Only a few kilometres separate the address of Kreativpilot prizewinner Vincent Marnitz and Wismar University of Applied Sciences. Nevertheless, research assistant from the European Project Centre Geertje Wehry and he met for the first time in Berlin at the Forum for Cultural and Creative Industries in Berlin in November. The event organised by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection was all about the approximately 238,000 companies and freelancers that make up the cultural and creative industries. The event focussed in particular on sustainability and AI. Both topics also play a major role in the LandStarK project. Geertje Wehry therefore took the opportunity to talk about current topics in the industry and learn about new ideas. The exhibition of the winners of the Culture and Creative Pilots award was a particularly good opportunity for this. One of them was Vincent Marnitz von Poel. He has founded a company that processes seaweed from the beach and offers it as a filling material for cushions and as a building material.

The LandStarK project sees itself as the development of a methodical and practical lighthouse for the facilitation and revitalisation of cultural and creative activities as well as participation in rural areas (regions) in Germany as part of the system change and the increasing move towards sustainable transformation. Building on scientific and transfer excellence, this lighthouse will open up new ways of thinking and acting in socio-economic ecosystems in eight participating rural areas in four federal states from March 2023 to February 2026.