Relevance to the Theme of the Module
The Villa Creative is a prime example of how creative industries are fostering innovation, supporting entrepreneurship, and promoting collaboration and networking. Open to the city, the Creative Villa aims to create a “University outside the University” through the dissemination of knowledge and the demonstration of the creative process for the arts and the scientific process for research. This project aligns with the module’s focus on the role of creative industries in economic development and urban development.
Presentation
The Villa Creative was inaugurated on May 26 and 27, 2025: a new location for excellence in research and innovation dedicated to cultural and creative industries. Led by Avignon University, within other 60 partnerships, the Creative Villa brings together the academic, artistic, and entrepreneurial worlds to create a hybrid space for transdisciplinary experimentation and creation, connecting with citizens, rooted in the local area, and boasting international visibility. The Villa Creative is committed to develop links between arts, sciences and society. It stands at the intersection of knowledge, technologies, audiences, and the issues of societal and environmental transition.
The Villa Creative is located in a 19th-century building in the heart of Avignon. The large-scale project brought together 30 companies working simultaneously to take on the challenge of renovating 8,200 m² of gardens and heritage buildings while respecting their history and new environmental constraints.
It offers shared offices, audio and video studios, an auditorium, research spaces, a brewery… All accessible to students, start-ups, artists, but also inhabitants, with events and workshops open to all.
Economic development: the project helps to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation within the creative industries and also strengthen the cultural and economic attractiveness of the region.
Networking Opportunities: because it is led by a University, the project fosters collaboration and knowledge among entrepreneurs, creatives and researchers and students.
Support for Artists: The project project provides local and international artists with residences, work and exhibition space, and access to resources enabling them to build innovative productions.
Community Building: Villa Creative aims to create a collaborative community of innovators, creatives and researchers.
Innovative model: Villa Creative-Avignon University is the first university and research company in France; with the State among its shareholders, it represents a unique hybrid public-private model.
Outcomes, Results, and Impacts
Public-private model with 48% University / 17% Banque des Territoires (State) / 37% socially useful solidarity enterprise
2 calls for projects in 2024 and 2025
50 projects selected in the programme for 2025 /2026
Potential for Replication in Other Regions
Villa Creative offers a great model for other regions aiming to enhance innovation and build bridges between research, entrepreneurship and artists.
Scalability: The concept can be adapted to different scales, starting from a University.
The economic model private-public guarantees long-term self-financing, making the Villa Créative a reproducible model for other territories in Europe.
Villa Créative, Un patrimoine dédié à la culture & aux industries créatives – Avignon Université