Kristiina Urb

Kristiina Urb is a Junior Researcher at Estonian Business School, where she has been working as a consultant since January 2018. She completed her doctoral studies at EBS, defending her dissertation titled "ANALYSING INTERORGANISATIONAL ACTIVITIES BETWEEN CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AND OTHER SECTORS ON A MANAGERIAL LEVEL" in March 2024 under the supervision of Arno Almann.

Her educational background includes studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and postgraduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in Germany. She pursued her Master's studies in the cultural management joint programme at EBS, focusing on creative entrepreneurs and ways to support them. Urb has a dual professional identity, having managed a graphic design agency and creative studio since 2008 while building her academic career.

Urb's research interests center around creative and cultural industries, with particular focus on interorganizational cooperation between creative entrepreneurs and other sectors. Her work examines collaborative processes, business models, and challenges faced by creative entrepreneurs when working across industry boundaries. She has published extensively on creative entrepreneurship, cultural policy, organizational performance in the creative sector, and participatory business models in cultural heritage contexts. Her publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining how creative industries can effectively collaborate with other sectors, with attention to mental models, communication processes, and organizational dynamics.

Her scientific contributions have been recognized through several prestigious awards:

• Dora+ scholarships for conducting doctoral research in Liverpool (UK), Nagoya (Japan), New York (USA), and San Francisco (USA) (2018)
• Erasmus+ mobility scholarship for traineeships in Finland (2015)
• DAAD Scholarships for Artists and Architects (2013)
• "Best diploma work of the year 2009" award from the Estonian Rectors' Conference of Universities of Applied Sciences (2009)

Kristiina Urb is actively involved in significant research projects including the European Cultural and Creative Industries Policy Platform (2023-2026) and Resilient European Cultural Heritage As Resource for Growth and Engagement (2022-2025), both funded by the European Commission. Previously, she served as the responsible executor for the Creative Industries Learning Module project (2019-2021). She also works as an independent expert in creative industries and innovation for the European Commission, demonstrating the practical relevance and impact of her research.

Her work bridges academic research and practical application in the creative sector, contributing to both theoretical understanding and practical tools for creative entrepreneurs and cultural organizations, with particular relevance in today's economy where creative industries increasingly intersect with technology, business, and other sectors.