Arts Council Malta’s strategy for the Culture and Creative Industries (CCIs) recognises the need to help create an environment where cultural and creative enterprises can find targeted support to help them grow in a sustainable manner. To this end, the fund for Creative Inno-vators and Platforms is designed to promote innovation and growth across the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS).
The CIP fund is part of ACM’s ongoing endeavours to promote a healthy ecosystem for CCS operators by incentivising operators to engage in research and development initiatives. This fund acknowledges the fundamental need for creatives to incorporate research and develop-ment in their business practice as an essential part of their growth and sustainability strategy.
The fund is composed of three phases: seed funding, capacity building, three-year funding.
Phase 1
• Is open to operators requiring seed support to research and develop ideas. This is in-tended to catalyse innovation within CCS businesses at all levels, irrespective of the level of experience. It awards the first 25 eligible applicants a lump sum of €2,000 of seed support to initiate research work contributing to innovation, improved practices and development in the applicant’s practice. Applicants are to fill in an application on ACM’s CRM clearly detailing their ideas and outlining the objectives and methods of their research proposal. Examples of the chosen methods could be preliminary busi-ness planning, SWOT or internal capacity analysis, value chain analysis, pre-incubation research, innovation canvas, product research, market and competition analysis, among others. The first 25 eligible applicants will be given two months to work on their research, adopting their selected methods to work on their business idea. At the end of these two months, the applicants will submit a report on ACM’s CRM.
• The 25 eligible applicants will receive a grant of €2,000 each; 10 of the eligible appli-cants will be shortlisted and will proceed to the second phase of this fund.
Phase 2
• Is open to the applicants who were shortlisted through Phase 1. It refers to a capacity building and incubation programme designed to support a maximum of ten benefi-ciaries to continue to develop their research and ideas. Beneficiaries will be chosen following an evaluation process based on the quality of the reports they present fol-lowing phase 1. Throughout the second phase, beneficiaries will be able to benefit from the support of industry experts to improve their plans. At the end of this process, they will be invited to pitch their ideas to a board of evaluators. Applicants will be given the opportunity to progress to phase 3 and receive funding for three consecutive years to support their operations.
Phase 3
• Will support four beneficiaries who will receive funding covering three years of activi-ties, including qualifying operational costs. The fund is in line with ACM’s commitment to empower cultural entrepreneurs to act as agents of change and resourceful visionaries generating cultural, economic and social capital through their activities.
Furthermore, through this fund ACM continues to support artists to establish sustainable economic practices.
The objectives of the fund are:
• to create an environment that supports and creates new opportunities for busi-nesses, organisations, and individuals working in the cultural and creative sectors.
• to incentivise cultural and creative operators to embark on new innovative ventures that lead to new or improved business operations, and creative services and products.
• to alleviate part of the costs and risks associated with research and development.
• to incentivise development of technical capacities that lead to improved compet-itivity and sustainability within CCS businesses.
• to enhance opportunities for professionalisation of the cultural and creative sec-tors with the aim of developing a stronger entrepreneurial culture within an in-creasingly competitive and dynamic creative ecology.
• to foster an environment where CCI clusters can come together and grow.
Requirements in line with ACM’s Strategy 2025
In line with its commitment to supporting the arts through its sustainable and accountable approach to public investment, ACM draws applicants’ attention to the following in line with its Strategy 2025:
Applicants are required to consider the principles expressed through its Right to Culture – Resource Pack when developing their proposal in relation to how they engage with commu-nities, and the considerations of everyone’s cultural rights in their work. The resource pack is aimed at increasing awareness regarding inclusivity and supporting the implementation of cultural rights in our day-to-day practice.
Applicants are also required to consider the Charter for the Status of the Artist when propos-ing their operational and programming activities to ensure acceptable and decent working conditions for artists and creative practitioners. This charter embraces artistic freedom, ac-cessibility, formal/informal/non-formal skill recognition, decent socio-economic conditions, non-discrimination and equity, ethical considerations, and adherence to intellectual property rights and international labour law. The Charter for the Status of the Artist is meant to provide a dynamic frame of reference for any legislation, policy, or initiative which directly or indi-rectly impacts artists and cultural and creative sectors, ensuring that any action is aligned with the ultimate long-term vision of elevating the status of artists in Malta in line with their tangible value to society.