#CreativeGPS | A workbook for a stronger creative career – available in four languages!
We are thrilled to introduce the CreativeGPS Workbook!
This is a practical career guide designed to help creative professionals in the cultural and artistic sectors strengthen their skills, build visibility, and navigate sustainable career paths through expert tips, exercises, and peer learning.
It will also wonderfully serve skill-builders and trainers working to upskill practitioners in this sector!
Find links to all language versions below!
The Creative GPS Workbook is available in 4 languages!
- English version: https://ndpculture.org/creativegps-workbook-for-a-stronger-career-eng/
- Estonian version: https://ndpculture.org/creativegps-workbook-for-a-stronger-career-ee/
- Finnish version: https://ndpculture.org/creativegps-workbook-for-a-stronger-career-fi/
- Latvian version: https://ndpculture.org/creativegps-workbook-for-a-stronger-career-lv/
About the workbook
A brand-new workbook developed by international partners in Latvia, Estonia, and Finland is offering creative professionals across the Central Baltic region a much-needed career compass. Titled CreativeGPS: Learn to Navigate a Stronger Career, the resource helps artists, cultural workers, and creatives strengthen their professional paths in an evolving and often precarious job market.
Published as part of the Interreg Central Baltic co-funded project “CreativeGPS: Creative Professionals Navigating the Job Market,” the free resource addresses a growing need for strategic skill-building in the cultural and creative sectors.
The workbook guides users through six key topics:
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Creating an Expert Brand
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Boosting Your Job Search
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Entrepreneurship
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Using Social Media Strategically
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Networking
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Cross-Collaborations
Each section includes practical exercises, checklists, peer discussion prompts, and expert tips. Creatives are encouraged to commit to a six-week personal development plan, working through one topic per week.
From Visibility to Viability
“Expert branding isn’t about how much you know — it’s about what others know you know,” says brand strategist Emmi Harjuniemi, one of the 15 experts contributing to the workbook. With this philosophy in mind, the workbook shows creatives how to present themselves clearly, build credibility, and design their own opportunities rather than wait for them.
The CreativeGPS workbook stands out not just for its content but for its format—designed to be printed or used digitally. It includes interactive templates such as career vision boards, entrepreneurial readiness checklists, social media “napkin strategies,” and networking scripts.
Skills for a Sustainable Creative Career
The initiative recognizes that creatives often wear many hats—balancing artistic work with entrepreneurship, communication, and cross-sector collaboration. The workbook introduces entrepreneurial thinking, teaches users how to evaluate their business ideas, and guides them through essential budgeting and branding tools. The publication is illustrated by Mārtiņš Zutis and grounded in real-life insights gathered from 66 training programme participants across Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.
The full workbook, including exercises and links to video tutorials and external resources, is now available to the public. Whether you’re launching your first freelance project or seeking new creative partnerships, CreativeGPS is a timely guide for making confident, strategic career moves.
Funding
The project is 80% co-funded by the Interreg Central Baltic program with the remaining 20% funding from the project partners. The workbook is free for all users.
About the project
In Europe, professionals in cultural and creative fields face many challenges in securing sustainable employment and income. Their work often involves multiple and diverse activities, making it rare to have a steady income from just one source. There is a lack of supportive measures that address this specific group and its capacity for a more stable career. The project aims to provide innovative solutions and support for creative professionals with high levels of expertise in a fragile job market situation. At the program’s final phase in spring 2025, CreativeGPS project launched an open-access workbook to share the best practices and learnings for the use of a broader audience.
The CreativeGPS project partners are the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture NDPC, Tallinna Loomeinkubaator, and the Trade Union for Arts and Culture Professionals TAKU.
Learn more about the project here.
