Greening the Creative European Programme 

Ecorys analysed efforts made so far to decrease the environmental impact and advised how to further mainstream climate actions into the Creative Europe programme.

Aims, Objectives, and Scope of the Study

The primary aim of the study was to analyse the efforts made so far to limit the environmental impact of the Creative Europe Programme 2014-2020 and to provide recommendations on how to mainstream climate actions into the new Creative Europe Programmes (2021-2027 and further) while maintaining its core objectives. To arrive at the findings and conclusions shown below, the project team employed various research methods, including interviews, literature reviews, desk-based mapping, a large-scale programme beneficiary survey, consultations, and workshops.

Findings and Conclusions
The project team found that the even though the preceding Creative Europe Programme (2014-2020) did not include formal green criteria, 162 ‘green’ projects were initiated, constituting 3.4% of all projects. These recommendations outline multiple avenues for the Creative Europe Programme to strengthen its role in promoting climate and biodiversity integration.

The final report provides insights into the aim, method and findings of the study, as well as core recommendations on how to further green the Programme. In addition to the final report, Ecorys developed three strategies, to be applied by the European Commission and future beneficiaries:

• Creative Europe Programme Greening Strategy: Defines challenges, opportunities, stakeholder roles, and a roadmap for greening.
• Good Environmental Practices Guide: Offers guidance to beneficiaries and programme managers on existing good environmental practices.
• Creative Europe Monitoring Guide for Programme Greening: Proposes sustainability indicators to measure the successor programmes’ contribution towards the European Green Deal, as well as recommended categories of eligible green costs.