EMCCINNO (Empowering Cultural and Creative Industries for Systemic Innovation in Sustainability and Climate Action) is a HORIZON project funded by the European Union that seeks to explore the strategic role of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the fight against climate change and the ecological transition. Through a European network of organisations, cultural agents, researchers and public officials, the project aims to activate the transformative power of culture to rethink more sustainable, resilient and fair models of living.
Based on collaboration between different European territories, EMCCINNO will develop new methodologies and prototypes that integrate situated knowledge, social innovation, art and ecology, offering complementary approaches to traditional technological and economic solutions to the challenges of the Anthropocene.

At the heart of the project are five transformation sites across Europe – dynamic cultural ecosystems where community, creativity, and change converge. These sites serve as fertile grounds for rethinking, reimagining, and reconnecting. Together, they form a constellation of local action with translocal resonance.

The Five Transformation Sites:
La Friche la Belle de Mai – Marseille, France
A former tobacco factory turned cultural laboratory. La Friche pulses with artistic energy and civic engagement, exploring ecological redirection and collective transformation.

BeTime SCA – Vejer de la Frontera, Spain
Tucked away in the Andalusian countryside, BeTime is a sanctuary for slowness, reflection, and situated learning. Through residencies, land-based practices, and deep community listening, it cultivates futures that are slower, smaller, and more soulful.

Jazz ao Centro Clube (JACC) – Coimbra, Portugal
JACC rewrites the score of community arts through jazz, improvisation, and collective experimentation. Drawing from Coimbra’s cultural undercurrents, they create new connections between music, place, and democratic innovation.

KÖME – Association of Cultural Heritage Managers – Budapest, Hungary
KÖME operates at the intersection of heritage and innovation, activating cultural memory as a catalyst for sustainability. From museums to public spaces, they reimagine institutions as agents of ecological and social transition.

ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics – Berlin, Germany
A hybrid vessel between art and city-making, ZK/U cultivates urban imaginaries through residencies, research, and grassroots action. It is a place where artistic gestures become urban practices – composting bureaucracy into creative soil.