The feasibility study project “Collaboration between the Triangle Cities Tallinn-Helsinki-St. Petersburg in the field of creative industries” mapped out the common interests to cooperate between the creative industry actors in Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki. The project arranged roundtable meetings in each city during the spring and summer. During the roundtable meetings common themes could be found quite easily. Ideas were also already in the early stages intertwined with other than the creative industries. This shows that the application of creative competence in other sectors, so-called “creative economy” is well understood by the actors in the Triangle City region. The rountable sessions also showed that there is a consensus among the actors that co-operation in the field of creative industries and creating joint offerings would increase critical mass and visibility.
The feasibility study resulted in a report that sheds light on the Triangle City opportunities for cooperation and common development themes, but also the issues that are different in the cities and can make the cooperation challenging. The future Triangle City cooperation and the possible joint projects will have to take account that the situation and environment in relation to the creative industries can be different in the cities. For example, the types of funding and development efforts are different in different cities. Similarly, the differences in terminology and concepts can be surprising, despite the fact that everybody talks about creative industries and creative economy. Despite this, it was possible to easily identify common interests and development themes (eg. digitalization, open development platforms, cultural tourism, development of clusters / networks).
The study has been implemented within the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Programme 2014-2017 and according to the recommendations for development of creative industries in the EU area. The project was carried out by the Aalto University School of Business Small Business Center.