CREST-IN · Sustaining the Cultural Commons: Integrating Grassroots Resilience from Poland and Belgium into EU Policy

CREST-IN project (Commons Resilience for European Sustainability-Innovation and Integration) addresses significant challenges facing Europe's cultural and creative sectors. These challenges include increasing censorship, political interference, and financial instability that threaten artistic freedom and cultural diversity. CREST-IN investigates how grassroots cultural initiatives develop resilience strategies under different political systems, comparing Poland's illiberal context with Belgium's pluralistic democracy. The project pursues three specific objectives through innovative methodologies. First, it develops a new theoretical framework that reconceptualizes precarity as a foundation for commons-based cultural governance. Second, it conducts extensive ethnographic fieldwork through interviews and participatory workshops, employing Digital Value Mapping to visualize cultural networks. Third, it co-creates a practical Policy Prototyping Toolkit in collaboration with the European Cultural Foundation, delivering actionable recommendations for cultural policy. CREST-IN utilizes collaborative research approaches including Participatory Action Research and digital mapping tools, ensuring cultural practitioners actively contribute to knowledge production. The project generates open-access case studies, interactive digital maps of cultural ecosystems, and policy briefs designed for practical implementation. This research directly supports key European Union priorities, including the European Democracy Action Plan's commitment to artistic freedom, the New European Bauhaus's sustainable cultural practices, and the EU Work Plan for Culture's participatory governance models. CREST-IN provides valuable insights and tools for developing more inclusive, adaptive, and resilient cultural policies across Europe's diverse political landscapes.