Creative industries covering many activities such as industrial design, traditional crafts, advertising, architecture, fashion, film, photography, performing arts, animation, video games, digital printing and publishing; it accounts for 7 percent of the gross national product worldwide. These industries promise much more in terms of competitiveness, productivity, sustainable growth, employment and export growth if invested.
Kütahya tiles sector is one of Turkey's best examples of creative industries. While the art of tile was registered in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Humanity in 2016, Kütahya became a part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Crafts and Folk Arts as of 2017. However, the lack of institutionalization and cooperation mechanisms, the low design and standardization capacities of the enterprises, the weakness of the initiatives for branding and marketing prevent the Kütahya tile industry from reaching its great potential.
A Creativity Center is established in Kütahya in order to solve these problems and support the tile industry. With the activities to be carried out at the center, it is aimed to advance the Kütahya tile industry in design, production, standardization and marketing, and to increase the local and international market share of the products. In this way, the competitiveness of creative industries will be increased, contributing to the socioeconomic development of Kütahya.
The Creativity Center aims to increase coordination among industry stakeholders and to increase opportunities for international cooperation. In this framework, a digital inventory of existing tile designs will be prepared and SMEs will be supported in developing new models and forms. Again, SMEs will be provided to carry out R&D studies within the scope of a program within the center. Training will be provided to SMEs, taking into account the needs of the enterprises. A consultancy program will be established to develop the capacities of sector components and SMEs or institutions will be provided to submit projects to the EU Framework Programs. In addition, branding, marketing, networking and communication strategies for the needs of the sector will be developed and implemented.
In addition, by organizing B2B (business to business) events, some of them at international fairs, it will be ensured that SMEs and tile artists come together with potential buyers on a national and international scale. Finally, criteria for quality, production procedures and packaging in tile making will be determined and a guarantee mark will be created to be placed on the products. In this way, businesses will both maintain product quality and increase their branding and marketing capacities by taking advantage of these generally accepted standards.
With the Creativity Center, it is aimed to go beyond the traditional methods of the tile industry and to offer products with high added value to national and international markets with creative designs and the use of technology. In the process, it is foreseen that new businesses will be established, employment opportunities will increase in these enterprises supported by the project, and the sales and export figures of existing SMEs will increase. Furthermore, the gains in the private sector in Kütahya tiles create an example for other creative sectors in Turkey is expected to benefit their development.
2 creative industrial products will be supported within the scope of the project. With the project aimed to increase sales and exports of 50 SMEs, 10 new businesses will be established and 25 new jobs will be created in the supported businesses.
Project Owner | Implementation Area | Detailed Information | ||
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Kütahya |
https://www.kutahya.bel.tr/ |