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Picture: Roosegarde’s projects range from the beautiful such as the glowing cycle path in EindhovenPhoto: Studio Roosegaarde 

These were among the inspiring design-based solutions and projects shared at the launch of the Creative Industries Cluster on Tuesday, to reinforce the importance of creative entrepreneurship for the country. 

“The creative entrepreneur is an artist who sees himself as an entrepreneur as well as an artist. This creation process should have an economic impact, a social impact and a cultural impact,” secretary of state for economy Francine Closener said at the launch.

Among other things, the initiative aims to provide a one-stop, online shop for creative actors within the country to connect and organise events, showcase their work through economic missions dedicated to the creative industry and generally boost the entrepreneurial skills of creators.

According to 2014 figures, there were 2,200 companies registered in Luxembourg which are active in the creative industries, employing around 2% of the country’s total workforce.

The entrepreneur found a way to make the problem pay for itself by making rings containing vials of smog and selling them on crowdfunding website Kickstarter
The entrepreneur found a way to make the problem pay for itself by making rings containing vials of smog and selling them on Kickstarter

"The creative industry isn't just a nice to have"

As jobs in certain sectors start to be taken over by robots, the creative industries will become increasingly important, explained Daan Roosegarde of social design lab Studio Roosegaarde.

“The creative industry isn’t a nice to have. It’s the new economy, pure and simple,” he told the audience at the launch.

Roosegaarde has described himself as “a hippie with a business plan”, which fairly sums up his open-minded approach to finding creative solutions to everyday problems.

So far this approach has resulted in some fun and innovative projects, which he shared with the audience on Tuesday.

Roosegaarde’s projects range from the beautiful such as the glowing cycle path in Roosegarde’s projects range from the beautiful such as the glowing cycle path in Eindhoven, inspired by the swirls of light in a Van Gogh painting, to the practical smart highway in Brabant with luminous road paint, temperature sensors and interactive lights which switch on when vehicles approach and powered by the draft created from vehicles.

Regarding innovative ways of funding projects, Roosegaarde cites the clean air temple he designed for Beijing, which filters smog and releases clean air.

When confronted with the question of how to dispose with the smog dust generated, he found a way to make the problem pay for itself by making rings containing vials of smog and selling them on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.