Transformative Skills @ECIS23

2023 has been elected as the European Year of Skills, as announced by EU President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address. 2023 will therefore focus on promoting the relevance of creative competences for regenerating both our society and our planet. Furthermore, it will co-create a shared understanding regarding which new competences are necessary in navigating the complexities of trans-sectorial integration to foster the green transformation.  

This year's European Creative Industries Summit (#ECIS23) has been kicked off in Northern Sweden’s deep winter, on February 15th in Umeå, with the #ECIS23 Assembly, jointly organized by ECBN and RISE, Research Institute of Sweden.  

The #ECIS23 discussed and deepened the nature of these new transformative competences. Those are functional to the communities of practice and ecosystems working with green transformation. By exploring the places of friction between disciplines, sectors, mindsets, ways of working and organizing, the event articulated how playfulness, surprise, lightness, hope, endless imagination and care, get to improve lives, transform communities, generate jobs and societal thriving, and create spill-over effects into all sectors, ensuring that Europe becomes the powerhouse of sustainable transformation in the world. 

During this hybrid event, more than 100 guests and delegates in presence joined to discuss the nature, needs and opportunities for developing, learning, and teaching transformative skills. By continuing the collaborative work on the European Design Agenda, d.centre|EU delved into how design approaches can help in dealing with new trans-sectorial challenges of integration, offering methods to deal with friction, complexity, and uncertainty.  

The second part of the day the "Transformative Skills - Embracing Friction to Create the Unexpected" workshop was launched. Through design provocations and work sessions, it inspired and set foundations for a paradigm shift towards a sustainable societal transformation.
This interactive workshop on the European Design Agenda was lead by Senior Design Researcher at RISE, Ambra Trotto, set up as design provocations and work sessions to inspire and set foundations for a paradigm shift towards a sustainable societal transformation.

Moderator:  Ambra Trotto, director of design and research of d.centre|EU*Panel*:
Co-Hosts: Rosa van der Veen and Gabriele Ferri

The workshop aimed to uncover the skills and attitudes necessary to address future societal and planetary challenges effectively. Participants from various sectors provided input on possible frictions in scenarios presented and discussed the competencies needed to manage and respond to the respective frictions. While assembling mutants, future collegues or version of oneself in seven years, participants brought to light several key themes about the transformative skills needed for embracing friction: 

1. The mutant as connector; 

2. The mutant as an intuitive, open-hearted artist; 

3. The mutant as a heterogeneous entity; 

4. The mutant as a more-than-human entity.