November
Thursday
MAGMA Fest 2026 – EIT Culture & Creativity Regional Hub South Open Day
Mediterranean Economies and Skills
About this day
Is there a Mediterranean way of doing business?
The economies of the Mediterranean coast have long been viewed through a negative lens - characterised by businesses deemed too small or informal compared to models developed elsewhere. The opening day of MAGMA 2026 examines these same traits from a fresh perspective, asking what they actually make possible: economies where trust and proximity replace rigid formal structures, and where adaptability is a rational response to unstable environments. We aim to put this hypothesis to the test - including its grey areas, from precariousness to unrecognised labour.
This same inquiry applies to skills. Those who cross the Mediterranean bring knowledge forged through mobility and community networks - qualities that formal certification systems often fail to capture. Which skills can we truly define as "Mediterranean"? Who validates them today, and what do local territories lose when these capacities remain invisible?
The event coincides with the 2026 Open Day of the EIT Culture & Creativity Regional Hub South, which has chosen Matera as its venue, supported by the scientific expertise of the CNR-DSU. Together with our participants, we aim to discover whether the practices observed across these regions constitute a distinct model - and under what conditions they can form a shared, cross-shores agenda for cultural and creative enterprises. In the evening at the TAM (Tower Art Museum), the conversation shifts to a personal scale: To which world do we belong?
Intro
Welcome for participants
Institutional greetings
Paolo Montemurro (Materahub), Antonio Nicoletti* (Matera City Council), Rita Orlando* (Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation), Angelica Monaco (EIT Culture & Creativity), Salvatore Capasso ( CNR-DSU) (remote)
Talk
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Ghada Wali, Founder & Creative Director, Wali’s Studio
by EIT Culture & Creativity
WE ARE THE MEDITERRANEAN
How design turns culture into connection, innovation and new possibilities
The Mediterranean has never been one culture, one language, or one story. It has always been a place of exchange—where people, traditions, images, ideas and identities have travelled across shores, collided, evolved and become something new.
In this keynote, designer, artist, educator and founder Ghada Wali traces her own journey from Cairo to Florence and beyond, exploring how design became more tha a profession: a way of navigating between cultures, translating heritage, and creating new possibilities.
Through personal stories and selected projects from her practice, Wali explores what happens when we stop treating culture as something to preserve behind glass and instead see it as a living creative resource—something we can question, reinterpret, remix and carry forward.
From Arabic typography and visual identity to cultural institutions, destinations, brands and creative education, she examines how designers can transform what they inherit into contemporary value: creating new narratives, new skills, new businesses and new connections.
At a time when the Mediterranean is often defined by borders, differences and crises, this keynote proposes another perspective: the Mediterranean as a creative ecosystem. A place where diversity is not an obstacle to overcome, but a source of imagination. Where cultural exchange is not something new, but part of our DNA. And where design can become a language for building what comes next. Because perhaps the most interesting question is not: What does it mean to be Mediterranean? But: What can we create because we are?
Is There a “Mediterranean Way” of Doing Business? A Historical and Contemporary Perspective
10:45 - 11:10
Talk
Is There a “Mediterranean Way” of Doing Business? A Historical and Contemporary Perspective
10:45 - 11:10
LECTURE
Is There a “Mediterranean Way” of Doing Business? A Historical and Contemporary Perspective
Luca Forte (CNR-ISMed)
by CNR-DSU
Break
Break
Innovating to compete: new routes in the Mediterranean
11:25 - 12:00
Talk
Innovating to compete: new routes in the Mediterranean
11:25 - 12:00
Innovating to compete: new routes in the Mediterranean
- Francesca Barisani, Director of Innovation, EIT Culture & Creativity and Maria Claudia Coppola, Transformation & New European Bauhaus Manager, EIT Culture & Creativity
- Mirella D’Agnano, Business Development Manager, EIT Culture & Creativity
This panel explores how innovation can strengthen the competitiveness of the Cultural and Creative Industries across the Mediterranean. Drawing on the experience of EIT Culture & Creativity, it will examine innovation as a continuum spanning technological development, creative entrepreneurship, and social transformation. The discussion will also assess the Mediterranean region’s innovation potential, highlighting opportunities to leverage culture and creativity as drivers of sustainable growth, resilience, and international competitiveness.
Mediterranean Innovation Showcase: Driving Impact Through Culture, Creativity and Technology
12:00 - 13:00
Parallel session Pending confirmation Talk
Mediterranean Innovation Showcase: Driving Impact Through Culture, Creativity and Technology
12:00 - 13:00
PARALLEL SESSION 1
Curated by EIT Culture & Creativity, Innovation area
Facilitated by Gaia Costantino (Women Lead)
Discover a selection of pioneering startups, scaleups and European initiatives supported by EIT Culture & Creativity, showcasing new approaches to education, business and tech challenges. In a dynamic and participatory format, project teams will engage directly with the audience through questions, feedback and live exchange. Join us for an inspiring hour of ideas and meaningful connections with the people shaping the future of the Mediterranean’s cultural and creative sectors
Connecting Mediterranean Shores – Solutions for Territorial Innovation & Cultural Resilience
12:00 - 13:00
Parallel session Talk
Connecting Mediterranean Shores – Solutions for Territorial Innovation & Cultural Resilience
12:00 - 13:00
PARALLEL SESSION 2
Connecting Mediterranean Shores – Solutions for Territorial Innovation & Cultural Resilience
by Materahub
Interactive showcase of projects highlighting how cultural, social, and economic transformations are actively reshaping the Mediterranean. Rooted in MAGMA Fest’s ambition to explore New Mediterraneans, this session showcases concrete solutions and collaborative approaches for regional transformations.
Talk
LECTURE
What Are Mediterranean Skills?
Stefania Bocconi (CNR-ITD)
by CNR-DSU
Opportunities in Education and Training at EIT Culture & Creativity
15:15 - 15:35
Talk
Opportunities in Education and Training at EIT Culture & Creativity
15:15 - 15:35
EDUCATION SPEECH
by EIT Culture & Creativity, Education area
Maxi Torau, Education Manager, EIT Culture & Creativity
Opportunities in Education and Training at EIT Culture & Creativity
EIT Culture & Creativity develops the vital skills, entrepreneurial know-how, and innovation capacity for accelerating the green, digital, and societal transformation of Europe’s Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI). This presentation introduces the Education Area at EIT Culture & Creativity and its vision to support the CCSI in Europe by integrating creativity into innovation capacity building and future-proofing CCSI students and professionals through essential skills. Education and training initiatives are strategically structured across programme themes that target specific skill sets relevant for the emerging needs of the CCSI.
Workshop
Becky Riches (Materahub), Maria Claudia Coppola and Maria Tartari (EIT Culture & Creativity, Transformation area)
by Materahub & EIT Culture & Creativity
Regional Skill South Partnership: Designing an Ecosystem for Mediterranean Economic Development
15:45 - 16:45
Parallel session Workshop
Regional Skill South Partnership: Designing an Ecosystem for Mediterranean Economic Development
15:45 - 16:45
WORKSHOP 1
Regional Skill South Partnership: Designing an Ecosystem for Mediterranean Economic Development
Paolo Montemurro, Becky Riches, Simona Martini
by Materahub in collaboration with ArtLab
Mediterranean perspectives on NEB-driven entrepreneurship
15:45 - 17:45
Parallel session Workshop
Mediterranean perspectives on NEB-driven entrepreneurship
15:45 - 17:45
WORKSHOP 2
Mediterranean perspectives on NEB-driven entrepreneurship
Maria Claudia Coppola and Maria Tartari
by EIT Culture & Creativity, Transformation area
Transformation & New European Bauhaus Area – EIT Culture & Creativity
The Mediterranean remains an elusive yet deeply rooted landscape of many genius loci: places, cultures and practices that offer alternative ways of imagining innovation, belonging and transformation.
In this interactive workshop, led by the Transformation & New European Bauhaus team at EIT Culture & Creativity, participants will explore how Mediterranean values, practices and perspectives can inspire new forms of NEB-driven entrepreneurship. Through a design-driven experience combining reflection, dialogue and creative exploration, participants will identify shared principles, emerging opportunities and possible pathways for building entrepreneurial ecosystems that are beautiful, sustainable and inclusive.
Beyond exchanging practices and experiences, the workshop will enable participants to co-create new narratives and actionable ideas that can inform future collaborations and initiatives across the Mediterranean.
Parallel session Workshop
WORKSHOP 3
Shared Thresholds
A participatory workshop that uses the art and creativity of fanzines to tell different stories, new stories, stories of the “new Mediterraneans.”
Angela Dibenedetto, Giulia Fornari
by CREAMED
Activity
Closing and networking aperitif
What World Do We Belong To? Identity and Belonging in the New Mediterraneans
19:30 - 20:30
Pending confirmation Talk
What World Do We Belong To? Identity and Belonging in the New Mediterraneans
19:30 - 20:30
in collaboration with TAM – Tower Art Museum
Pending confirmation Activity
DJ SET*
in collaboration with TAM – Tower Art Museum
Limited capacity
