Future by Lund packs innovation portfolios in Kosovo
IN ENGLISH BELOW
Kosovo is a small country in the Balkans with about 2 million inhabitants and an area roughly equivalent to Skåne. Sweden has diplomatic relations with Kosovo since Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 and has an embassy in the capital Pristina. The country is recognised by more than a hundred UN member states, including Sweden.
In 2024, a collaboration has been launched between Future by Lund, Lund University, Ministry of Culture of Kosovo, UN Habitat and the cultural organization Anibar with support from Sida. The work deals with innovation capacity in the cultural sector.
- Our work will culminate in a programme that supports innovation capacity in the cultural and creative industries, says Birgitta Persson, project manager, Future by Lund. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture is developing a strategy for the area and the tests and lessons we are doing in our work will be useful to them in their work.
In January 2024, a delegation consisting of Lisa Thelin and Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth from Lund University and Birgitta Persson and Peter Kisch from Future by Lund travelled to Kosovo to inaugurate the collaboration.
“We were in Kosovo for two days and have only had time to scratch the surface,” says Peter Kisch. We have looked at various initiatives and organisations that we believe can be part of the final product but will later have to see more initiatives in more parts of the country. It is important to be on the spot and really understand what is happening, how it thinks and how everything works in practice.
It was only at the turn of 2023/24 that citizens of Kosovo were allowed to travel abroad without a Schengen visa.
- The people of Kosovo have not been allowed to travel like others in Europe, but they have solved their lack of international experience by inviting the rest of the world to various events, says Birgitta Persson. The population has thus acquired a great international understanding and many speak fluent English.
Kosovo has a young population and a very active cultural scene. One example is that Kosovo's film industry is on the rise. Animation attracts many young people and the annual International Animation Film Festival is a major event. One of the project's partners, the cultural organisation Anibar i Peja, is behind Kosovo's successful animation scene.
- Animation and film are a great interest for young people and this has been taken advantage of and created an international animation festival. The best from both the United States and Japan come there and guest lectures. This is an example of how international contacts have been established, and partly of how the actors in Kosovo themselves have created ways to build the academy when the public school system was not enough, says Birgitta.
The collaboration will see how to create innovation portfolios for Kosovo — but it will also benefit from examining a system that works differently than it does in, for example, Sweden.
- The country has many talented cultural actors who have built large festivals and biennials, says Peter Kisch. They are very driven entrepreneurially and have a tremendous forward spirit. The fact that they have not had such great opportunities has made them adept at creating value with little resources. The sector has elements of being decentralized and driven from below, which makes it an interesting melting pot and a good basis for developing your own ideas and starting companies. It is interesting to see how to make a new idea take hold and grow. We will explore how to work with intersecting fields of innovation in the field of animation and, by taking this as an example, we can consider what could be created throughout the cultural and creative industries sector.
The project's other partner, UN Habitat, works, among other things, to support the country's municipalities with processes for inclusive and sustainable urban planning. This also involves processes for documenting and caring for the local cultural heritage during post-war reconstruction. In the project, these two partners will jointly explore how they can work together to bring cultural heritage to life.
- Linked to this, we could explore what traditional ways of doing practical things could bring in a creative context - such as how to combine cultural heritage with digital tools and the tourism sector, says Peter Kisch. Maybe we can weed out some good ideas to build packages or products out of.
What interest then is there for Future by Lund in Kosovo?
- What several people asked about and were interested in was Future by Lund's methods and models for collaboration between many different actors. What inspired the most was, for example, our zone model and OPSI's model for innovation portfolios,” concludes Birgitta Persson.
Work in Kosovo will last for 15 months, until April 2025.
IN ENGLISH
Future by Lund is packing innovation portfolios in Kosovo
A new and exciting collaboration has recently been initiated between Lund University, Future by Lund, the Ministry of Culture of Kosovo, UN Habitat, and the cultural organization Anibar. Together, these organisations will explore how to create a joint innovation portfolio across organisational boundaries in Kosovo. Januar, a group from Lund was on site in Kosovo to initiate the work, but also to establish contact with successful animation groups and to investigate what work with cultural heritage could lead to, for example, in the tourism industry.
Kosovo is a small country in the Balkans with approximately 2 million inhabitants and an area roughly equivalent to Skåne. Sverige har med Kosovo från Kosovo i 2008 och har en embassies i, Pristine. Het landkreis is recognised by over a hundred of the UN member states, including Sweden.
In 2024, a collaboration was initiated between Future by Lund, Lund University, the Ministry of Culture of Kosovo, UN Habitat, and the cultural organization Anibar, with support from The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The work focuses on innovation capacity in the cultural sector.
- Our work will result in a program that supports innovation capability in the cultural and creative industries, says Birgitta Persson, project manager, Future by Lund. På samma tid,. In January 2024, a delegation consisting of Lisa Thelin and Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth from Lund University and Birgitta Persson and Peter Kisch from Future by Lund traveled to Kosovo to inaugurate the collaboration.
- We were in Kosovo for two days and have only scratched the surface, says Peter Kisch. We have looked at various initiatives and organisations that we believe can be part of the final product but must later see more initiatives in more parts of the country. It is important to be on-site and really understand what is happening, how they think, and how everything works in practice.
Het is niet op de jaar 2023/24 dat citizens van Kosovo wordt gebruikers te voorraad zonder een visa in het schengen area.
- The population of Kosovo has not been able to travel like others in Europe, but they have solved their lack of international experience by inviting the rest of the world to various events, says Birgitta Persson. Het populatie heeft een grote internationale verzicht, en gelek speek fluente Engels.
Kosovo has a young population and a very active cultural scene. An example is that Kosovo's film industry is on a strong rise. Animation attracts many young people, and the annual international animation film festival is a major event. Het is een van de projectpartner, het culturaal organisatie Anibar in Peja, die is het behaal van Kosovo's successful animation scene.
- Animation and film are a big interest for the young, and this has been capitalised on by creating an international animation festival. The best from both the USA and Japan visit and hold guest lectures. This is an example, partly of how they have been able to create international contacts, partly of how the actors in Kosovo themselves have created ways to build up the academy when the public school system has not been enough, says Birgitta.
In the collaboration, the actors will explore how to create innovation portfolios for Kosovo—but they will also benefit from examining a system that works differently than it does in, for example, Sweden.
- The country has many talented cultural actors who have built up large festivals and biennials, says Peter Kisch. They are very entrepreneurial and have an enormous forward-looking spirit. The fact that they have not had such large given opportunities has made them good at creating value with small resources. The sector has elements of being decentralised and driven from below, making it an interesting melting pot and a good foundation for developing individuals' ideas and starting companies. It is interesting to see how to get a new idea to take hold and grow. We will investigate how to work with intersecting innovation fields within the animation area, and by having that as an example, we can consider what could be created in the entire sector for cultural and creative industries.
Un Habitat. This also includes processes for documenting and taking care of local cultural heritage during the reconstruction after the war. In the project, these two partners will jointly explore how they can collaborate to bring cultural heritage to life.
- Connected to this, we could examine what traditional ways of doing practical things could entail in a creative context — such as how to combine cultural heritage with digital tools and the tourism sector, says Peter Kisch. Possibly we can sort out some good ideas to build packages or products from.
So what interest does Kosovo have in the future of Lund?
- What several asked about and were interested in was Future by Lund's methods and models for collaboration between many different actors. What inspired most, for example, was our zone model and OPSI's model for innovation portfolios, concludes Birgitta Persson.
Collaboration in Kosovo will continue for 15 months until April 2025.
Traduction: Tilde Svensson