The so-called Blended Intensive Program (BIP) took place in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on June 15-19, 2026.
The aim of the foreign business trip was to participate in the Blended Intensive Program (BIP) within the Kreativ EU project and to set the rules and conditions for the creation of a joint business incubator for an alliance of 11 partner universities. The incubator will be focused on supporting business activities in the field of art and heritage and will include an inter-university network of mentors and stakeholders.
Main points discussed and results achieved
1. Setting the rules for the creation of a joint incubator
2. Mentor structure
3. Stakeholders
4. Those interested in incubation
Artistic residencies - support of the city
An interesting point of the program was the presentation of the "Artistic Residencies" program by the city of Plovdiv. In the culture house, the program was presented in detail, which took place in 2019 and then again in 2024. It was about supporting artists to stay in the city and inspire and enhance the cultural life of the city with their work. The guarantee and organizer was the city itself. The organizers presented the program with all the pros and cons and there were very specific examples from practice. The lecture aroused a response and a number of questions from the BIP participants.
Conclusion
The journey served its purpose. The key principles of the operation of the joint incubator were agreed upon, the roles of individual universities were confirmed and the process of finalizing the mentoring team was initiated. Discussions in the groups brought concrete suggestions for removing obstacles in the field of mentors, stakeholders and future participants of the incubation. Next steps will include completing the list of mentors, finalizing the incubator rules and preparing the pilot run.
