The Creative Industries Styria GmbH is a networking agency dedicated to the development and strengthening of the creative industries in Styria. It aims at coordinating the broad range of creative activities and strives at developing and positioning the respective activities within the total context of the Styrian economy. Creative Industries Styria assumes the role of a mediator and contact for creative enterprises as well as companies interested in cooperation and partnership.

Why does Creative Industries Styria exist?
The Province of Styria attaches great importance to the potential creative economy and has included this topic as an important part of its economic strategy. The economic departments of the Province of Styria, the City of Graz and the Styrian Chamber of Commerce have jointly analyzed the creative potential in the Greater Graz area and the Province of Styria. The study has shown that an autonomous instrument to coordinate the development of the creative industry is missing. The Creative Industries Styria closes this gap and thus facilitates the best utilization of existing possibilities, resources and potentials. The Creative Industries Styria was been founded in June, 2007.

What are the tasks of the Creative Industries Styria?
The Creative Industries Styria is a partner of the creative economy. It aims at coordinating the broad range of creative activities and strives at developing and positioning those efforts within the total context of the Styrian economy.

The Creative Industries Styria actively cooperates for a structural change in the region towards a knowledge-based society. It initiates, coordinates and interlinks initiatives and key projects. It furthermore intends to create awareness on regional, trans-regional and international levels. The Creative Industries Styria strives to concentrate the creative potentials and powers in the region in order to strengthen the economic potential of the creative economy and promote the innovative performances of Styrian enterprises.

What are the objectives of the Creative Industries Styria?
One of the foremost goals of the Creative Industries Styria consists in the positioning of Styria as a "hot spot" for creative talents. This means that the region must develop general conditions which attract creative persons all over Austria and Europe. In this context, Graz takes a special interest: the Provincial Capital is poised to develop medium-term to the most attractive "second city" of Austria. The potential and structures of the city shall be used in such a way that the population and economy of the city benefit from an added value.

Does the Creative Industries Styria function as a promotion agency?
No. The Creative Industries Styria is not a promotion agency. It is however an institution which understands the language of creativity. It feels the pulse of the scene and therefore understands its demands for funding. It assumes the role of a mediator between the creative sector of the region and the Styrian Business Promotion Agency SFG.

The SFG promotes within the frame of the action programme "Einfalls!Reich" projects and costs in the fields "creative strategy (developing of corporate creative and innovation  strategies), "creative projects" (measurements to develop business areas, realization of new project ideas, realization of new ideas with regard to existing products), as well as "creative communication" (innovative communication measures to market newly developed products and services)

What type of support can be expected from the Creative Industries Styria?
The Creative Industries Styira has been initiated by the Styrian economy. It functions as a network centre and develops impulse projects. We assume a supporting and consulting function for the creative economy. A central instrument is the platform www.cis.at with its database-supported search engine for the creative economy. The database and the marketplace are instruments which allow business partners to find that partner which exactly correlates to implementing the project. Furthermore, the Creative Industries Styria offers consulting and support functions around the topic subsidies.

What does creative economy mean?
Creative economy considerably contributes to the added value of a region and thus represents a central location factor. The creative economy comprises that multi-faceted and heterogeneous field, for which enterprises are working to implement products and services fit for the mass-market. They include the entire sector of creative company-related services such as advertising and market communication, design, architecture and fashion, photo and film, television and radio as well as publishing, print media and musical enterprises.