Projects · Microfinance
Pro-CCS
Promoting entrepreneurship and access to finance in the cultural and creative sectors
Training and tools to connect the cultural and creative sectors with the financial world and make it easier for them to access credit.
- Lead partner
- National Microcredit Agency (ENM)
- Consortium
- 5 organisations, 4 countries
- Euradia's role
- Partner
- Funding
- Co-funded by the European Union
Background
A dynamic sector that struggles to access finance
The cultural and creative sectors are among the most dynamic in the European and global economy: they account for 4.2% of EU GDP and employ 7.4 million people, mostly young. Based on knowledge, creativity and individual talent, they generate considerable economic wealth and are essential to a shared sense of European identity, culture and values.
Yet they are largely made up of micro-enterprises, non-profits and creative professionals who often lack access to financial support and may not have the specific skills to develop and manage their business ideas. The Covid-19 crisis, with suspended activities and cancelled events, performances and festivals, hit them particularly hard.
Objectives
Connecting culture and finance
Difficulty in accessing finance is one of the most critical barriers to the sector's growth, made worse by features specific to cultural organisations: few tangible assets, uncertain market demand, value generated over long and uncertain periods, and limited knowledge of funding opportunities.
Pro-CCS strengthens the skills of professionals in the sector and creates dedicated channels to give financial intermediaries solid information on the economic potential of culture, so they can overcome a traditional mistrust and support its growth.
Activities
Three outputs
01
Course for financial tutors
For tutors, business development service providers, trainers and mentors in microfinance: cross-cutting skills to meet the needs of cultural professionals.
02
Course for cultural professionals
For start-ups and micro-enterprises in the sector: management, entrepreneurship, access to finance and business development.
03
Toolkit for financial intermediaries
Tools to assess loan applications from the sector and to see cultural entrepreneurs as key players in a sustainable, shared economy.
Partner
The consortium
- National Microcredit Agency (ENM) · Italy, lead partner
- InnoGrowth · Bulgaria
- Impact Hub Leipzig · Germany
- Culture Action Europe · Belgium
