The “Thrive! Entrepreneurial skills as solid base for a future in the Creative Industry” project has as central aim to support the (young) (female) entrepreneurs and companies and its employees in the creative sector to go through a transformation and innovation process that is necessary to survive the present times and to become a company with a sustainable business case. The project results will be the relevant profiles of the companies at various stages in this path of development until the year 2026, learning material and digital tools.The core of the company profiles will be the description of core competences and entrepreneurial skills that have to be present in the company at management level and the entrepreneurial skills at the level of the employees.ContextThe Creative Industry has always been part of the communication and information industry. Over the last 30 years the industry has gone through a great deal of technological changes and revolutions. From a manual manufacturing industry dominated by production and output based companies, single channel companies, a change-over to full service communication and information companies, multi-channel companies are now needed. Technology has always been the main (sole) driver for initiating change in the companies. In many cases there is no real research based analyses to support the implementation of the production tools financially. Market research is not a strong point of the entrepreneurs.Goals, results and impact.The aim of this project is to develop innovative ways of learning about entrepreneurship and company development and to promote and create awareness on these subjects in schools and companies in the industry. This awareness is the start to implement the appropriate tools and strategies to drive that road up hill to a sustainable future in this extremely interesting Creative Industry of the future.The company profiles connected to the three direct target groups will be the foundation of the three learning modules that we will focus on. Modern, entrepreneurial skills that will support the individual and company development into a full service provider in the Creative Industry. The modules will have various work formats, from workshops to blended learning assignments with shared responsibilities of the students.An E-tool will be developed for benchmarking and self-assessment. Individuals and companies can apply the e-tool to benchmark their present position on the development scale that has been implemented in the tool, based on the company profiles. By doing this self-assessment, the individuals or companies will get a clear analysis of the gaps they have in entrepreneurial sense to have a successful transformation to the desired situation.Long termThe effect of working in a sustainable manner on the development of a company in the Creative Industry, in particular the communication sector, to get a better connection between the entrepreneur, the company, its customers and their needs. A higher level of customer experience will lead to more employee satisfaction. This all has to be managed by an entrepreneur with the adequate skills. In this way the company can be more profitable and more competitive. The partnership entails partners from VET education at the initial level and higher / academic education; consultancy organisations representing the industry, training services providers closely related to the Creative Industry.Partners in the project:1. Stivako, The Netherlands, industry based training service provider on middle management, strategy and marketing: coordinator of development result and project activities, development of contents of e-tool, development of learning materials and the implementation in industry, company relations;2. NYTA Ltd, The Netherlands, management an consultancy in educational and labour marker related projects: development and testing / validating of materials, development of the professional profiles, international dissemination;3. Hill Top Consulting (Yorkshire) Ltd United Kingdom, consultants of trade organisations, companies and organisation in UK and Europe: profile development, research and analyses of materials, learning materials production4. Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Institut für Systemforschung der Informations-, Kommunikations- und Medientechnologie, Germany: research and development of profiles, analysing present situation in the Creative Industry;5. Artevelde Hogeschool, Belgium, VET education higher level; development of learning materials, profiles development, validation and assessment;6. Fundació Privada Indústries Gràfiques - Escola Antoni Algueró, Spain, a well based industrial VET school in Barcelona with close ties with the Catalonian Employers federation: development of the E-tool, validation of the developed materials and assessment.