EUROPEAN RESEARCH & INNOVATION AGENCY FOR CULTURAL CLUSTERS

EURICCA – European Research and Innovation Agency for Cultural Clusters

A MESO-led initiative that laid the groundwork for cross-sector cultural cooperation in Europe

What It Was

EURICCA was a MESO-driven cooperation platform developed to foster innovation across the creative and cultural industries (CCI).

Operating as a soft agency, it built alliances between artists, cultural operators, researchers, local governments, and innovation networks, focusing on knowledge exchange, project design, and regional development.

Although not a formal agency, EURICCA served as a coordination mechanism and vision platform linking grassroots cultural work with research and EU funding priorities.

Why It Mattered

At a time when CCI clusters lacked structure and connectivity, EURICCA helped cultural actors engage with policy, academia, and entrepreneurship.

It promoted methods and frameworks that aligned cultural expression with social innovation, green transition, and digital transformation.

MESO’s Role

MESO created and ran the initiative, leading partner outreach, coordination, knowledge transfer activities, and strategic positioning across regions and sectors.

EURICCA also functioned as a transitional bridge between MESO’s early civic and cultural network work (like European Music Day) and the more structured international collaboration projects that followed, such as AISBL FEM, and ELMA.