IN SITU: Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas is a Horizon Europe project that explores the role and potential of the creative and cultural industries in peripheral areas of Europe. The four-year project challenges the perception that the social and economic vitality of CCIs is primarily located in metropolitan centres and instead illuminates the robust creative ecosystems that exist in regions at the edge. A core of the project is the interlink between research and practice through the IN SITU Labs, including UrbanLab Galway. The project creates links between place-based development and creative and cultural practice through engagement with communities, artists, creatives and stakeholders in six regions in Europe: The Azores, Portugal; West Region, Iceland; Galway, Ireland; Rauma and Eurajoki, Finland; Valmiera County, Latvia and; Šibenik-Knin, Croatia. In each region, IN SITU Case Studies have been selected in which creative practitioners respond to local development concerns. In Galway, Art Inse Guaire and Guth na Hóige address the issues of youth and community development.

IN SITU brings together thirteen institutions from across Europe. At the University of Galway, UrbanLab co-leads the cultural mapping exercises being undertaken in the six lab regions alongside the European Network of Cultural Centres. This cultural mapping includes gathering data on CCIs in each region, conducting focus groups and interviews with creative practitioners and hosting Speak Outs where members of the public can identify local development concerns.

IN SITU is highlighting the social and economic contributions of CCIs in peripheral regions and the role they play in placemaking. While making an impact on local development through creative practice, it is also connecting artists and institutions across Europe.