CHERRY - making Culture tHe N°1 ally of European RecoveRY

No corner of our planet has been untouched by the COVID-19 crisis. The virus itself has claimed many lives and the shutdowns experienced in many countries have destroyed jobs and businesses. The medium and long-term social and economic impact of the pandemic is difficult to predict and measure. Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) were among the first to close their doors and will be among the last to reopen. Much of the sector depends on the human community. As a result, activities that are carried out in person in venues such as theatre, live music, festivals, cinemas and museums are particularly hard hit. 

Around the world, the livelihoods of workers in different sectors have been deeply affected by closures and physical restraint. The creative ecosystem, which brings together a handful of multinational conglomerates with a multitude of freelance creatives and SMEs, employs a significant proportion of these workers. Many people around the world depend on the cultural and creative industries for their livelihoods. However, the often precarious nature of their work has made artists and cultural professionals particularly vulnerable to the economic shocks of the pandemic. 

The CHERRY project aims to improve policies and local plans for CCIs to respond to the pandemic, and to use innovative communication tools, digital technologies and services to further develop the sector, reach new users and generally improve the relevance of culture for the EU's recovery 

The project will collaborate with public institutions from Italy, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, France, Latvia and Finland to support the resilience of cultural and creative industries to the COVID-19 emergency, focusing on the themes of cultural and creative industries and urban transformation, cultural and creative industries and entrepreneurship, and the valorisation of cultural and cultural heritage.