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1. Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities

2. Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities

In the Croatian educational system, there are three types of secondary schools: grammar schools, vocational schools, and art schools (refer to Chapter 8.5, Developing cultural and creative competences).

Vocational schools offer various programmes that qualify students with practical skills, supporting the development of an individual’s ability to transform ideas into action. These programmes cover vocations such as arranger and scenic designer, clothes designer, graphic designer, web designer, ceramic designer, media technician, photographer, etc. Those programmes are typically concentrated in graphic schools and schools for applied arts, although not exclusively. For more information on organisation of vocational upper secondary education in Croatia, please refer to Eurydice.

The Department of Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, offers undergraduate and graduate study programme 'Cultural Studies' (single major). In these programmes, students acquire competencies to work in cultural management, and cultural tourism, as well as in various types of institutions and organisations. There is no emphasis, however, on entrepreneurship.

There are four arts academies in Croatia that offer various study programmes in the fields of theatre, visual arts, applied art, and art and culture. There are also faculties of architecture and/or civil engineering in Zagreb, Osijek, and Split that offer study programmes in architecture and urbanism, as well as design studies. The Faculty of Graphic Arts in Zagreb offers study courses in graphic engineering and graphic product design. The list of higher education institutions in Croatia is available on line, along with the register of study programmes.

The Croatian Employment Service administers a list of vocations along with their descriptions.

The Act on Technical Culture states that technical culture, among other activities, includes education and training for acquiring technical, technological, and IT skills and knowledge, innovative work, and dissemination of scientific and technical accomplishments, with special attention to young people. The Act enables the establishment of associations of technical culture and their networks/alliances. It also states that technical culture is a public need that will be funded through the state budget.

The Croatian Association of Technical Culture (CATC) is the highest national institution in the field of technical culture in the Republic of Croatia. It consists of 18 national associations, 19 county and 37 city technical culture communities, and more than 600 associations of technical culture with over 60.000 members. CATC’s members can be artistic-technical association such as Croatian Film Clubs’ Association and Croatian Photographic Union. Associations, national associations, and CATC pay special attention to the extra-curricular education of youth, for example in the field of photography and film.

Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

The Republic of Croatia has no elaborated or adopted strategy for the development of cultural and creative industries. The Croatian Cluster of Competitiveness of Creative and Cultural Industries, an association founded on the initiative of the Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with the Economics Institute in Zagreb, has developed the Strategic Guidelines for Development of Creative and Cultural Industry 2013-2020. However, there is no mention of youth in these guidelines.

The MCM publishes a Public Call for Encouraging Entrepreneurship in the Cultural and Creative Industries every year. In 2022, the MCM awarded 152 programmes a total of €677 178.31. The Call did not specifically target young people.