Within the framework of the Regional Centre of Creative Economy, the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RDA LUR) hosted a meeting in Ljubljana for seven partner countries within the CRE:HUB European project which are trying to find an answer to the question how to create policies for the promotion of cultural and creative industries.

Regarding the share of residents in creative professions Slovenia is comparable to Northern and Western European countries, and creative professions are the second biggest professional group in Slovenia, following the service sector, as the »Distribution of Creativity in Selected Municipalities of the Ljubljana Urban Region« research from 2014 shows.
Another well-known fact is that the Ljubljana Urban Region has almost a 42% share of creative industry companies in the whole Slovenia, and with regard to the concentration of residents in creative professions Ljubljana correlates to cities in more developed Northern and Western European countries.
Talent and diverse knowledge is concentrated in Slovenia, especially in the Central Slovenia Region, meaning there is great potential for breakthrough, growth and success of companies. To fully exploit this it is necessary to improve the implementation of regional policies and programmes supporting small and medium-sized companies in cultural and creative industries.
Partners of the CRE:HUB European project are trying to find an answer to the question how to create policies to promote cultural and creative industries, among them the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RDA LUR) which hosted, within the framework of its Regional Centre of Creative Economy, a meeting of seven partner countries, in addition to Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Romania and Latvia.
Over 30 participants took part in a study visit to important entrepreneurial and creative hubs (Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), ABC Accelerator and the Poligon Creative Centre) where they saw examples of successful support environments that facilitate the development of creative potential. They also met young creators who used their knowledge, creativity and talent to launch Slovenian achievements into the world: the TAFR group, the winner of the CREA Summer Academy, which has developed an autonomous robot for vineyard maintenance, and the company Mag Lev Audio, which has combined design and engineering knowledge to develop a modern gramophone for vinyl records. The walk on the creative path of the Ljubljana Urban Region concluded with BarCamp, an event where representatives of various support institutions in cultural and creative industries along with policy-makers and creators had the opportunity to discuss and establish a platform for new support programmes which will contribute to further development of the sector.
The result of the creative workshop has shown that only cross-sectoral integration and joint tackling of challenges can be effective, which means creating environments for new collaborations which bring positive change, be it building bridges between the university and the students, finding the right relationship between designers and companies or understanding different views of the decision-makers and other key players in creative potential development.