How can the cultural and creative industries become a real driver of the circular economy? Together with the Federal Competence Center for Cultural and Creative Industries, we designed and delivered Creative Lab #7 – Circular Economy: a multi-month innovation program that brought together creatives, SMEs, and experts to develop concrete circular solutions. The result: 5 interdisciplinary teams, new cross-sector partnerships, and a scalable blueprint for circular innovation formats in the creative sector
The cultural and creative industries play a key role in shaping products, services, and narratives—but circular economy concepts often remain abstract or disconnected from everyday practice. Many creatives and SMEs lacked concrete tools, methods, and spaces to translate circular ambition into viable business models. At the same time, public funding programs needed formats that went beyond inspiration and actually enabled implementation, collaboration, and learning-by-doing.
Problem
The cultural and creative industries play a key role in shaping products, services, and narratives—but circular economy concepts often remain abstract or disconnected from everyday practice. Many creatives and SMEs lacked concrete tools, methods, and spaces to translate circular ambition into viable business models. At the same time, public funding programs needed formats that went beyond inspiration and actually enabled implementation, collaboration, and learning-by-doing.
We co-designed Creative Lab #7 as a hands-on innovation journey focused on circular economy. The program combined expert inputs, workshops, mentoring, and peer learning—structured around real challenges from the creative industries. Participants worked in interdisciplinary teams, exploring circular materials, business models, and services, while testing their ideas against economic and practical realities. Our role covered program design, facilitation, content development, and strategic framing, ensuring that circularity became actionable, not theoretical.
Solution
We co-designed Creative Lab #7 as a hands-on innovation journey focused on circular economy. The program combined expert inputs, workshops, mentoring, and peer learning—structured around real challenges from the creative industries. Participants worked in interdisciplinary teams, exploring circular materials, business models, and services, while testing their ideas against economic and practical realities. Our role covered program design, facilitation, content development, and strategic framing, ensuring that circularity became actionable, not theoretical.
Creative Lab #7 enabled participants to move from ideas to concrete concepts: circular products, services, and business models ready for further development. Beyond individual projects, the lab strengthened cross-sector exchange between creatives, industry, and public institutions. The program demonstrated how the creative industries can act as translators and accelerators of circular economy—making complex transformation tangible, collaborative, and scalable..
Impact
Creative Lab #7 enabled participants to move from ideas to concrete concepts: circular products, services, and business models ready for further development. Beyond individual projects, the lab strengthened cross-sector exchange between creatives, industry, and public institutions. The program demonstrated how the creative industries can act as translators and accelerators of circular economy—making complex transformation tangible, collaborative, and scalable..
“Creative Lab #7 shows how the creative industries can actively shape the circular economy. The format combined strategic depth with practical relevance—and created real momentum for implementation.”
— Federal Competence Center for Cultural and Creative Industries
“The creative industries have a unique role in the circular transition: they translate complexity into solutions people can actually use and want. With Creative Lab #7, we built a space where circularity became a real business question for five startups.”
— Maximilian Mauracher, Circular Strategist
