Training Artists for Innovation (TAFI) is a unique two year project to investigate creative interventions in business. The project examines the stimulation of innovation and creativity in European businesses through the intervention of artists and creatives. This project is funded with support from the EU Culture Programme.

Qualification and skills framework
The main area this project focuses on is the connection of creativity and innovation through creative interventions in working life. Thereby realising spill over effects of the cultural sector into the economic and other sectors. The way this goal will be realised is through developing a qualification & skills framework for artists for effectively delivering these creative interventions. Why? Because to deliver these creative interventions in a effective way artists and creatives need skills they are not taught in art education and do not acquire easily in their ordinary working life. While there is considerable evidence for the need of business for the creativity that artists and creatives can deliver, there is a shortage of artists with the necessary expertise and experience. By developing a qualification & skills framework and identifying training models, TAFI makes a substantial contribution to the pool of artists and creatives skilled enough to deliver creative interventions in business effectively. 

Activities
TAFI reviews the existing and developing models for training artists and creatives to work in business contexts and the need for intermediary platforms. Existing intermediaries matching arts and business will be questioned upon their views and experience on the skills and competencies artists need to work in business. Also artists working in this field will be asked to contribute their experience in terms of effective skills and behaviour. Last but not least business organisations with  experience in working with artists will be questioned. These results will be fed back into the qualification & skills framework.

A handbook, based on input from artists, intermediaries and businesses, will describe this framework and several successful training models, list a number of best practice cases illustrating creative interventions and contain cultural policy recommendations for stimulating innovation through the interventions of artists.

Leveraging experience and expertise
The project runs from May 2011 through to April 2013 and will leverage experience and expertise in this field from various EU countries. TAFI is being led and coordinated by Cultuur-Ondernemen in collaboration with project partners from five other European countries: Artlab and Kunstgreb APS from Denmark, Theatre Academy Helsinki (TeaK) from Finland, C2masi s.l. from Spain, Skådebanan Västra Götaland AB (TILLT) from Sweden and Berufsförderungsinstitut Oberösterreich (BFI OÖ) from Austria. KEA, the Brussels-based consultancy specialised in culture and creativity, is involved in the writing of the policy recommendations. The results will be disseminated through several Dutch and European networks. A final conference in Brussels will attract several policy-making organisations to discuss the recommendations.