Creative industries encompass a diverse array of sectors, including arts, craftsmanship, media, design, advertising, software, and more. Current research trends often focus on addressing various challenges and opportunities within these industries. One prevalent area of study involves examining the impact of emerging technologies on creative processes, particularly in terms of technological advancements and innovation. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Internet of Senses and Digital Twins (DTs) are key technologies frequently explored in this context. By leveraging these technologies within a virtual immersive world, there is potential to create an innovative platform that opens up opportunities for novel services in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) domain. ELLIE aims to support CCIs in enhancing their portfolios by providing a universal platform that integrates multiple high-impact technologies like the above and immersive worlds. This platform seeks to facilitate the creation of new user experiences, simplify the development of creative products, and better understand user needs. ELLIE's overarching objective is to offer a comprehensive solution that aids in the delivery of advanced services and expedites the production of new products. This initiative empowers stakeholders to streamline the workflow of service and product creation. Through the combination of the above technologies, ELLIE supports innovative and automated processes, ultimately providing end users with high-quality experiences.

Tracks4Crafts examines and transforms the transmission of traditional crafts knowledge (TCK) to enhance the societal and economic valuation of crafts and align them with a future-oriented heritage approach in Europe. As intangible cultural heritage (ICH), crafts and TCK can be seen as resources for competitiveness, innovation, and sustainable development and quality of life, contributing to SDG 4, 8 and 11. Yet the tools, formats and instruments needed to foster the transmission and employment of TCK are lagging behind, which hampers the full development of its potential. Our objectives are to enhance and transform the transmission of TCK for a more effective economic as well as societal valuation of crafts. This is achieved in 4 Tracks, in which we (1) transform learning processes in physical spaces in which crafts people collaborate (in hi-tech environments, including fablabs and maker spaces etc.), (2) develop new digital technologies that enhance and transform transmission of TCK, (3) produce tools and instruments which enable capturing and optimising the value of the produced TCK (business modelling, certification and property protection), and (4) create networks to foster and disseminate the societal and economic value of TCK (e.g. through the CHARTER-alliance). The output is based on experiments in 8 craft ecosystems in which we develop and test formats for learning and tools for certification and validation in which (1) the economic and cultural barriers related to traditional TCK-transmission are addressed (i.a. the lengthy nature of learning, the fear of the craft getting lost…) and (2) the full potential of technology is tapped (i.a. for turning embodied TCK in open-source knowledge). To ensure that the solutions bridge the heritage perspective and the economic and societal needs and that our solutions are shared and transferable, our approach is deeply interdisciplinary and based on processes of multi-stakeholder co-creation (including action research).