Strengthening skills in Southern Italy’s Cultural and Creative Industries. This is the goal of the Regional Skills Partnership Southern Italy (RSP), a strategic alliance between public and private stakeholders that aims to innovate the skills and vocational training system in the cultural and creative sector.
Part of the European framework of the Pact for Skills, the European Commission initiative that promotes collaboration between businesses, institutions, and training organizations to develop skills suited to economic and social transformation, the RSP Southern Italy represents the territorial and thematic implementation of this strategy, connecting European policies, regional strategies, and the real needs of the creative labor market.
The initiative is coordinated by Materahub, a leading European organization for innovation in the cultural and creative industries, which will lead the construction of a collaborative ecosystem between creative clusters, institutions, development agencies, and training organizations.
From Europe to the Territories: Why the Partnership Was Born
In recent years, the cultural and creative sector has undergone a profound transformation, accelerated by investments from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which have encouraged the launch of new projects and expanded the number of stakeholders, often focusing on developing the skills needed by the market. However, the legacy of this period of investment risks being lost unless the local training and production ecosystems capable of consolidating its results are strengthened.
The Regional Skills Partnership was born with this very objective: to create a stable space for collaboration between regional institutions, creative businesses, universities, and training organizations, enhancing the connection between European policies and local needs.
The Regional Skills Partnership Southern Italy is, in effect, an alliance between sector operators, born with the ambition of going beyond simple discussion to generate concrete changes in regional skills policies. The initiative aims to make the training offering—university, vocational, and informal—more effective and coherent by strengthening the dialogue between the training system, cultural businesses, public institutions, and innovation players.
One of the partnership’s priorities is the gradual expansion of the network, involving new stakeholders in the pilot regions and, in the medium term, in other regions of Southern Italy. At the same time, the partnership intends to strengthen the European dimension through the structured exchange of experiences and best practices with EU regions that are particularly advanced in the development of cultural and creative industries.
Another strategic focus is dialogue with public decision-makers. The partnership will promote opportunities for discussion with institutions and policymakers, contributing to the definition of future skills policies and the targeting of European Social Fund Plus resources in the 2028–2035 programming period, with the aim of aligning public investments with the real needs of the cultural and creative sectors.
The Regional Skills Partnership Southern Italy Network
The partnership is based on a broad, multidisciplinary alliance that connects cultural institutions, creative clusters, development agencies, and organizations active in training and innovation. The network involves strategic entities from Basilicata and Puglia, supported by the technical contributions of partners with consolidated interregional experience. Participating for Basilicata are Basilicata Creativa, a regional cluster of cultural and creative industries; Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019, an institution that led the Matera European Capital of Culture program and continues to promote cultural and territorial innovation projects; Sviluppo Basilicata, a regional company committed to economic development policies; and Lambda Academy, an organization active in training and professional skills development.
For Puglia, the partnership includes Puglia Creativa, a regional cluster of cultural and creative industries; Puglia Culture, an organization committed to the valorization and management of the region’s cultural heritage; ARTI Puglia, a strategic agency of the Puglia Region for innovation and technology transfer; Unisco Network for Local Development, the first in Italy to implement a non-sectoral RSP with the aim of also having a dimension of exchange of practices and creating cross-sector synergies; and Krill Studio, a creative company committed to cultural planning and innovation processes.
The partnership is further strengthened by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo in a dual role as a strategic partner from Piemonte, bringing experience in participatory local ecosystems, and as a core partner based in Bari to support regional implementation. An additional strategic partner is ARTER Emilia-Romagna, a consortium company of the Emilia-Romagna Region specialising in innovation, research, and Territorial development, which contributes advanced expertise to the design of skills and innovation policies in the cultural and creative sectors.
Presentation in Brussels
The partnership’s official debut took place on March 3, 2026, in Brussels, during the European Regional Skills Partnerships meeting at the European Commission. The initiative provided an opportunity for discussion with European institutions and international partners, bringing the role of cultural and creative industries as a lever for sustainable development in Southern Italy to the attention of European policymakers. “The creation of the Regional Skills Partnership Southern Italy marks a strategic step,” explains Paolo Montemurro, Director of Materahub. “It’s not just about strengthening the training offering, but about building a system in which creativity, skills, and public policies interact in a structured way. The goal is to transform Southern Italy’s cultural potential into a stable engine of innovation, employment, and development.”
Materahub manages international pilot projects to support cultural and creative industries, encouraging processes of innovation and inclusion and a new entrepreneurial vision to address contemporary challenges. Furthermore, Materahub has always been attentive to gender issues and committed to supporting female empowerment and women-led businesses.
Materahub organizes various international capacity-building activities aimed at bringing together and merging expertise between local and international experts, entrepreneurs, and policymakers. These projects are funded by the European programs Erasmus+, Cosme, Interreg, Horizon 2020, and others. Since 2010, Materahub has been the Intermediary Organization for the European program Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs; since 2014, it has been the Italian organizer of the Creative Business Cup, the only international competition dedicated to cultural and creative industries.
Materahub is a member of the Puglia Creative District and is part of the Basilicata Cultural and Creative Industries cluster.
The Consortium is also part of the international CARP network, which promotes cultural itineraries on prehistoric art of the Council of Europe, and of leading networks such as the European Creative Business Network, the European Creative Hubs Network, and ENCATC.
Since 2022, Materahub has been part of the EIT KIC Culture and Creativity.
