We have entered a liquid era, marked by permanent instability. In this age of continuous flows of information, images and sounds, one industry has grown significantly over the past 20 years: the digital creative industries. They feed our screens and our ears, immersing us in new worlds, from video games to digital arts, from video mapping to phygital applications, from social media to streaming platforms, podcasts and immersive cinema.

With around €477 billion in turnover, accounting for nearly 3.95% of added value and more than 8 million jobs across the EU, the cultural and creative industries are a pillar of the European economy: fragmented, densely populated with small and medium-sized enterprises, highly labour-intensive and “crucial for innovation”, as the European Commission notes in its industrial strategy.

Breaking news! From coal to imagination, this industry is now thriving in a region at the crossroads of France, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg: the Greater Region.

This cross-border area is as green as it is hilly, nourished by the Rhine, the Saar, the Meuse and the Moselle: 65,000 km² of lush landscapes bringing together 4 countries, 6 regions, 12 million inhabitants and 3 languages, and standing out for its record number of cross-border workers (274,400 in 2023). It also happens to be the cradle of Europe, born as the “European Coal and Steel Community” (ECSC) in the 1950s, before becoming the European Union we know today.

Urban hubs for the development of the creative industries – cities such as Luxembourg, Differdange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Saarbrücken, Mainz, Trier, Liège, Namur, Mons, Châlons-en-Champagne, Metz and Strasbourg – are scattered across this region forged by the Industrial Revolution.

Three centuries later, the digital creative revolution is bringing a new set of challenges:

• creative professions and intellectual property exposed to generative artificial intelligence
• the scale of markets and the circulation of works and productions
• the performance of digital infrastructure needed to remain competitive in a hyper-globalised market
• the protection of creative biodiversity, cultural and technological sovereignty, and the discoverability of niche cultures
• upskilling and knowledge-building in a context of constant innovation
• increasingly hybrid economic models
• the transfer of creative innovations to markets such as aerospace, industry 5.0, education and training, tourism, healthcare, construction and mobility

At times, these oceans of uncertainty turn out to be sources of opportunity. They encourage us to observe our surroundings, to map out our strengths and to open up new fields of action. For Europe draws its richness from the diversity that emerges at the far edges of its borders.

Digital innovation has already inspired the creation of a “single market”; now let us launch a “creative market” in the Greater Region! Festivals, incubators, studios of every size and across every vertical, artists, universities, research centres, European Capitals of Culture, UNESCO Creative Cities, investment funds and creative innovation platforms: this is fertile ground. The “Greater Creative Region” already exists.

Let’s connect our ecosystems to turn this valley into a thriving hub for our creators – those who harness creativity as a driver of influence, competitiveness and soft power, a powerful tool for resilience in an age dominated by globalised flows and networks.

From vision to roadmap, the work is already underway: mapping our strengths, fostering professional mobility and coordinating strategies to increase the number and scale of EU‑funded projects in the Greater Region.

On this UNESCO world creativity and innovation day, “let’s go with the flow of digital creativity”: together, let’s build the Greater Creative Region!

The Greater Creative Region is an initiative of five partners under the Walloon Presidency of the Greater Region Summit (2025–2026), powered by the digital creative ecosystem wake! by Digital Wallonia (Belgium) & KIKK, Hitt XR Wallonia (Belgium), the 1535° Creative Hub in Differdange (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), the Grand Est Region (France) and K8 (Saarland, Germany) + to be confirmed: Film- und Medienforum (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)

This project is supported by Wallonia‑Brussels International and the Walloon Export and Invest Agency.

Learn further about wake! by Digital Wallonia.

Join the Greater Region creative on Linkedin.

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