TOOL 2

Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea 2020 was conducted online and stretched over two days:

• 28 OCT II Main event streamed live online from Aarhus with a pitching competition and keynote sessions focused on CCI, internationalisation and the Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13 as well as a musical intervention.
• 29 OCT II Elective participation in a virtual CCI internationalisation workshop for CCI start-ups led by Creative Business Network.

Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea 2019 took place physically with activities for two days:

• 28 OCT II Main event hosted in Aarhus with a pitching competition and keynote session focused on CCI, internationalisation and the Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13 as well as a musical intervention and a reception and plenty of networking opportunities.

• 29 OCT II internationalisation workshop for CCI start-ups led by Creative Business Network, visits by international participating CCI startups to local Danish companies and incubators and elective participation in this.festival for digitalisation and creative industries in the region of Midtjylland

• To improve the internationalisation of SME end-users in the design, fashion and digital fields within the cultural and creative industries in the Baltic Sea Region
• To address transnational challenges of sustainability and climate in the Baltic Sea Region (taking United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13 as the starting point)
• To design a new integrated transnational experience (pitching contest, training event, B2B program) building on existing CCI-support frameworks (involving CCI support organisations and cultural institutes)

An important aim of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea is to ensure that participating CCI companies and entrepreneurs gain inspiration for new ideas, methods and technologies: they participate in an international pitching competition – either as audience members or pitchers – where they gain knowledge of concrete examples of CCI projects in the Baltic Sea Region that are both commercially viable and environmentally sustainable. They meet and listen to keynotes from more experienced Danish companies that have successfully combined commercial interests and sustainable methods and approaches. They participate in an internationalisation workshop by Creative Business Network where they learn about CCI internationalisation, and they are given the opportunity to participate in this.festival for digitalisation and creative industries in the region of Midtjylland where they can meet, listen to and be inspired by other creatives and experts.

Participants of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea expand their network and gain new contacts by networking with each other, meeting local companies, incubators, CCI support organisations, experts and other CCI actors, participating in this.festival and – for the winner of the pitching competition – by participating in the international creative congress Sonar+D in Barcelona.

Participants of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea gain a greater understanding of existing possibilities for transnational cooperation and financing, e.g. the Accelerace Acceleration Program, by meeting and visiting different CCI incubators and support organisations.

An important aspect of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea is that it gathers start-ups, SMEs, incubators, CCI support organisations and other creative actors from the BSR, allowing them to visit and meet each other, network and create new partnerships.

The pitching competition, forming the centre of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea, allows the participants to showcase their products and services to the audience and each other.

Almost all elements of Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea – pitching competition, visits to local companies and incubators, keynotes and internationalisation workshop – works to build the capacities of the participants and facilitate peer-to-peer learning.

In addition to the aims above, Pitching for a Better Baltic Sea has a strong focus on sustainability, specifically the project aims to show how the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13 can create value, give direction and lead toward the innovation and investments of the future.