Throughout March and April 2023, IN SITU LAB Partners organised numerous public workshops and local cultural mapping exercises to define local development issues, to better understand the diverse resources of the locales and the needs of the cultural and creative ecosystems in each of the IN SITU LABs, in non-urban areas located in Iceland, Finland, Portugal, Ireland, Latvia and Croatia. The 'Speak Out' workshops were preceded by Focus Groups with stakeholders relevant to the sector of cultural and creative industries in each region. Together with local partners, the activities were co-led by the University of Galway and the European Network of Cultural Centres ENCC.

'Speak Out' sessions were organised in the following LABs:

• Iceland (March 13) – Organised by Bifröst University, the first IN SITU Speak Out workshop was held in Borgarnes, West Iceland. The event gathered more than 30 cultural managers, artists, and activists in the cultural and creative industries to discuss their local issues. The short video presentation of the workshop is avalaible here.
• Finland (March 15 and 29) – The University of Turku organised two Speak Out workshops in Eurajoki and in Rauma. Each event brought together more than 50 residents to discuss their concerns and suggestions on how to improve development of the West Coast and Baltic Sea archipelago regions of Finland.
• Portugal (March 25) – The IN SITU team at the University of the Azores organised a workshop in Ponta Delgada (São Miguel Island, Azores) that brought together 19 artists, cultural managers and activists to deepen their understanding of cultural reality and to improve their knowledge about the management of innovation in the region’s cultural and creative industries.
• Ireland (March 22 and 23) – The University of Galway organised two Speak Out sessions in Western Ireland, in Galway and in Gort. These two events brought together more than 60 citizens who addressed a wide range of issues, from local transport and liveability, through heritage and art.
• Latvia (March 27 and 28) – The IN SITU team at the Latvian Academy of Culture organised two Speak Out sessions, in cooperation with Valmiera Municipality, bringing together 40 representatives of cultural and creative industry sector. The sessions were organised in collaboration with the Valmiera Culture Board and the conclusions of the sessions will be included in the Valmiera Cultural Development Plan.
• Croatia (April 5) – Kultura Nova Foundation brought together a small group of citizens of Šibenik to discuss the current issues in the Šibenik-Knin County and imagine future possibilities of the cultural and creative industries development in the County.

The Speak Out workshops and local mapping of the cultural and creative ecosystems are part of the research project ‘IN SITU: Place-based Innovation of Cultural and Creative Industries in Non-urban Areas,’ funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe programme. IN SITU aims to better understand the role and potential of the creative and cultural sector in non-urban areas of Europe. The core of the IN SITU project is the interlinking of research and practice through place-based IN SITU Labs: creative collaborative incubators – hubs for new projects, training, and networking initiatives. The IN SITU project consortium comprises 13 partners from 12 countries, consisting of 11 research institutions, a European-wide CCI network, and a national cultural foundation.