AI in creative work: opportunity or threat?
At #SDECE2026 (May 5, Brussels), Romain Boonen opens a provocative discussion: AI & Creative Work—Friend or Foe?
This session confronts the tensions between innovation, ethics, & fair working conditions.
More info & regsitration: shorturl.at/kBZaF
Her work invites us to rethink how creative tools shape artistic thinking.
As she puts it:
"What if we treated AI not as a tool for efficiency, but as a material for reflection?”
Join the conversation in Brussels.
More info & registration:
www.notion.so/SDECE2026-St...
Most AI conversations in creativity focus on productivity.
But what if AI wasn’t about speed at all?
At #SDECE2026, Vera van der Burg introduces “Reflective AI.”
Working with image-based AI systems, Vera combines digital processes with physical practices such as ceramics & installation.
📄 Full report: theaudienceagency.org/en/valuing-c...
90 pages of research, 12 case studies, detailed policy recommendations for funders, policymakers, and cultural organizations.
@carefultrouble.bsky.social @artscouncilengland.bsky.social
Only 14% of creative businesses qualify for #R&D tax credits.
Not because they don’t innovate—
but because R&D is still defined as science & tech.
Yet cultural R&D generates £8 for every £1 invested.
So why is it still invisible in policy? What needs to change?
📄 Full report: theaudienceagency.org/en/valuing-c...
90 pages of research, 12 case studies, detailed policy recommendations for funders, policymakers, and cultural organizations.
In parallel, hands-on activities encouraged discussions on developing cross-pilot processes, strengthening cross-initiative collaboration & creating new opportunities.
Exciting steps ahead as we build bridges between regions & encourage innovation through cooperation.
@au.dk @vtt.fi
Partners have gathered to collaboratively advance the preparation of the exhibition, while also initiating the replication process—ensuring that CRAFT-IT4SD methods, results, & knowledge can be effectively adapted & transferred to other EU ecosystems.
#CreativeFED is proud to be participating in the #Craft-It4sd Consortium meeting, with a strong focus on advancing the replication task & preparing the upcoming Oulu Exhibition (October 2026).
As lead partner for both activities, we guide the consortium in shaping the next steps forward.
AI will reshape creative work.
But the real question is: who shapes the rules—and for whom?
Fully booked on-site. Join online:
ecbnintra.notion.site/SDECE2026-St...
What’s actually on the table?
• AI as a policy choice
• Reflective AI beyond efficiency
• Innovation vs fair work
• Micro-credentials & recognition
• AI + crafts + sustainability
This is where systems get redesigned.
Most AI conversations in the creative sector stay abstract.
Here’s the shift: policy is catching up.
At #SDECE2026, the focus moves from ideas to decisions shaping creative work across Europe.
EU is redesigning its innovation system, but risks leaving out one of its strongest assets.
If CCIs stay marginal in FP10, we miss what makes innovation work for people.
Time to fix this.
Sign the open letter:
ekipengine.eu/open-letter-...
The shift in Europe’s creative economy is already underway.
AI, micro-credentials, sustainability frameworks are moving from debate into policy.
If you work across policy, innovation, or the creative sectors, staying ahead is essential.
Read & subscribe to our newsletter:
shorturl.at/UGsHe
But Label4Future also delivered results on a broader level:
• a proven model for collaboration
• policy insights for RIS3
• facilitation as infrastructure
• a ‘cookbook’ for replicating what works
How can these results be scaled across EU?
Read the Cook Book: label4future.eu#innovation-c...
Across Europe, artists and SMEs have not just developed ideas – they have created something:
• Circular products
• AI-supported solutions
• new materials and design approaches
Real prototypes. Real change.
Read about Label4Future's Innovation Process: label4future.eu#innovation-p...
#Label4Future has shown that creativity is not the final step in innovation – it is the starting point.
From CreativeFED’s perspective, this is the real shift: creative collaboration as infrastructure, not as an experiment.
Find out more about the project: label4future.eu
Europe is redesigning its skills system — and it looks a lot like how creatives already work.
Project-based. Hybrid. Informal. Now becoming formal via micro-credentials & AI.
The real question: will CCIs lead this shift—or be sidelined by it?
Read the publications: shorturl.at/nPHpD
8 million jobs in the creative sector & AI is rewriting the rules faster than policy can keep up.
Authorship, pay, qualifications, rights … all up for debate.
#SDECE2026 will raise these issues on 5 May.
Can Europe turn principles into solutions?
More info & registration:
shorturl.at/MjZNZ
If AI is changing the way we work creatively – shouldn’t it also change the way we recognise creative skills?
Join the discussion: shorturl.at/piJXh
CREDEX focuses on making informal & project-based learning visible through Micro-Credentials.
Follow CREDEX on LinkedIn: shorturl.at/pIlFL
In an AI-driven sector, skills evolve rapidly & recognition must be equally dynamic, transferable & trustworthy.
For CreativeFED, this is crucial:
linking AI policy with concrete mechanisms that recognise informal learning, promote mobility & strengthen the sustainability of careers.
#CREDEX is joining #SDECE2026, bringing a crucial aspect to the discussion:
Micro-Credentials are key to a fair, future-proof creative career!
This enables us to open up the space for a key question:
How do we ensure that creative skills are recognised in an AI-driven economy?
And it supports one of CreativeFED's goals:
Positioning creativity as a core driver of innovation policy, not a side sector.
From experiments to systems.
From exceptions to infrastructure.
Through Policy Labs, regions explored how this strengthens RIS3:
• connecting economic, social & environmental goals
• uncovering system blind spots
• making innovation more adaptive & inclusive
This is RIS3+ in practice.
Creativity is infrastructure.
Label4Future showed that artists don’t just contribute ideas—they reshape how problems are defined & solved.
That’s where real innovation starts.
The key policy insight: impact comes from making collaboration repeatable.
From funding processes, not just results.
Last chance to join.
Sustainability in creative work won’t come from theory alone — it’s built through collaboration, testing, and shared practice.
On March 31, we bring people together to do exactly that.
Join our 2nd #GreenCCIrcle Living Lab:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
AI is reshaping creative work faster than policy can keep up.
The real question isn’t if it will impact culture —
but whether it will strengthen or undermine fair work.
What would it take to make AI work for artists, not against them?
join us in Brussels!
More info & registration: shorturl.at/b53xq
Explore the Cook Book:
label4future.eu#innovation-c...
How do you turn experimentation into something others can build on?
#CreativeInnovation
The key idea:
Innovation isn’t just about new ideas —
it’s about making collaboration repeatable, adaptable, and shareable.
Can creativity become infrastructure?
Inside:
• “Recipes” for SME–artist collaboration
• Tools for matchmaking & facilitation
• Policy insights for RIS3 & regions
• Real cases — what worked, what didn’t
It’s not theory. It’s practice.
