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Deep In Thought

Published: 16 Aug 2018

Developing the creative sector

The ‘Intelligence and Influence’ aspect of a creative momentum project assessed creative sector support needs in each of the project regions. The findings are based on the perspective of creative practitioners and entrepreneurs using evidence from an online survey of the creative sector and interviews with creative professionals. Each report presents a series of recommendations to facilitate the future development of the creative sector in the project regions.

Another part of this work was to identify good practice examples of creative sector initiatives and supports. These examples can help provide practical insights for peripheral regions to inform approaches to creative sector development.  Here we present an overview of  some of the good practice examples identified.

West of Ireland

The Creative Industries Micro-Loan Fund provides loan finance to creative sector enterprises in the western region of Ireland. The fund was developed by the Western Development Commission to serve the need it identified for improved access to finance. Repayment capacity is a key criterion for eligibility and once determined applications are evaluated on a competitive basis.

The Strategic Action Plan for Creative Entrepreneurship in Donegal was published in 2015 and includes a ten year plan with actions to 2025 aiming to support the correct conditions for creative sector development. The plan is implemented through the Creative Coast Donegal initiative. Actions have included creative entrepreneur business skills development programmes and promotion activities to raise the profile of the sector locally.

Västernorrland

BizMaker is a regional business incubator with offices in seven locations, mostly focused in Västernorrland but also Stockholm. It supports entrepreneurship and start-up development in a variety of ways such as providing office space, support accessing international markets, business training and coaching.

South East Northern Ireland

The Creative Employment programme in Northern Ireland supported entry level jobs in the arts and cultural sector. The programme aimed to enable growth of the sector by directly addressing skills gaps and shortages, promote responsible and sustainable recruitment practices while also generating longer term commitment to sustaining new job opportunities beyond the life of the programme.

Creative Peninsula is a festival showcasing local craft and arts that takes place annually in the Ards and North Down Council area. It helps to increase the profile of the region’s strong local arts and craft industry, attract visitors to the region and engage the local community.

North East Iceland

The ‘Aftur Heim’ or Back Home  grant scheme encouraged creative professionals aged between 20 and 35 to return to the North East region of Iceland to participate in cultural projects. The scheme was a cooperation between three local agencies and it supported projects in theatre, film and music. More broadly the scheme has also helped artists build connections in the region.

Northern Finland

Oulu Games Campus adds to the already strong tech scene in Oulu aiming to further stimulate its development. It is a hub for media and games development in the Northern Finland region where services are available to support game development, as well as education and investment opportunities. The development was spearheaded by local company Fingersoft that is working to support a strong ecosystem for game development locally.

The Design Cooperation project led by the City of Rovaniemi aims to support the internationalisation of rural micro and small enterprises. The project develops connections between local Finnish companies and Japansese partners building on the existing relationship between the City of Rovaniemi and the Sapporo region of Japan, as well as the Japanese interest in design from Lapland.

For more information on the case studies and recommendations check out the reports at the links below:

West of Ireland

Västernorrland

South East Northern Ireland

North East Iceland

Northern Finland

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