The article explores cross-innovation between CCIs and SMEs. To enable such innovation, the DIVA project developed a set of tools and methods, based on an analysis of field-specific stakeholder requirements. By looking at specific cases of interaction between designers and artists on one side and business firms on the other, also leaning on the Cross Innovation project and considering a wide range of secondary research, the article captures both the existing mechanisms, as well as detects tacit potentials and new possibilities for deep cross-fertilization. Based on a theoretical reference framework presented in the first part of the article, the findings of a multi-stakeholder SWOT analysis carried out by the DIVA project indicate new innovative paradigms brought about by introducing art thinking next to the predominant paradigm of design thinking within traditional industry realms. Upon the empirical evidence of analyzed cooperation potentials, a Europe-wide selection of good practice cases and through focused interviews, the article digests a set of business-needs transformations that call for a profound cross-fertilization between art and entrepreneurship. These evidence-based guidelines present the potential of a new 'innovation catalyst' profile who facilitates the shift from unintentional spillovers to art-thinking based crossovers.
