From the 27th until the 31st of October 2025, 18 Ukrainian cultural and civic professionals gathered in Matera for the second edition of CREAPOLIS — a week-long European capacity-building and exchange programme organised by b.creative, in partnership with ERSTE Foundation and Materahub.

This edition took place in a city that has become emblematic of what culture-driven development can achieve. Matera, once one of Italy’s poorest regions, is now internationally recognised for its community-led transformation and for its experience as European Capital of Culture 2019. Against this backdrop, the 2025 CREAPOLIS cohort explored how creativity, collaboration, and local engagement can underpin recovery and resilience — both in Italy and in Ukraine.

A Diverse Group with a Shared Purpose

The Matera edition brought together a remarkably diverse group of participants: municipal civil servants, cultural heritage specialists, NGO leaders, creative entrepreneurs, educators, and social innovators. Selected from more than 150 applicants across Ukraine, they represented cities large and small — Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and others — each bringing distinct perspectives shaped by their local realities. What quickly became clear during the week was how naturally this diversity turned into a strength. Participants repeatedly described the group as “open”, “complementary”, “inspiring”, and “a rare mix of experiences and sectors that made learning richer.” Many saw CREAPOLIS as a space where people who rarely meet at home — public officials, artists, NGO teams, educators — could finally work side by side, exchange views, and discover shared challenges. Networking unfolded naturally throughout the week, and by the end of the programme, the group had formed a community that extended far beyond institutional boundaries. A WhatsApp channel — created during the first days — remains active, serving as both a professional resource and a space for mutual support.

A Programme Rooted in Real Places and Real Practice

Throughout the week, the combination of workshops, mentoring, and reflection sessions helped participants deepen and expand a wide set of competencies. Many described the experience as a rare opportunity to step back from daily pressures and rethink their work through new tools and perspectives. The Matera edition was built around immersive learning. Each day focused on one theme — creative hubs, entrepreneurship, social innovation, cultural heritage — supported by site visits, peer exchanges, and practical methodologies. Crucially, the week allowed participants not just to listen, but to experience first-hand the spaces, people, and projects behind Matera’s transformation. Throughout the week, participants had the chance to encounter Matera not only through lectures and discussions, but through the places and people who shape the city every day. Much of the programme unfolded at Hubout, Materahub’s social innovation space, where participants worked with the Creative Project Canvas and used it as a lens to connect the week’s insights to their own Ukrainian contexts. From there, the group moved across the city, tracing the layers of Matera’s creative and civic ecosystem.

One of the first stops was the Casa delle Tecnologie Emergenti (CTE), where participants discovered how emerging technologies are being integrated into regional development strategies. The visit offered a concrete example of how digital tools, innovation labs, and local institutions collaborate to support the evolution of cultural and entrepreneurial initiatives. The group also spent time at Casa Netural, a co-living and co-working space that has become a reference point for community-driven innovation in rural and peripheral areas. Its founders shared how small-scale experimentation, hospitality, and social ties can activate communities and stimulate new forms of entrepreneurship — an experience that resonated strongly with participants working in dispersed or vulnerable regions of Ukraine. At Eco Verticale, a restored space within the Sassi, participants encountered a model in which heritage, contemporary creativity, and community engagement coexist. This visit highlighted how cultural sites can be reimagined as platforms for learning, experimentation, and local economic activity. Matera’s social and cultural fabric revealed itself further through visits to Oltre l’Arte, a cooperative working at the intersection of heritage interpretation and social inclusion, and to the Lo Stato dei Luoghi network, whose members shared insights into the governance and sustainability of community-based cultural spaces across Italy. A walk through the historical quarter — including a guided visit to the Chiesa del Purgatorio — offered another perspective on how histories, narratives, and identities are continuously reactivated through cultural practice. This exploration helped participants situate Matera’s transformation within its long-term social and urban evolution. The programme also included an exchange with the Matera 2019 Foundation, where participants learned about the governance and legacy of the European Capital of Culture. Discussions covered community engagement models, partnerships with civil society, and strategies for sustaining momentum beyond the title year — a topic of particular relevance for regions seeking long-term cultural development. Along the way, participants met several local organisations animated by cultural, social, and civic missions: the cluster Basilicata Creativa, the craft-based social inclusion initiative Contatto, the community sports movement UISP, and various urban regeneration projects in the Sassi and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Taken together, these encounters formed a multi-layered portrait of Matera — not as a single success story, but as a living ecosystem built over time through experimentation, collaboration, and collective effort. For many participants, this immersion provided both inspiration and a grounded sense of what it takes to activate local potential under complex circumstances. These learnings are already being translated into action. Some participants have begun shaping new project ideas inspired by models encountered in Matera — from creative hubs and heritage revitalisation initiatives to inclusive programmes supporting IDPs and veterans. Others are preparing applications for Erasmus+ and other European cooperation schemes. As one participant noted, “Seeing real examples of cultural and social entrepreneurship shifted my understanding of what is possible, even with limited resources.” Several collaborations are already taking shape. Participants are discussing joint project proposals for European programmes, new partnerships between municipalities and civil society organisations, youth-led initiatives inspired by social enterprises visited in Matera, and knowledge-exchange sessions among cities facing similar challenges. What emerged was not only a temporary working group, but the foundations of a longer-term professional network. As one participant captured it, “CREAPOLIS brought together people who will not stop collaborating — this week was just the beginning.”

CREAPOLIS Matera 2025 concluded with a final reflection session overlooking the Sassi — a moment many participants described as symbolic of the programme’s essence: learning from a place where resilience, creativity, and community commitment have reshaped the future. As one participant wrote: “Matera reminded us that cultural change begins with people — and grows when communities work together with imagination and purpose.”

The partners — b.creative, ERSTE Foundation, and Materahub — warmly thank all participants, mentors, local organisations, and contributors who made this edition meaningful. The collaborations, networks, and ideas sparked in Matera will continue to grow in the months to come, supporting Ukrainian communities in building more inclusive, creative, and resilient futures.