Pilot Runner: Materahub
The pilot RSP Creative South – Internal Capacity Building and Engagement Strategy involved partners from a vast interregional network. Key stakeholders and organisations in the mixed working groups included:
- Sviluppo Basilicata
- UNISCO (Puglia)
- Clust-ER Create (Emilia-Romagna)
- Associazione Abbracciarti (Piemonte)
- ARTI Puglia
- Puglia Culture
- Fondazione Fitzcarraldo (Piemonte)
- Materahub (Basilicata)
- ART-ER (Emilia Romagna)
- British Council
The pilot used the CYANOTYPES Framework to stress-test the strategy of the Regional Skills Partnership (RSP) for Southern Italy and explore how a more connected and resilient creative ecosystem could be built across regions.
It explored the relationships, assumptions and systemic barriers affecting participation in the cultural and creative industries. Participants from different regions and institutional backgrounds worked together to identify shared challenges and develop practical pathways for engagement.
Aims of the pilot
The pilot focused on two connected objectives:
- Stress-testing an organisational strategy against real ecosystem needs.
- Assessing policy impact and building a sustainable creative ecosystem capable of responding to longer-term skills and resilience challenges.
The pilot primarily explored:
Triple Loop Learning
Actionable Futures
Boundary Spanning
Working with Values
Narrative Design
he CYANOTYPES Blueprinter was used during the preparation and design phase to help move from a conventional stakeholder list towards a more systemic ecosystem alignment exercise. CYANOTYPES Learning Plans and the Quality Assurance templates also supported the pilot process and reflection.
Activities undertaken
The pilot gathered 28 participants, including Regional Skills Partnership leadership, policymakers, VET and higher education providers, experts and creative cluster representatives.
Outcomes and early learning
A key outcome was a shift in how participants approached stakeholder engagement. The pilot encouraged a different question: Why should they care?
This reframing supported a more dialogical approach to ecosystem building, with greater emphasis on listening to stakeholders’ real operational concerns and creating low-friction opportunities for collaboration.
The pilot also demonstrated the value of deliberately bringing together participants with different regional contexts, institutional positions and levels of ecosystem maturity. This asymmetry helped participants recognise that apparently local challenges could reflect wider systemic patterns.
Adding value and possible policy recommendations
The pilot provides a foundation for the RSP’s longer-term Vision 2028. The intention is to use the Engagement Master Canvas to progressively broaden participation through agile, low-friction meetings and new forms of collaboration.
Future development will include strengthening the RSP’s role as a Policy Interface, connecting ecosystem development with skills intelligence and public funding, while continuing to explore the potential of micro-credentials as part of more responsive learning pathways.
Website: www.materahub.com