DISCE - Between labour markets and entrepreneurship

I graduated on water management and now I'm working on water management, so it is very interesting. People ask me: aren't you afraid that you lose your artist ability? I say, it's coming back one day it will just hit me that this is something that I really have to develop as a piece of art or it's already there and I just have to finish it. I have confidence that it will just happen that way, because it's nice, it's kind of an exploration toward it at the moment, I think that's good just to switch after successfully building 30 years theatre sets, it's good to do something else, refresh yourself, and well just see where you can go.” (EN26M50s) The impact and difference they can make with their creative experiments are highlighted as suggested by an entrepreneur who ran some local art courses and small cultural clubs to make it possible for others to pursue their creativity. She considered her activity as economically sustainable, but more importantly as something which has a wider impact in the community. Balancing these were ideal for her: “It is the awareness of having created a unique space of its kind,… so for me the biggest gain is the security of having started an activity that not only has an economic impact for me, but also has a social and cultural impact for the place where I live.

… I have to say that what I have is already my ideal model.” (TR24F40s) Experimenting oftentimes involves mistakes, which are embraced as a possibility to learn. Through experiencing and making mistakes during the creative process the end result can be much better, even something extraordinary. An entrepreneur working with virtual reality productions told how she by mistake positioned the camera wrong but this accidentally lead to a very successful outcome. Therefore, she praised the mistakes as excellent learning opportunities, which were also enjoyable. “It's more about for me to let myself have so much space so I can make a lot of mistakes because know the end result will be much better than if I try to know everything before. […] I know that I have to fail a lot, the funny things is to fail. Because it can be more fantastic then.” (LU23F50S) She further assured that her best ideas stem from the issues she does not know or has not thought before. This is what she calls her ‘creative flow’, which she wants to experience. However, being creative entrepreneur is also about balancing between the personal need for absolute creative freedom and the concrete realities of entrepreneurship: i.e. doing arts through free

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experimenting and trial and error but on other hand taking into consideration high costs of producing a certain art piece, which can also go to waste if everything goes wrong: “My best ideas are from the not knowing point, not from my pre-ideas, I can sit and do pre-ideas but when I work in the creative flow from not knowing point, that is the best ideas I had and how to get that into VR when it's so expensive to lose...” (LU23F50S) Our data clearly demonstrate how our interviewees have made mistakes, learnt from them and found new ways of pursuing creative work. One interviewee highlights the importance of making mistakes during his career. He even challenges the educators not to teach to avoid failing but rather to consider it as something inevitable and crucial for one’s development. “With failing, you know, failure is so valuable, teaches you so much and actually can make you catch up with the ones who didn't fail and even overtake them because of what you learn from your failure, I think it's kind of still a taboo topic that's being avoided between students and teachers and so on. Hey, you know, failing is not a not a wise thing to happen. Exactly. And again, don't encourage them to fail. Just take away the fear of failing, you know, let them success sure, but not with that fear and pressure.

I mean, I had to learn so many failures after graduating in the real world, there are things who wouldn't ever ever mentioned was so crucial. And yeah.” (EN2M20s) Experimenting and learning by doing are integral and natural parts of creative work. By experimenting and learning creative freelancers and entrepreneurs acquire and organise the scarce resources they have access to when creating something new and unique. In entrepreneurship literature the concept of bricolage emphasises making do with the resources at hand particularly in resource-poor environments (Baker & Nelson, 2005). This is something creative freelancers and entrepreneurs do to render new services by recombining resources at hand for their (new) purposes. Throwing oneself into the creative process and relying on it makes it possible for creative freelancers and entrepreneurs to do something unique, which they find meaningful for themselves and impactful for others. Experimenting involves imposing oneself to criticism and feedback and oftentimes also making mistakes. The experiments and related outcomes may eventually become visible in new offerings, techniques, processes and materials, and in the ways in which the offerings are being priced to the customers as well as in new contacts and networks which can be beneficial in future creative endeavours.

Experimenting and learning take time and short-term assignments do not necessarily provide room for them. Therefore, creative entrepreneurs and freelancers may be forced to cover some of these costs by themselves as artists and as investments for the future. This challenges particularly those with less resources, experience and networks at the early career phase.

3.2.4. Snapshot to business skills Another snapshot based on the survey data of creative professionals in Finland (see Appendix 2 Survey Data and Variables) is informative of their business skills. In the questionnaire, we referred to skills needed in new venture creation and generic skills that concern running business or securing income. In crafting the scale, we reflected the nine dimensions of business model canvas (Greene, 2020; Osterwalder & Pigneon, 2010). The results illustrate that studied creative professionals emphasize of having more internal, controllable business skills (Figure 1). In general, they perceive that they are better at managing necessary processes, organizing resources, and controlling the costs of their creative work than having skills, which concern marketing and selling their offerings.

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Figure 1 Business skills among studied creative professionals (n=456, 1=Totally disagree, …, 5=Totally agree) When explored in detail, business skills do not vary based on gender or by working in more than one creative professions/jobs. Those working in more than one creative sector perceive their skills to be better in organizing resources and connecting with their audience(s) than those who work only in one creative sector. The respondents whose education had covered at least some business subjects perceived almost all their business skills better than those who have not studied any business subjects. For instance, skills concerning selling the offerings, controlling costs, creating networks and in organizing, the necessary resources are considered to be better among those who have studied business subjects. These imply that in terms of having stronger sense of business skills, creative professionals benefit from having such skills embedded in teaching and curriculum of creative subjects. In order to profile the respondents according to their business skills, we ran a cluster analysis by using the KMean cluster analysis with maximum of 15 iterations which produced a three-fold solution.

1 The profiles do not differ significantly based on the respondents’ background, such as age, gender, number of professions, work experience, experience in creative sectors or in entrepreneurship (Table 3). Moreover, the location of work or study or number of sources of income does not vary significantly between different profiles.

1

We compared three, four, and five cluster solutions of which three and four were selected for further analysis. The cluster analysis of four clusters generated profiles, which show how some respondents perceive all their business skills high, some perceive them low and two groups in which business skills have either internal or outbound emphasis. However, the differences between the profiling groups between low and high levels of perceived skills were mixed and hence we chose the three clusters solution.

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Table 3 Three profiles of creative professionals Lower business skills n=122/27%

Creative professionals in this profile perceive their business skills lower compared to others. They emphasize less the economic value creation and their perceived creative self-efficacy and resilience are lower than in other profiles, and they do not identify strongly as entrepreneurs. They have less often tertiary or higher education and they have studied less often any business subjects. When compared to other profiles, they perceive more often their income to be insufficient and they work fewer hours per week on average. These professionals prefer being part-time worker, but also salaried work to entrepreneurship when compared to other profiles.

Business skills with internal focus n=194/43%

Concerning the business skills, these creative professionals place in the middle of the two other profile groups. Their emphasis on perceived business skills is slightly more on skills, which concern process management, organizing the necessary resources and controlling costs than skills used in identifying audience(s) or describing the value created to the audience(s). They also prefer traditional ways slightly more than new ways of working and they have higher preference for working independently than among other profiles. These professionals have more often tertiary or higher education and they have higher perceived resilience than those with low perceived business skills, and identify more strongly with the entrepreneurial identity. In general, they represent the average profile of studied creative professionals.

Higher business skills n=140/31%

In this profile, the studied creative professionals perceive their business skills higher than in other profiles. They identify strongly with the entrepreneurial identity, have highest levels or resilience, and creative self-efficacy among the profiles. Moreover, their perceived creative selfefficacy is higher compared to others. These creative professionals have often studied some business subjects and they perceive that their income is adequate. They also work more hours per week on average than others and are more inclined to private funding than public funding. In addition, these professionals prefer slightly more international audiences than others.

The identified business skills profiles demonstrate some differences in the ways in which creative professionals pursue their creative work. E.g. those with lower business skills tend to perform less professionally in terms of finances and have, thus, more modest income level whereas those with higher business skills tend to perform more professionally in monetary terms and have more often an adequate income level. Survey findings suggest that business skills and education make a difference in ways in which creative professionals pursue their work and whether and how they manage to earn their living thereof. Learning new skills, including business skills to be self-sufficient and relying on the skills accessible via individual networks are important ways to gain resources needed in creative work. Our qualitative and quantitative results suggest that possessing business skills makes it easier for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers to talk about business and money, to run their businesses and also make their businesses economically more sustainable. The ways in which they gain these skills (such as pricing, new techniques, reaching customers) and cope innovatively with resources at hand vary from education to learning by doing, experimenting and making mistakes, for example.

However, money is not considered as their main motivation to pursue creative activity, but creative passion and freedom as well as quality output with an impact are highly appreciated among creative entrepreneurs and freelancers.

3.3. Relying on others’ resources and support Although creative freelancers and entrepreneurs are relatively self-sufficient, flexibly exploit the resources at hand, and learn by doing and by making mistakes they also rely on others’ resources in addition to familial support from the spouse, for example. Previous research stresses the importance of networks and social capital as they provide important social support (Davidson & Honig, 2003; Klyver et al., 2018; Klyver & 38

Arenius, 2020). This ranges from instrumental support, such as money, labor, and knowledge (McGuire, 2007) to emotional support (Nielsen, 2020) which can also boost individuals' passion for their work (Stenholm & Nielsen, 2019). Hence, in addition to family members, frends, colleagues, and collaborators are useful resources in terms of human, social and perhaps even financial capital when creative professionals are recognizing new opportunities and organizing resources to create new outputs.

3.3.1. Community role models and teaming up Based on our data many creative freelancers and entrepreneurs enter into the creative business through an experiment, often induced by role models such as seeing others in the community to do the same, or by having a partner or team member to get involved. Entrepreneurship research has evidenced that role models are seen as important for determining career choices, outcomes or entrepreneurial intentions (Aparicio et al., 2021). A role model is an individual who sets examples to be emulated by others and who may stimulate or inspire other individuals to make certain (career) decision and achieve certain goals (e.g. Shapiro et al. 1978). Media in particular has been found to present even heroic stories (Johnsen & Sørensen, 2017) by highlighting entrepreneurial success stories, which might influence other (budding) entrepreneurs. The sources of role models in entrepreneurship vary e.g. from family, friends, peers, and networks to media (Bosma et al., 2012). Seeing others to make it as an entrepreneur is important and this is the case also for the creative freelancers and self-employed. “This last job was for three years. And then I was, there was no money anymore, so I had to leave, and I was very, very worried. And then I tried to find a job elsewhere, but that didn't work out. And then one morning, I woke up and the sun was shining.

And well, my friends are self-employed musicians, and they teach. Why couldn't I do that? So, I tried, and I made my own website and so on.” (EN30F) Role models provide living evidence that something can be done and achieved. Friends and peers are important resources for freelancers and entrepreneurs throughout their entrepreneurial journey. They can also serve as role models, to bring hope and trust on one’s endeavours: “Why couldn't I do that?” (EN30F). Stereotypical image of entrepreneurship is that of the lone individual, sometimes even a lone hero (Johnsen & Sørensen, 2017). Yet, many entrepreneurs operate in close-knit networks, or the activity is started by getting together with a business partner (Cooney, 2005): “I walked away and didn't know what to do. And then just got on the phone and spoke to loads and loads of people and said look this is what I've done and then it ended up that one particular guy, who is now my business partner said why don't we set up our own company? We've got so many contacts, we know so many people. We don't need a warehouse full of kit, we can hire it.” (CH24M50s) “And so it should be that the real potential of doing much smaller and more creative projects.

I was kind of like, well, if we can do it like that, with two or three of us just pulling together, then maybe I could do that as a business, like run my own studio sort of thing, be a freelancer.” (DU25M30s) Role models from close networks seem important when getting started with a business. They provide confidence and make it possible to see oneself doing the same either by oneself or with others. Networks can also be used to complement one’s skills. One of the interviewees highlighted that she did not want to focus so much on marketing and communicating with audiences because it takes time from actual creative

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work. Therefore, she has attempted to escape from selling and rather to utilize her contacts and networks in her business operations: “I feel that you can get lost in that because it's so much about marketing too much about having contact and then you forget what you are really good at, so I'm trying to put that over to someone else actually, if it's possible, sometimes I have to do it myself but...” (LU23F50S) Having a team around oneself may be a very practical issue in getting necessary things done in time, but similarly it may provide mental support. Teaming up implies that one does not need to be self-sufficient all the time but can rely on others’ skills and ideas. Working by oneself may also feel lonely and stressful while being responsible for everything whereas working in a team may be more impactful: “I would just really like to have some kind of team to help me to manage everything and to also be able to work on more videos, and to add contexts in which I could build the kind of landscape as a project or as an exhibition, to really, not being the only one making choices, not being the only one that has to arrange everything…” (LE14M30s) Furthermore, the combination of the skills of the team makes is a way to create more interesting offerings and services for the potential customers.

It is not only that different skills complement each other when designing offerings, but different experts can learn from each other. An entrepreneur and partner in an industrial design company highlight the combination of diverse expertise – design, economy and practice – which makes them unique in the eyes of the customer. “We have engineers who are really good in calculating things but we have our designers who are really good in being creative and coming up with different concepts and it's actually the combination of these two that makes Xx [name of a company removed for anonymity reasons] as an interesting company and, but I think if you can help engineers to be as creative as a designer you will have an amazing profile of type of engineer…. Cause we want to find the people that are technical but also creative. And the third aspect is that they need to be practical as well.” (LE13M30s) Striving for a more impactful work may also imply growing the company in order to be able to recruit more skills and talents, and thus to be able to better serve the customers. It is a win-win-win –situation where an entrepreneur, employees and customers all gain.

“I want to have maximum positive impact with what we are doing and the reason why I'm not alone anymore, but why I started the organization, is because I feel that in a team, the impact I have on questions people ask me is just a lot stronger. So, the reason why I believe we have to blueprint ourselves and grow as a company is to just grow on the positive impact side. …. So, the more different skills in analysing problems, ability to create texts and images, developing small tools, whatever, the more skills we put on that same basic, the richer the answers for our client gets. (LE18M40s) Collaboration with other professionals is considered as a resource to do creative work but is also important in finding and creating new complementary ways to increase business activities. Identifying a complementary partner may also be a triggering event for a joint endeavour, a new offering or even a company. A potter started to work with a baker in the same premises and found out that it is possible for them to combine their businesses. The collaboration benefits both entrepreneurs and customers get more value via more developed product offerings: 40

“We have this symbiosis again so we work together, I have products from me that she sells together with pralines, for example small ceramic plates, or now we make pots that we put like a stick for hot chocolate in. So that's collaboration that we started also.”(LU22F50S) The stereotypical image of the entrepreneur offered by the media but also reinforced by the general public is that of a lone rider. Yet, many entrepreneurs including the ones interviewed organise their activities in teams whereby they can rely on the complementary skills and experiences, and support provided by the team. Support from the peers and the role models is important both in terms of concrete help in getting assignments done and of mental support and learning. Next we move on to discussing wider networks, either formal or informal ones and the ways in which creative individuals use networks as a resource to support their creative work.

3.3.2. Using networks In addition to friends and peers, utilizing different informal and formal networks to get access to needed expertise and other human resources is an important aspect of gaining sufficient resources for their work. The networks and creative communities are discussed more in-depth in the D 4.3 Value creation modelling – report from the point of view of creative ecologies particularly. Here in this section the focus is on the ways in which individuals use their networks as a resource in their creative businesses. Being embedded in networks is a way for the self-employed working alone in their business to be part of a community and to receive support both for their business activities and for their well-being (Nieminen & Hytti, 2016). Networks and contacts are important in complementing the creative skills of the entrepreneurs with business skills, particularly selling and marketing, which they find remote and unpleasant. It is common that networks and communities are applied to systematically widen their contacts and to become connected with potential customers. While some creative entrepreneurs feel confident with networking, others have to push themselves to make contacts and get along with people. “I'm not that person going out and selling myself, because I think that's, it's not my type.

[…] So, I started to go this Business Network International[…] And I get in contact with 50 people every week, so I can ask things and they give me jobs[…]” (LU20F50S) Networks are, thus, applied to find new contacts and reaching the customers, not only in organizing the resources in producing the service or offering. The contacts and networks can also be necessary to boost the self-confidence in doing business, such as starting to promote and advertising one’s own activities. “We went to the club and we were like 19 years old, super inexperienced and insecure. And I remember that she said, okay, did you guys already start posting it online? Publish it? And we were like no, she was like why not, do it now.” (EN8M20s) Collaborators may provide needed support and encouragement for those feeling uncertain about their skills. Passing this kind of positive emotional support on to others strengthens both collaborator's and receiver's positive feelings about their endeavors (Nielsen, 2020). Being a self-employed or a freelancer may feel lonely, and the community and network offer security, a kind of home, where one can be safe in their feelings. “We have a home where we can so to say... be safe in our feelings, that when we need to record something that we really like at the same time creating something new, in principle, it is like a base, like a base, for us.

That’s to reply to your question why one like

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this is needed, that would be like a view from my personal... personal, so to say, interest about such a place.” (LI13M30s) The existing networks provide possibilities for learning to become self-sufficient resource-wise. Furthermore, it is possible to use the networks to complement one’s own artistic skills and to get actual support in implementing the project. Their networks include individuals from different arenas with different skills: friends, schoolmates and people they have met during times. Some use also business mentors to support their business and learning. It seems natural to ask for support and advice: “I’ve gotten to know a lot of people, who I can contact with things. Of course, from friends from school and from those people, so there’s a lot of people with a lot of different skills, who help. For example, you have a photographer and a videographer and a marketing person or a brand expert and people like that, so there’s always someone, who wants to help or knows someone.” (PO31F20S). Role of networks for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers varies based on their work and profession. The work of a cultural producer, for example, is about networking and moving from one production and project to another. Therefore, they actively build and co-ordinate networks even though they do not get paid for it.

However, it ‘pays back’ in terms of getting connected with more people in the field and being able to lean on their support at some point. “When I still do this thing [coordinate a network], even though I don’t get paid for it, then still, and of course I have made a lot of contacts through the network and now I know a lot of people in the X sector all over Finland, for example, and you can use them personally and also help other people through it.” (PO4F40S) However, creative entrepreneurs, other than cultural producers and managers, speak less about the need for networking with their colleagues although they do such collaboration. A graphic designer, for example has got a thorough experience of working as an employee at a large company and then started a part-time business as a graphic designer. She was interested in collaboration with her peers from the very beginning: “I have now started think about a cooperation network, I´d like to have with the colleagues of my field. It would be nice to work collectively as well. If someone got a task that is not just not quite right for you, then you could ask your colleague, […] hey are you interested in doing this and vice versa. (PO30F30S). Collaboration means also forwarding the projects to those colleagues who are better equipped to implement the particular project at a given time.

Thus, collaboration is considered also as a way to share work and tasks with colleagues if one feels not having relevant skills, interest or time to do the job by oneself. In the working environment of creative entrepreneurs and freelancers, most jobs are communicated through a network. A cultural producer who has been in the field for over 20 years confirms the fact that networks play an important role in finding a job in the field. However, it takes time to create the networks and it is challenging for a newcomer to learn to know the right people. “Networks are somehow really important in finding a job in this sector. This is both a good and a bad thing. It’s very challenging for beginners.” (PO4F40S) Networks and the communities they have built are important for example to quickly organize things anew in an emergency situation. The network is a flexible resource which makes it possible for entrepreneurs to stay small but still meet the customer’s expectations. “I can extract certain information rapidly, for example, if I get a call from someone and there is an emergency situation, I know where to get artists, illuminators, tuners, I can 42

organise all that in an hour, let’s say. Well, the local, the local charm. And here on site we have plenty professionals, that's an advantage.” (LI9F40s) “We always want to stay small and we'll bring in projects and then create collaborative teams around those projects, with us doing the core design work, but then bringing in other skills like photographers, illustrators, basically whoever we need. It allows us to stay really flexible and for want of a better word agile so that we can change and adapt to the needs of any project or client that comes along.” (DU25M30s) For some feeding into the network may be important. It may also be about working for the networks, being inspired by working with the networks, and making it possible for artists within the network to showcase their talents. A self-employed individual organizing music events is motivated by being able to provide opportunities for young musicians and keeping the network alive by feeding in some money for those implementing the events.

“Yeah, I guess there's two sides of it, that we want to offer opportunities to the young bands themselves to just showcase what they've made, what they can do and to earn a bit of money, so that they can make more music, better music, and to me, it feels like every euro we put into the cultural scene triples or quadruples very easily, because they use it to go to the studio and then the studio engineer gets a bit of extra money and then he can use it to expand the studio and get better equipment. (LE6M30s) Others’ resources available through networks are important sources of skills, expertise and capacities. Furthermore, the network and communities serve as energy and a source of motivation while creative work may be considered quite lonely. Thus, networks contribute both to the business and wellbeing of creative professionals (Nieminen & Hytti, 2016). Keeping networks and communities alive require constant work and nourishing but they pay back in terms of new projects, experiences and learning.

3.3.3. Snapshot to networking among creative professionals The third snapshot based on the survey data of creative professionals in Finland (see Appendix 2 Survey Data and Variables) is informative of networking among creative professionals. Networks are a means to maintain flexibility and expertise and to connect the forces of individual creative workers in creative economies (Wu & Wu, 2016). In the survey, we addressed the extent to which the studied creative professionals have connected with different stakeholders (Figure 2). Most often they have been networking with creative individuals and organizations as well as communities and associations. This matches with the interview data findings from the European regions. Networking has been directed the least often to creative and cultural agencies and promoters.

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Figure 2 The extent to which the respondents have connected with different stakeholders (n=421-450, 1=Never,…, 5=Always) A closer look shows that women are more often networking with creative and cultural communities and associations, but also with stakeholders, which provide education and training or provide moral and emotional support. Networking with education and training sources is most common among those who have more than one profession. Moreover, those with higher education are more often connecting with creative individuals, projects and venues, communities and with stakeholders which provide education and training. Connectivity with the creative and cultural communities and associations is more common among creative professionals locating in urban centers. This is understandable as many networks are to be found in urban areas rather than in more remote locations. When compared between different business skills profiles (see section 3.2.4 Snapshot to business skills), those with higher perceived business skills networked more often with creative individuals, projects and venues, communities and associations as well as sponsors and funders than those who perceived their business skills low. In addition, if a person had a strong creative identity, then networking with creative individuals, venues, communities and funders was common.

In case of high entrepreneurial identity, the networking focused more often on funders and agencies. It seems that perceived business skills and identities shape also the selection of collaborative networks. Networking is important for creative professionals. Networking and the related stakeholders with whom creative professional collaborate vary depending on the situation and individual’s identity as well as goals set for the activities. Most often they collaborate with other creative individuals and organizations as well as communities and associations. Networks may be related both to business and/or creative activity and networking is more common in urban areas.

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3.4. Creative spaces and programmes As presented in previous sections, passion and freedom to act are starting points for creative professionals’ work. They consider themselves as a core resource combined with their capability to gather and use others’ resources when creating their heterogeneous creative outcomes. Such human and social resources are not always enough but some other more tangible resources in the creative ecology may be needed. In entrepreneurship literature all these together form entrepreneurial ecosystem for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers. Entrepreneurial ecosystem is “a set of interdependent actors and factors coordinated in such a way that they enable productive entrepreneurship within a particular territory” (Stam & Spigel, 2018, 407). In addition to resources such as networks, skills and financial resources discussed in previous sections, entrepreneurial ecosystem includes formal institutions, support services, policies and physical infrastructure. These entrepreneurial ecosystems or creative ecologies of the studied case study regions are further described and analysed in the DISCE Regional case study reports (Regional Case Studies, 2022). Next, we will focus on creative premises and spaces as well as public programmes and schemes, which our interviewees raised up when talking about their creative work, goals, income and resources.

3.4.1. Premises / spaces There are concrete resources, such as physical premises, which are needed in creative work. The data offers many examples how (empty or free) buildings are turned into a creative space by mobilising co-operation and joint action. By doing so, creative freelancers and entrepreneurs crate economic value by combining resources which are generally believed to be worthless or even a liability and imbue the premises with new value use (see Baker & Nelson, 2005). This again showcases how apt they are for bricolage discussed earlier in 3.2. Individual resources and working modes. The availability of free space spurs creativity and enables taking action of co-creating a space for culture. This does not necessarily take place based on a well-thought plan but may occur by serendipity. “Accidentally we had this idea that, you know, we have this nice room, maybe we can have some public event. All of that started as a real accident. We did not enter this place the first day, to make it a public culture centre. Simply, at one point in time we had this idea that we could do in parallel, and the same, the same, that... that...

that cost price for all of this to cover with some parallel activity, and it really won us over and pulled us into really deep [laughing], […] that musicians in principle created this place.” (LI13M30s) These spaces need not to be long-term, but the creative initiatives could use the spaces while they are empty and not needed. Such initiatives might also serve the interests of the property owners as a creative project may be a way to vitalise an area. “I think if I sent you more locations, you will clearly see that there is so much unused area this in region that I'm not saying to give away to creative initiatives. But at least in the meantime, some of them are I mean really unused for years in the meantime, how can we create a fair partnership between those creative initiatives and those let's say owners of those areas or buildings to. In the meantime, you know, do something useful with it?” (EN2M20s) The availability of space and places also give the ability to create something new for a more permanent basis: a festival and workshops that are available on demand all the time, and not just during a fixed time.

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“There was something like 20 units that were free and we took on all these units and developed them, upgraded the space and put like a series of design experiments into the space, and went and engaged with those existing businesses to try and like capture a different audience for the design festival. I mean, I suppose it's been traditionally done and been done for the past two years, we want to look at it slightly differently, and to create a festival that was on demand. So one that was available at any time so that there was no pre described workshops or times to turn off or anything like that it was all there all the time, just come and get hands on and get involved.” (DU25M30s) Another example of premises as a resource, although provided by the city, is an Artist Community in Pori, which is a textbook example of how creative entrepreneurs make do with limited resources to offer something new to new audiences from inputs that others have rejected or ignored (Baker & Nelson, 2005). They combine premises and people to produce (sculpture) art and performance events. The Community got a space from the city in a dilapidated building ‘shortwave station’ surrounded by a large park area where they have set up a statue park. Indoors, they have a working space for artists and an art gallery.

In the gallery there is a pop-up story café where they have collected stories and memories about the building for a research project as part of the cultural studies. The Artist Community puts together the resources of city, cultural actors and suburban residents to create value. “Artist Community has basically been an art platform, meaning we have many kinds of people [members], both art and non-art, construction culture, painting, sculpture, media art. And indeed, it is a bit hard to say when it goes in a certain direction, but now the moment is that we are an organization that produces events.” (PO16M40S) It has taken 25 years for the Artist Community to build an international network and to find right persons to contribute to the organisation of events. Co-working spaces or communities and working together may also serve as a source of self-confidence and collegiality although they all worked in their own businesses. The coworking spaces operate to replace the work community e.g. in terms of offering support for the community members as ‘working colleagues’ who also serve as a kind of role models, living examples that one can make it.

“And I think one of the main things that gave me the confidence that that was possible, other than maybe doing little bits and pieces on the side for like small clients just to build up a little bit cash was really to I found a co working space, all working together and all making it work, whether they were generally one or two people, sort of businesses. And that sort of gave me the confidence that I could make it happen and that there was a bit of support there if I needed it.” (DU25M30s) It is also possible to use family’s existing premises as a resource for creative business. Here again the notion of being self-sufficient, innovative and flexible is an important aspect to reduce costs. An entrepreneur, a potter, developed a ceramic place in their family farm and then refurbished it further to include other facilities, which can be rented out to gain complementary income. Own existing premises are, thus, accommodated so that they can be used for entrepreneurial creative purposes as much as possible.

These diverse sources of income make it possible for her to work as a potter whereas pottery work alone would not be enough for her livelihood: “So that became a bakery and a meeting room and we had the student rooms and a little apartment […] I wouldn't be able to pay the bills if I would just have that part [pottery], but thanks to the fact that we built this rental area so we can rent out the bakery, we can rent out the rooms, we get the money in so I can actually [make living] with this company. 46

We've maximised every corner and yeah, now it's really full and it's okay with that.” (LU22F50S) Our data demonstrate how cultural actors use the premises they have access to for their entrepreneurial creative purposes and manage to attract new audiences with such offerings. Creative spaces are not restricted to tangible, physical premises, but they also include the idea of mental co-working space with a possibility to gain support, confidence and collegiality from the peers. Use of such, oftentimes even abandoned spaces demonstrate innovative use of resources in the surrounding ecosystem.

3.4.2. Programmes and policies Entrepreneurial ecosystem comprises of public, private and third sector actors which oftentimes jointly work for creative offerings in creative economies. When talking about creative work, goals, income and resources our creative entrepreneurs and freelancers interviewed, they refer to collaboration with public bodies as well as to grants and schemes which make it possible for them to pursue their creative activities. Our data reveals that the participants find it valuable to co-operate with universities and municipalities. Interestingly it is also suggested that the process of collaborating is more important and rewarding than the actual outcome of the process: “In my opinion, the combination of the municipality, the university and the association is not something to be taken for granted. If we could manage to combine this, and we are trying to do so, a reality that creates an important network between organisations operating in the same place, with the coordination of events and initiatives on a common theme, while maintaining each one's own prerogatives, this would be a really important thing.” (TR2M30s) It is considered important to get the public and private actors to work together to get something worthwhile accomplished. This may take some time.

Furthermore, working with public local authorities and policy makers is not always easy and it challenges the way creative actors would otherwise work. Public actors tend to guide the activities top-down whereas creative actors wish to work bottom-up from the grass-root level: “The big downside of their policy right now, is that they could leave some more freedom for small organizations or initiatives to do more organized, more things from the underground, from the people itself, instead of top-down from the city….. I think it's really hard to create a bottom-up cultural approach, or a true underground scene in a small city like Leuven.” (LE6M30s) The controlling role of the public actors is questioned and considered not to be supportive of truly creative activities. On the other hand, it is acknowledged that it may be impossible to organise an event or a performance requiring multifaceted expertise without public support. Working with collaborators implies having access to skills needed but also acknowledging that it increases costs as all contributors need to have a fair compensation for the work done.

Therefore, oftentimes subsidies are needed in order to keep the price of the ticket affordable for the audience: “It's not easy to make a profit in the cultural field in general, because you've got so many costs that you have to take into account, especially sound and lighting if you want to do that as well. And since you have to hire people, even if they're close to, well, we have volunteers as well, which is cheaper, but if you have to hire someone for a day, that's a lot to bear for a small organization. And then, the fact is that we also want to pay the bands 47

a decent amount for the work that they do. So, if we would have to like make correct ticket fees for the audience, we would have to go to something towards 30 or 40 euros for a very small and local event, which would be impossible to sell. So, we're quite dependent on subsidies and good will of other people. And that's a bit of a shame…” (LE6M30s) However, an experienced entrepreneur in the field highlights the power of entrepreneurs and other key actors to collaborate together with and without policy support. Her work as an entrepreneur in creating and managing creative contents relies heavily on collaboration. She argues that they themselves need to take the initiative and be in charge. There should be quality collaborations, even though politics would finance sectors. So until the only hub (Creative Industry Cluster) is not even asked, what do we expect? People should gather and cooperate. That’s the key. (PE1F50s) When considering the role of public sector and policies in creative economies the discussion easily touches upon the low-income level of the actors and the ways in which public bodies and policies might alleviate the challenge. It goes beyond the scope of this report to investigate a variety of local and national schemes to support creative work. However, some interviewees referred to such schemes when they talked about their work and earnings.

While the low and insecure income is generally expected as a field practice, it is also considered to reflect the (low) appreciation of artistic workers. Money is a clear-cut measure of the value. If it is hard to gain a decent living by providing creative services, it is reasonable to question whether these services and products are appreciated after all. In Italy an interviewee refers to other countries or regions where artists are provided a basic salary from the state: “In other parts of Italy or even in central Europe, especially France, how artists are considered, even simply because they have a salary or a basic salary from the State because they are artists, and so it makes you understand that there is a different kind of attention.” (LA9M50s) The interviewee suggests, thus, that public support manifests some appreciation, not only money, which is used for living costs. On the other hand, another interviewee in Belgium with a specific support system considered the public support system complicated and even disturbing. Living with the household income or receiving unemployment benefits targeted at artists in Belgium can be hard on one’s self-esteem: “So it's like oh, so you're unemployed? So I am paying you. So the taxes that I pay are paying you and it's like yeah, well somehow yes, but this is the system.

For artists they created this system, so I am allowed to get that money but it feels weird … We're always treated as unemployed although we're working a lot… And then if you start earning too much they kick you out of it or if you don't earn enough anymore they kick you out if it also. So it's like a middle zone.” (LE2F30s) She finds it difficult to balance between earning enough but not too much of creative work. Furthermore, she found it strange and embarrassing as an artist to be considered as an unemployed person living on taxpayers’ money. Public support of any kind is an important resource for creative freelancers and entrepreneurs. The ways in which public bodies work seem not be considered very applicable for creative actors in their work, i.e. they are not necessarily considered to encourage creative endeavours. On the other hand, different actors from different sectors together form the regional creative ecology, entrepreneurial ecosystem, in which creative actions take place. Therefore, collaboration is of vital importance. 48

4. Impact of Covid-19 on creative work 4.1. Scope of the chapter Most of the empirical data collection from the ten European case study ecologies took place after the outbreak of Covid-19. Given that the pandemic with lock downs hit creative economies in Europe it is understandable that Covid-19 was referred to when the research participants talked about their creative work. It goes beyond the scope of the report to discuss all the aspects mentioned which relate to Covid-19 as it definitely has impacted creative workers vastly. In this section the focus is on Covid-19 in the context of work, goals, and income of creative freelancers and entrepreneurs interviewed. Covid-19 has strongly challenged the creative sector and shown the challenges which are embedded in creative economies, such working in a precarious environment and having unstable basis for valuing the creative work (Comunian & England, 2020; Eikhof, 2020). Hence, the pandemic has exposed the challenges which have been there earlier, but they are rather structural issues, not results of Covid-19 (Comunian & England, 2020). However, Covid-19 has pushed creative workers to find alternative ways to perform their work and make a living and these are discussed next.

4.2. Balancing with income For the research participants Covid-19 represented an unexpected situation, which has caused a need to change business activities both in terms of contents and volume in order to avoid a total lock-down and termination of businesses. Many interviewees report a heavy decrease in their assignments and activities as a result of the restrictions. Some of the interviewees have been able to adapt their offerings in an agile manner but at the same time faced a decrease in their income: “I've had a lot less activities […] So that's why I have more time for myself but for income reasons it's not best thing […] The other thing that I have done is I usually have 12 people on a course and I had to reduce that to eight - so people can sit on a distance […] And that's the way it is if I can still have my courses with that adaption then it's fine because it's better than just cancel it.” (LU22F50S) Being able to deliver something is considered better than having no projects although the income has decreased.

Surprisingly, for some Covid-19 may have represented higher income level than earlier given the governmental subsidies as an artist working as a freelancer states; “But besides that wage I get from Corona is much higher than when I would work, which is quite strange to be saving money in this kind of times.” (LE14M30s) This further exemplifies the low income levels in the sector and the ways in which creative freelancers make do (see 2.3 Uncertainty and unstable income). The harsh situation pushes also some to consider the option of unemployment benefits in addition to reconsidering the ways to run the business: “I started exploring various possibilities of re-profiling, unemployment benefits and so on and at one point it all looked terribly gloomy, but now I understand that, well, talking to... Latvian politicians that they have realized that no one is interested in bringing down an 49

entire industry, when there are works in theatres, but it cannot be predicted either. The uncertainty remains.” (LI5M50s) In the media, there have been mostly negative comments on the consequences of Covid-19 for creative economies. Creative entrepreneurs and freelancers realize that the field is in trouble with reduced number of activities and participants and lost income respectively. Although facing the challenging situation there are also some interviewees who raise up some more positive consequences of Covid-19 for themselves, as a freelancer journalist states: “There will be a huge mark of the pandemic on the economy, and we can speak about any sector here. I hope it won’t make the economy collapse, but surely we’ll find entrepreneurs in very difficult situations. … [what about yourself?] Absolutely not. I even got works which I had never before.” (PE6F50s) Our data reveal that there are also creative entrepreneurs who have succeeded in getting new assignments despite the challenging situation. Obviously this may be easier for freelancers and entrepreneurs with longer experience and wider networks. Some, albeit a minority of the participants, identify having had enough profit in the past that they can survive the lockdown without financial concerns.

They do not even need government subsidies although working as an events producer which definitely faced the effects of lockdown: “It is profitable. We do very well out of it. It's enabled me to survive and get through this current situation. So, the company hasn't earned any money since March and I don't think we'll probably earn any money until maybe next March, so it's going to be a whole year. But I'm all right. I've done well enough that I can just I can continue my lifestyle, without worrying about it too much without having to worry about whether or not I'm going to get any sort of handout from the government.” (CH24M50s) Our data demonstrate that although Covid-19 has hit hard creative economies it does not treat all actors in a similar manner. Those with earlier savings and profits as well as wider networks likely survived better. There are also those, who have even benefitted from Covid-19 although many have suffered financially. This mirrors the experiences of entrepreneurs and self-employed in the different sectors in general (Mo et al., 2020).

4.3. Being inventive Covid-19 has pushed creative freelancers and entrepreneurs to reconsider their activities in this new and challenging situation. Our data highlight the importance of experimenting and the process of transformation in order to be able to actualize opportunities. Instead of old routines and operating models participants emphasize the importance of adaptability to critically evaluate and actively change their offerings due to changing circumstances. Finding opportunities and options to do things differently due to Covid-19 is very much about experimenting (see 3.2.3 Experimenting and making mistakes). A freelancer in performing arts reconfigured new approaches to reach the audience remotely during the Covid-19. He ran online courses at school and considered whether and how it would be possible for him to apply similar approach also to his creative work and to engage with his audience in a more effective way. He is positive that people continue to need culture and art and it is about thinking a new way to reach them. Changing circumstances can, thus, lead to something new and in that sense be seen as an opportunity. Finding new ways to translate the creative experience to the audience implies ideating and experimenting the possibilities opened up by new technologies, for example:

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“It's very interesting, to me anyway, to think about how you can do that. And, you can't assume that people are just going to walk through the door of your gallery now, you have to go out and reach them. […] So, I think it's a good opportunity, in a way, to think of things differently.” (LU26M30S) A visual artist working as a freelancer is however worried that the creative sector is reluctant to challenge its way of working after Covid-19. For him it was clear that after Covid-19 life will not return to the way it was previously. He also emphasized the view that the sector cannot rely too much on governmental support, but it needs to find its own solutions. “The expectation that everything will suddenly be back to normal, that attitude should somehow be changed. […] You should just forget the idea that nothing happens or there is not support. There is always a way out.” (PO16M40S) Our interviewees also see an opportunity to change the field by “lowering the threshold” for digitalization. There is no need to make definite decisions on how to reach the customers, but rather to experiment with different approaches and see how they work: “It wouldn’t always happen either physically or on the Internet, but it could also be a little bit of both. And we shouldn’t see digitalization as a big monster, but we could also benefit from it, so it would probably be a good thing.

[…] people in the creative sector have gotten used to being in a tough spot, so maybe there is something new to be found there, too.” (PO4F40S) Covid-19 seems to stir different responses also in the ways it changed the playground and new means to reach the audience have started to emerge gradually (Gross et al., 2020). Technologies for digitalization have been there already for many years, but not all creative entrepreneurs have been eager to exploit these opportunities. When faced by the Covid-19, some participants were agile and switched quickly, in two weeks, to livestreaming as a culture event manager describes: “In principle, during two weeks or so, a plan was developed what we need to do, how we can this stage, possibly, survive by successfully continuing the cultural life. So, that we would not have to go, for example, on the streets begging, this is a good option that people consume, and, and, and yes. By relying on our former programme we started inviting artists that have already been at our place, and quite successfully... quite successfully... quite successfully started that streaming concept. And that’s how we quite well survived the first lockdown.” (LI13M30s) However, the same participant identifies how people quickly grew tired of the virtual offering.

Therefore, it is not considered something for the future – but it is seen more as a quick fix to have some activities and income but also feeding the audience with some culture as nothing else was available. Also, the creative fields are different in this respect. For instance, organizing dance classes digitally or as socially distanced classes may not viable: “Moving forward if we carry on in January and have to do the social distanced classes that we can start in September time, it just covers costs. It doesn't, I actually don't take any wages myself from that. So for how long I can maintain that? I don't know. And so I need to kind of get back to some kind of normal, sooner rather than later. From that side of things, and I think like I say in the area is just that there's been so much job loss and so

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much more poverty now that people just can't afford to do a luxury thing, really, which is -- well, it's not a luxury, obviously, but it seems like a luxury when you've got.” (CH2F40s) Covid-19 and related lockdowns particularly pushed creative entrepreneurs and freelancers to be innovative and reconsider new ways to work and reach their audiences particularly. Some new approaches seem to be worth developing for a longer run, but some consider them only as a quick fix to react to the pandemic.

4.4. Time for creativity and for yourself Although Covid-19 has been an ‘ultimate struggle’ for the creative economy in many ways (Comunian & England, 2020), it is interesting how many participants are still identifying the silver lining in it. When everything was cancelled, there was time to contact the clients, for example, and to implement some projects which continued to be pending. “Let’s say, events are automatically cancelled, so you are not stressing out about preparing a schedule, a sort of schedule, you just cross everything with a thick line, and then you start thinking: I heard those guys wanted to record an album, and those guys wanted... You just start to slowly call them and say, you know, this is the right time, maybe it’s well worth to start doing something. And, and then you move to something else, let’s say so.” (LI13M30s) Furthermore, getting rid of tight schedules was also considered emancipatory. One interviewee offering creative services explained how he actually enjoys the atmosphere the pandemic created – no hurry but a ‘never-ending Sunday’ and having finally time for creative ideas and learning, which he considers is also needed sometimes. “In that sense I really liked that never-ending Sunday.

No one called, no one hurried, no one needed anything right now, and you could really think creatively, and there were all kinds of creative ideas that even were implemented. In that sense, personally, it was quite relevant for me, I had to learn some things anew, some things just resolved themselves, those that were pending for quite a while.” (LI13M30s) Similarly, a freelancer and songwriter thanks Covid-19 for being able to get rid of everyday busyness and finding an inner harmony. She was surprised of her calmness and not being worried although many others experienced even panic due to Covid-19. “I’m wishing everyone good health, but, well, somehow I am saying “thanks’’ to Covid. Notwithstanding how paradoxically it may sound, but... during that Spring I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden I became calm while everyone else began to panic. Because somehow, the inner me, the... those desires which were set throughout these seven years about how I want to be, suddenly harmonised with the outside. Because that rush, where everyone theorised, attended seminars, conferences, theorised regarding the present moment, and about the existence, and all of a sudden practical classes have commenced [laughing].” (LI9F40s) Others benefitted from the additional time to put into their education, such as finishing finally their B.Sc.