Lithuania, What a Surprise!

Last week I spend some days in Vilnius, Lithuania to attend a Cross-Innovation conference and to meet with people from the public sector, education and civil society organisations.?

Many people in Western Europe have a biased picture of the Baltics. I was one of them, until a trip to Estonia early July. This bias colours our perception of these nations.

In the West we tend to think of the Baltics as Eastern European countries. But many Baltics citizens dislike being classed as Eastern Europeans and increasingly wish to be considered Nordic. Our generally outdated image of Eastern Europe doesn't do the Baltics any justice as well. Stodgy cities and concrete microrayons come to mind; poor infrastructure, soviet style heavy industries, all in shades of grey. It seemed that even my weather app was tainted with this bias as it forecasted a week of dreadful grey rainy weather...

How positive the surprise when all of that, including the weather, turns out to be the total opposite.

Lithuania is a relatively young independent country and has much to be exited about for its future. It became a member of the EU in 2004 and hasn't look back ever since. It is ambitious, has a creative problem solving attitude and a confident outlook of where it wants to go. The country is currently successfully changing?its outdated image of being a small under-developed country at the outskirts of the EU by re-framing its size as a strength. Minister of Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite assures the world that "being small" is an advantage fore the country. She explains "as a small country we act faster and smarter without dealing with a huge apparatus".

Another weakness-by-sheer-perception is the country's location at the outskirts of the EU. Lithuania also had no problems re-framing this into a position of strength. They simple made everyone aware of its geographical pin at the mid-point of the European continent and boldly underlined it with the proposition that Lithuania is the 'accessible, stable and innovative base for investors and industries with access to a single market of over 500 million EU consumers.'

Over the years the country has been rapidly transforming and accelerating its progress, both in the public & private sector and in society?at large.?In 2012, the Lithuanian Parliament presented its long-term national strategy called: 'Lithuania 2030'.?It includes a national vision and goals for the development of the nation. According to the strategy, Lithuania aims to achieve "creative empowerment of each and every member of society, focusing on ideas that would help Lithuania to become a modern, energetic country, embracing differences, and with a strong sense of national identity”.

Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, is known for its baroque architecture, seen especially in its medieval Old Town - the largest old town of Europe. But Vilnius isn't all cobble stone streets.??nipi?k?s,?its popular modern business district just north of the .... is a blend of traditional wooden houses and clusters of modern skyscrapers?unofficially called "Shanghai."?A popular place for professionals to live, work and play ?nipi?k?s has been instrumental in putting Vilnius on the map as?Europe's biggest FinTech hub.

On Tuesday?I met with Pranas Senapedis of the Innovation Agency Lithuania to explore opportunities to work together. The Agency was established early this year by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation to consolidate its various agencies into a one-stop shop. The Ministry's aim is to establish an ecosystem and climate of innovation in Lithuania with highly efficient and streamlined support measures in business, science and technology boosting global competitiveness to solidify its status as a forward looking progressive country.?The new agency will administer a broad range of services and has a budget?of more than EUR 500 million for the next few years. That's pretty impressive.

Later that day I met with Vaiva Pa?akinskien? , Head of Creativity and Business Innovation Department at Vilniaus kolegija/University of Applied Sciences. The University is rapidly gaining international recognition?as a flexible and never-tired-of-exploring higher educational institution

While many universities around the world point out the importance of being innovation-driven in business management studies, Vilniaus Kolegija/University of Applied Sciences has taken this a step further by putting creativity into the equation.?The University provides a bachelor course that puts developing students' creative capacity at the centre of their business management skills. The University also offers courses to business and institutional personnel training them to tackle complex problems through exploration and imagination and to put non-linear thinking?at the centre of their?daily work

The next day the cross innovation conference event kicked off with a fantastic lunch by invitation of the organisers and it was a great pleasure meeting old and new friends. On this first day we visited a few Arts Incubators in Vilnius. 70 % of all Lithuanian's cultural and creative industry (CCI) is concentrated in and around Vilnius - and you can tell. Areas in and around the Old Town have a tapestry of culture and artistry. Some key players are Uzupis Arts Incubators and the Arts Printing House

Over the years the CCI has heard a lot of promises and declarations of support but now it will see real financial investment of around 15 million. The Ministry of Culture has taken a radical mindset shift here. It is moving away from the idea of cultural grants as an act of supporting creative and artistic expression to taking an economic approach where financial injections are treated as investment instead.?The CCI is seen as an growth sector and the government aims to put favourable conditions on place to stimulate creative enterprise and enhance the sector's economic potential. This means increasing efficiency and competitiveness of the creative sector as well as improving its infrastructure. The end goal is to grow CCI's share in the country’s GDP and employment

Thursday was the day of the Cross Innovation Conference event at the beautiful Martynas Ma?vydas National Library of Lithuania. It was organised by Subtopia , the Kungliga musikh?gskolan , and the Lithuanian culture organization @Boja, and co-funded by the?Sweden Lithuania Cooperation Fund. The day offered a mix of interesting talks by Jenny Kornmacher (DE), Monika Klein PhD (PL) and a panel discussion with Film and theater director Jonas Tertelis ?, Jan Sandred of Vinnova , Sweden's Innovation Agency, Krista Pet?j?j?rvi Of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture. Moderator Martin Q Larsson director of Sweden's art incubator Katapult at Subtopia . The conference offered some workshops facilitated by Thomas Arctaedius and Jonas Robin where people could bite into a range of topics such as: exploring the role of artists and other professions in cross-innovation; how to stimulate cross-sector collaboration between creatives and other businesses and how to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for successful cross-innovation partnerships

After the conference I still had one more meeting before heading back to the airport.?I met with Dr. Vilma Popovien? , Head of the Lithuanian Social Innovation Cluster (LSIC) over a perfect cappuccino (and some Dutch 'stroop wafels') at Vilnius' social restaurant Pirmas blynas . Vilma passionately shared her journey in getting her organisation to where it is now and outlined some of her plans for the future of the Cluster. The LSIC is a?cross-sectoral network of social innovators, with aim to drive systemic positive change to social challenges and problems for the most vulnerable target groups across Lithuania's society. The Cluster consists of private and public sector organisations, civil service organisations and educational institutions. Each bring in their professional knowledge and competences, as well as their business networks and other assets in support of innovative social education and solutions for societal challenges and problems. Vilma's future plans include a ambitious plan to set up a Social Innovation Academy. More on this exciting venture to follow

The Centre for Organisational Creativity is happy to become the Cluster's second international member

On the bus to the airport I thought about the past days and how they radically changed my perception of the country. Of course just 3 days in the capital isn't enough to form a complete picture but I can tell you Lithuania entered my list of "countries I love"

Gazing out, I saw a few drops appearing on the window of the bus... The first and only rain I got on this trip :)

#innovation, #crossinnovation, #creativity #lithuania, #ndpc, #subtopia, #KHM, #baltics #socialinnovation, #organisationalcreativity