The rural creative cluster is being established in five villages in the north of Poland. Their creation was started in the year 2000 by the Socio-Cultural Association of Koszalin. At present the development of the cluster is supported by a Partnership formed under the European Union Initiative Equal.

The cluster is made up of villages where the unemployment rate in the initial phase of the project was 30%. In three of them there were State Owned Farms before 1990, and the dissolution of those left many people unemployed. The two others are villages depending solely on farming for income (the farms are from 5 to 30 ha in size) and on forestry as well as additional activities in the town.

The villages are poorly equipped in technical infrastructure, three of them are far away from the main roads. In four villages there are primary schools. However, two of them are at risk of being closed due to a decreasing number of students. This is because many people are leaving the village and the birth rate is falling. The population in the villages is between 250 and 350 people. When the project was being launched there was no non - governmental organizations.  

The idea of a cluster is changing each of the villages which are part of it into a theme village. A theme village is a village which has its own and unique idea for development. Owing to the implementation of this idea it becomes distinctive. A village specializing in a particular field in comparison with other villages scores greater success in many fields. Finding a development subject lets them concentrate on the most essential issues. A good development subject is for a village like a unique sale proposal for a company.

While creating the theme villages a method of appreciative inquiry has been used. The cornerstone of this powerful method is helping people from disadvantaged communities to discover their own strengths and to appreciate their own achievements. This creates a victorious cycle; people once feeling confident about their own capabilities, are more inclined to explore new possibilities. The appreciative inquiry approach creates growth dynamics based on positives, rather than focusing on what is bad and wrong.