Munich’s creative scene has been enriched by an important institution for five years: since then, there has been the Competence team for cultural and creative industries. A good time to take stock of the past years and look ahead to the future with Jürgen Enninger, the head of the competence team.
Consulting, networking, finding space, financing, visibility – for five years, the Culture and Creative Industries Competence Team has been supporting Munich's creative scene. What did you imagine would be easier five years ago, and what has surprised you positively during this time?
I had imagined the recruitment process would be easier – it took an extremely long time. It would never have occurred to me that, with truly maximum effort from all sides (we had over 1,000 applications), it would take a year for the team to be operational. And no one really dawdled. At the same time, given the volume of applications, it was only understandable that the selection had to be carried out with particular thoroughness. And the team's success proves that this approach was justified.
Since I don't come from the real estate industry, I was extremely intimidated by the challenges involved. Furthermore, establishing a matrix organization within the city administration, connecting the cultural and municipal departments, and Referat für Arbeit und Wirtschaft, was a real challenge. I'm particularly pleased with how friendly, collegial, and enthusiastically my colleagues from all the departments involved welcomed me and the team, and how committed they are to supporting us in our tasks.
How have creative professionals responded to you as a city-based initiative? In which areas do you think you've had the most impact?
Having previously headed the Bavarian office at the Federal Government's Competence Center for Cultural and Creative Industries, I was very surprised by the difference in scale compared to the Free State. When I traveled through Bavaria, most of the stakeholders were enthusiastic about the straightforward support and business advice. In Munich, the pressure is much greater, and the demands on us as an institution are significantly higher. High-quality consulting is in demand, as are competent and sustainable internationalization offerings, and genuine, tangible added value through networking. We are continually incorporating this into our offerings.
Illuminate grey areas and open up spaces of possibility
We have been able to achieve a great deal in all areas. The number of consultations is consistently high, our events are in high demand, Crowdfunding offers are particularly on trend. But there are two things that personally delight me most: First, that we're managing to raise awareness among the private real estate industry about the space needs of the cultural and creative industries. And second, that we're managing to better illuminate gray areas and open up new possibilities. Because Munich simply needs to get a little crazier. We brought the slogan "Keep Austin weird!" from SXSW with us to Munich. Here, the motto is now "Make Munich weird!"
Which projects have stuck in your mind since the team was formed? And why?
The Ruffini House Of course: In just three months, it demonstrated the incredible energy within the industry and became a focal point for the industry in the heart of the city. The transformative power of the players was tangible, and an industry on par with the automotive industry was able to create space for itself in the heart of the city. The Ruffinihaus thus made a significant contribution to raising the industry's profile and visibility in the city.
One issue unrelated to the competence team, but one where the innovative forces of the industry became directly tangible in Munich, was the challenge of immigration in the fall of 2015. The first volunteers at the main train station came from the cultural and creative industries. These actors demonstrated in Munich that a strong industry in the city creates agile systems that quickly develop solutions to specific challenges, thus making the city more resilient overall. In this situation, Munich served as an example of the so-called spillover effects of the creative industry on other areas of a city.
Protection mechanism for creatives
Over the course of the five years, you've also been able to work with Munich's cultural and creative industries on several temporary use spaces, such as the aforementioned Ruffinihaus on Rindermarkt. What do you say to the criticism that this doesn't solve the city's spatial problems, but rather is just a facade? What opportunities do you see in temporary use projects?
The industry is a master at managing scarce resources. They would do so even without us. One scarce resource in the city is space. Therefore, we support the industry in achieving better results by using these skills to advise, train, and open up spaces – even if only temporarily. When we don't provide support, we often see self-exploitation and poor conditions for creative professionals in the area of interim use. When we are involved, the conditions are significantly better because we establish an equal footing. This means we are a protective mechanism for creative professionals within the context of the city's change processes and thus a very concrete contribution to a more social market economy. Furthermore, we also recognize the need for long-term uses and use interim uses to draw attention to their necessity. Interim uses are stimulating the city's appetite for more permanent cultural and creative uses. These are currently being developed, for example, in the creative quarter on Dachauer Strasse.
The cultural and creative industries in the Munich metropolitan region are strong and continuing to grow – what does this mean for the team? What is your vision?
A very concrete next step is the further development of the competence team to enable more interim uses, even in the peripheral districts. Here, we are working very specifically on, on the one hand, inspiring the networks, sensitizing residents, and researching spaces. We are still lacking staff in the areas of consulting and events. I hope that these can be brought on board in the next step. Fortunately, an additional team has been added to the space acquisition team. This way, the quality of the interim uses can be ensured. Furthermore, the hearings on the topic of nightlife culture made it clear that the competence team should be an advocate for the space requirements and challenges in the cultural and creative industries of nightlife. We are happy to accept this challenge as well.
Create space to develop energy
Furthermore, Munich's cultural and creative industries have a strong international focus. We must meet this high demand by enhancing the industry's competitiveness through market development strategies.
Specifically, we want to make it clear that the industry in Munich is among the top 10 in the EU, and that industry players can benefit from this every day through our offerings. Essentially, we want to show the metropolis of Munich how much potential the industry has and that it's worth turning a blind eye now and then. Because it's about creating space so that the industry can fully develop its transformative energy.
More about Jürgen Enninger and the Creative and Cultural Industries Competence Team
