There is stubborn misconception that the cultural and creative sector represent riskier, less interesting investments. Nevertheless, in the EU, the two sectors combined currently account for 5% of its GDP and represents 8.7 million jobs, with this ratio expected to expand even more in coming years.

The potential for impact, in particular, is immense. We sat down with Javier Arias, Director of Business Creation at EIT Culture & Creativity. They are supporting impact-minded start-ups and scale-ups throughout Europe and helping them connect with investors. We are joined by Johannes Söderstrom of Vreal and Cynthia Asije of Adirelounge - two entrepreneurs who can testify to the importance of this support, and to the impact they bring to the table.

-------

You can join EIT Culture & Creativity at their side-event in Malmö, on November 20th. Learn more about it here!

With over 20 years of experience at EIB Institute, Shiva Dustdar is one of the leading voice in the European impact discourse. Leading into Impact Week, she took some time of her busy schedule to discuss their most recent projects, how they contribute to European competitiveness and which innovations they foresee in the years to come.

Collaboration is a magic word in the impact space, but it's not always easy to pull off effectively. The Take-a-Stake Fund, which supports SME's in the WASH and WASTE sectors, is a shining example of how to execute for maximal impact.

We spoke to Åsa Skogström Feldt (IKEA Social Entrepreneurship), Kajetan Hetzer (WASTE) and Raj Kumar (Yunus Social Business) on their learnings, their complementarity and the impact the project has had on communities in Asia and Africa.

The topic of collaboration will be high on the agenda at Impact Week in Malmö, where you can meet all three speakers and get engaged.