Zentrum für Kreativwirtschaft (ZfKW) - a place for exchange, networking and further education

Zentrum für Kreativwirtschaft (ZfKW), which was suggested in the cultural concept of the city of Kassel, began its work in December last year. Graduates of the Kunsthochschule Kassel are also involved in the board of the supporting association: alumni Britta Wagemann, Milena Albiez and Sarah Metz are members of the board together with Marén Freyer.

Over a period of two years, the supporting association Glasdach e. V. is testing the concept developed together with the city of Kassel. On the one hand, this includes a real laboratory - a space for presentations and events. On the other hand, the Center for Creative Industries will provide low-cost workspaces in the new Nachrichtenmeisterei from spring 2025. "The ZfKW will make Kassel more interesting, especially for self-employed creatives who are at the beginning of their professional careers. They will be supported in the professionalization phase by various offers and thus have attractive prospects of staying," says Britta Wagemann on behalf of the founding members of ZfKW, who are all active in the creative industries themselves. "The challenge for graduates of creative degree courses is entering the market and building up a customer base," emphasizes Milena Albiez, who works professionally as a graphic designer and organizational consultant. "Many people start their careers as freelancers and are left to their own devices. This is where we want to provide support with our services," says Albiez.

The services offered by the Zentrum für Kreativwirtschaft (ZfKW)
One of the services offered by the Zentrum für Kreativwirtschaft (ZfKW) is a workspace in the new Nachrichtenmeisterei. Young creatives will be able to apply for this from spring 2025. On the other hand, the ZfKW is providing creative professionals, companies and interested parties with a new place for meetings, networking and further training in the form of the Reallabor, located at Wolfsschlucht 18A in the city center (Kassel). It consists of a showroom - i.e. a section dedicated to the presentation of players in Kassel's creative industries - and an area for events. In the latter, the operators of the Center for Creative Industries would like to work together with a growing community of creatives over the next year through various event formats to work out what exactly the players in the industry need in terms of support in order to increase their chances of earning a living and competing.

The Zentrum für Kreativwirtschaft (ZfKW) is run by the association Glasdach e.V.. It receives funding from the city of Kassel for its operation and program. The Reallabor, which has now opened, is financed until the end of 2026 from the financial budget of the city of Kassel and the federal funding program Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren. Until then, the board and the two employees of the ZfKW, Paula Mierzowsky (alumna, Kunsthochschule Kassel, project management) and Magdalena Vollmer (community management), are working closely with the City of Kassel's Department of Culture and are examining the possibilities for permanent operation.

Background information on the cultural and creative industries
The cultural and creative industries are characterized by an above-average proportion of solo self-employed people. However, it also includes many small companies and agency-sized businesses. A total of eleven submarkets belong to the creative industries: architecture firms and media agencies, software developers and game designers, musicians and bands, publishers and authors, product designers and fashion labels - they all make the industry diverse.

If you have any questions, please contact the center by email at: info[at]zfkw.de.

Further information can be found at:
www.zfkw.de
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