hup Hackathon)

Artificial Intelligence for Artistic Futures and Creative Talents (ARTIFACT)

CULTIVATOR

Architecture With an Approach to Regeneration and Empowerment (AWARE)

Upsala – SUITCASES

Invisible painting (IP)

Building, Revising, Including - Diaspora and Gender Equality (BRIDGE)

Studio Virc – Mini Slate 2025: Izzvenelo bo, Dolasilla, princesa usode, Tujek, Pobeglo srce

NOSOROGI – Mini Slate 2025: Three Waters Meet, The Healers, Liar, Thief, Flea-Eater

Mono O – Mini Slate 2025: The Happiest Day, The Last Roast, After Sunday

Cvinger – Mini Slate 2024: Before the Eyes Turn Black, Reckoning by the Sea, Project North

Venice Eastern Gate

ECHOES from Invisible Landscapes

PORT OF DREAMERS

ACuTe: Culture Testbeds for Interactivity, Performance and Technology

Rail2Dance (Rail to Dance)

Innovation through media collaboration: Digital assets exchange platform (MEDEXCHANGE24)

Animation HUB (A-HUB)

Word: Enhancing European Graphic Novel Perception, Circulation and Market Development

Roma Soul Food (ROMASOUL)

Tying the European Cultural Landscapes with Knots and Patterns (Knots and Patterns)

Hiking Heritage Trails (INHERIT)

Sensory Artistic Experiences for the Blind (Multisensory Art)

PASS – Pass the Street (Art), Shake the Hand

Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

Staragara – Slate 2024 (The Colour of the Doubt, Black Swan, Removal, We would have told each other everything, Kozmonavti)

PAGE: Project for Advancing coGnitivE accessibility in publishing

NEB COOLTOURS: Transforming Tourism Through Cultural Innovation and Environmental Stewardship in Alpe-Adria

Bridges

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

Land of Lace

CAFE: Redefining Historic Cafés as European Cultural Heritage

ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation (GTMI)

WONDERCUT – Collaboratively Exploring the Public Value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Next Level Cultural Experiences

Heroes Unleashed: Implementing a Sensory Reading Program in European Public Libraries (HERUN)

DATAS – The Data and the Sovereign

TALKING HEADS – Conversation with the art of the past

Libraries of Emotions for Good – LOE for Good

GreenHeritage – Nurturing a sustainable future in the gardens of time

G-BOOK 3 – Audience engagement activities for the social and emotional education of EU teens through gender-positive literature and digital technology

DIGITAL on STAGE – Unleashing the Performing Arts Experience through Digital Innovation

OASis – Open Art Spaces in Synergy

Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences

Danube Dance Alliance for Development of Contemporary Dance Scene in the Danube Region

Mind the GAP

Beletrina Digital

WOMEN interACT – participatory theatre against the double exclusion of women

TECH(ing) TALES WITH A TWIST for the children of the present

DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages

MUSICVILLE – Green European Opera

Operation Nova - OPE.N

Kino x Games

FASIH - Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage

CULTURAL BEES: Promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth

Is this us?

Climate Art Fusion Caravane (CARAVANE)

Moving Balkans

Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE)

Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices

Open House Europe (OHEu)

Third Stage

VERSOPOLIS – WHERE POETRY LIVES

December: Uncomfortable Beings, Azra, Best Imaginary Friends Forever

LINA - Learn, Interact, and Network in Architecture

reCITYing – Reactivating Unused Urban Spaces Through Architecture and Arts 2024–2028

Art Nouveau: a new EUtopia

Creative Industries Development Centre (KUL)

Web 3.0 Accelerator for Sustainable Cultural Tourism (Web3Tour)

Studiotopia: Enter the Symbiocene with Arts and Science (Studiotopia 2)

Bio Awakening - developing bio-art practices in Western Balkan (Bio Awaking)

TestArt

GREENSTAGE

Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA)

Transmedia stories of insularity (TRAST)