Cultural Hub Models
Welcome to the EPIC-WE models and kits, a platform that offers practical ways to build and grow collaborative cultural ecosystems in your own context.
At its core is the Quadruple Helix Cultural Hub, as outlined in the Establishing Quadruple Helix Cultural Hubs: Core Framework. It brings together young people and citizens, cultural heritage institutions, higher education, and the creative industries in a shared space for co-creation, experimentation, and locally grounded innovation.
Working as both a living lab and an innovation ecosystem, the hub supports meaningful participation, equal partnerships, and the development of new cultural ideas and practices, with clear models, tools, and guidance. Each hub forms a strong local foundation where relationships and initiatives take shape, while the Connecting Quadruple Helix Cultural Hubs model extends this work by linking hubs into a wider, transnational “glocal” network. Through these connections, hubs exchange knowledge, methods, and cultural expressions, strengthening local practices through collaboration across regions and countries.
Together, the two models outline a progression from establishing local hubs to connecting them into a broader ecosystem that fosters shared learning, creativity, and cultural innovation across communities.
A practical model for establishing local cultural hubs where diverse partners collaborate to co-create ideas, strengthen communities, and spark innovation.
A model for connecting local cultural hubs into a shared – and glocal – transnational network, where collaboration across locations strengthens practices, enables new ideas, and expands cultural innovation.