The project developing and delivering a training programme and a digital toolkit to build
entrepreneurial skills in the cultural and creative industries among new generations.
What it is
Cultural heritage as a business opportunity
“Cultural BEES” is a project funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme. Isola is
part of a European consortium of eleven organisations, including universities, business
networks and cultural organisations from Belgium, Italy, Cyprus, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Poland.
The aim is to develop entrepreneurial skills in the cultural and creative industries among new
generations in the partner countries, through blended learning programmes and digital tools
designed for secondary schools and young professionals.
Isola’s role
Worked with the partners on the report on the state of the art of the cultural and creative industries in Europe, and on the map of the skills needed to work in them.
Organised the Italian National Ecosystem Forum in Catania, on 21 March 2024.
Contributed to the content of the digital toolkit, published in 2025 in four languages.
The partner network
Catania, ItalyIsola
Isola Catania
Brussels, BelgiumLead partner
Junior Achievement Europe
Milan, Italy
Junior Achievement Italia, ANCI Lombardia
Matera, Italy
Consorzio Materahub
Nova Gorica, Slovenia
University of Nova Gorica
Rzeszów, Poland
Danmar Computers
Sofia, Bulgaria
Junior Achievement Bulgaria
Varna, Bulgaria
University of Economics, Varna
Cyprus
Junior Achievement Cyprus, C.A. Innoeusphere, Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO (associated partner)
The objectives
Five objectives, one idea of heritage that creates opportunities
01
Promote open access to learning for young people and develop entrepreneurial and professional skills in the cultural and creative sector.
02
Encourage the co-creation and creative reuse of cultural heritage, investing in the common good of civil society and stimulating new forms of funding for the cultural and creative industries.
03
Support a new paradigm of social and cultural innovation, valuing cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) as an economic sector and as part of the service and experience economy.
04
Combine the regeneration of historic and cultural assets with the opportunities of digital cultural heritage, and contribute to Goal 11 of the 2030 Agenda.
05
Create new businesses linked to cultural heritage through a hybrid learning model based on innovation and sustainability.
Programme activities
From the skills map to the classroom
The first year was spent understanding what it takes to work in the sector, the second building
the programmes and the digital toolkit. 2026 is the year of testing in schools and universities
in the pilot countries.
01February 2024 / January 2025
Completed
Skills mapping
An analysis of the state of the art of the European cultural and creative sector, and a map of the key skills needed to work in it.
Kick-off in Cyprus with the partners and drafting of the state-of-the-art report.
National Ecosystem Forums in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovenia, Poland and Italy, to map the ecosystem of each country.
Summary report of the national forums.
02February / October 2025
Completed
Designing the programmes
Defining the training programmes and building the digital toolkit.
Pan-European Ecosystem Forum in Brussels, on 12 February 2025, on policy, innovation and training in the sector.
Two programmes: one for upper secondary school students aged 15 to 18, and one for people aged 19 to 30.
Project presentation at Creative Skills Week 2025 in Prague.
03From November 2025
In progress
Pilot phase
Testing the programmes in the pilot countries, to measure their impact and assess the effectiveness of the toolkit, which will stay with the networks of schools and universities.
The toolkit reaches classrooms in Italy, Cyprus and Bulgaria.
Analysis of impact and results, and thinking about new areas and new audiences.
On 14 October 2026 in Brussels, the European forum “From Skills to Opportunity”.
Project milestones
Forums, meetings and workshops
0121 March 2024 · Isola Catania
The Italian National Ecosystem Forum, at Isola
Institutions, cultural organisations, businesses and schools came together to discuss cultural
heritage, art as a driver of social change and creativity as a key to enterprise. The
recommendations that emerged fed into the European report on the national forums.
0212 February 2025 · Brussels
The Pan-European Ecosystem Forum, in Belgium
People working in the cultural and creative sector, entrepreneurs, policymakers and educators
from across Europe: hosted by JA Europe, the forum compared trends, challenges and
opportunities, with a particular focus on empowering new creative generations.
0314 October 2026 · Brussels
The final event
The European forum «From Skills to Opportunity» brings the project’s results to institutions,
schools, businesses and European partners, to work out how to carry them beyond the end of the
programme.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s)
only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and
Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be
held responsible for them.
If you are a school, a university, a cultural organisation or an institution and would like to bring this programme to your area, get in touch: let’s think together about what to build.
Let’s talk
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If you are a school, a university, a cultural organisation or an institution and would like to bring this programme to your area, get in touch: let’s think together about what to build.
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Co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe programme (opens in a new tab) 
Isola Catania 
