The second conference from the "Connect for Creativity," funded as part of the EU-Turkey Intercultural Dialogue Programme (ICD), conducted by Yunus Emre Institute, has been held in Kayseri.

The British Council-led "Connect for Creativity" project as Abdullah Gül University and ATÖLYE from Turkey, Nova Iskra from Serbia and BIOS from Greece as its partners, and the project conducted its conference entitled the "Role of Universities in Creating Cultural Industries" at Abdullah Gül University between December 5 and 6, 2019.

Some 100 representatives from different professions which rely mainly on creativity and entrepreneurship from Turkey and Europe attended the conference. Abdullah Gül University Rector Prof. Dr. İhsan Sabuncuoğlu delivered a keynote speech during the conference, which provided a venue for discussing the roles of universities in building creative industries under the theme of "Creative Catalyst."

The results of the five-month study conducted by the Creative Economies Team from Cardiff University on the role of creativity centers in improving intercultural dialogue, a major component of the project, were presented during the conference. The study had been undertaken with the participation of the directors and members of the creativity centers, academics, and private and public stakeholders from Greece, Serbia, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, and produced striking results. 75 percent of the participants stated that the creativity centers made direct contribution to, and even facilitated, intercultural communication. "Creative work formed the very basis of the creativity centers and the creativity of society facilitated intercultural dialogue," the report said.

The attendants had a chance to listen to creativity and innovation stories from different people in later parts of the conference.