A new Creative Center will be established at the University of Zlín

Zlín - A new Creative Center will be established at the University of Zlín. It will serve as a support facility for starting companies of students or graduates operating in the creative industries. It is expected to function from the middle of the year. There is great interest among students, said Jana Janíková, the dean of the Faculty of Multimedia Communications, to ČTK.
    In the first phase, the center will be established in an area of 400 m² and will consist of a design center, an audiovisual center, and a advertising and marketing laboratory. The faculty will invest two million crowns into it. "About five start-up companies will find a base there, which will be able to use office, workshop, and conference spaces under favorable conditions," said Janíková.
    According to her, there is significant interest among students and graduates. "We conducted a survey, and it emerged that 60 percent of those surveyed would stay in Zlín if we offered them suitable conditions," the dean pointed out. The faculty has already offered space for two start-ups; one company focuses on animation and employs five people, while the other deals with audiovisual production. "I myself have PhD students who have a keen interest in obtaining space and starting their activities," Janíková stated.
    In the future, the center is also expected to add exhibition and sales spaces, a multimedia hall, and a café. The center will also offer legal and administrative support to start-up companies and assistance in finding financial resources, aiming to cooperate with the Zlín Technology Innovation Center and the manufacturing sector. "The center will maximally support the brand of Zlín design and Zlín film. We believe that it will be able to attract attractive investments both domestically and internationally," the dean noted.
    The center will be located in building U11, which is becoming available due to the launch of the new Center for Polymer Systems, where scientific workplaces are relocating.
    A working group has been formed in Zlín, aiming to support the vision of the city and surrounding area as a breeding ground for creative industries, such as design, fashion, audiovisual production, architecture, or advertising. The group includes representatives from public administration, educational institutions, as well as manufacturing and trading companies.
    "We would like to be a connector of individual actors operating in the field of creative industries. We believe that together we can prevent the outflow of talent and support the establishment of new start-ups in the Zlín region. This should happen both at the level of strengthening creative infrastructure and at the level of enhancing cultural engagement for people between 25 and 40 years old," said Jan Blažek, who leads the working group.