Beyond the Campus: <br />Higher Education and the Creative Economy
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Archive: 
Higher Education & the Creative Economy Conference 2010

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The first conference on HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY took place on the 22nd - 23rd March 2010 at the University of Southampton, Southampton (UK).
The conference aimed to explore issues and research questions emerging in both academic and policy arenas in reference to the relationship between Higher Education and the Creative Economy.
This page summarises key findings and outcomes of the conference. 

WHY HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY?

While the literature recognise the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in local and regional development and their importance in reference to human capital, very little attention has been devoted to the way HEIs contribute to creative economy locally and nationally.The event aims to be a platform to debate the knowledge and research available in this field and discuss the potential development of the role of HEI as the creative economy becomes central to the UK economic development.It aims to be multidisciplinary and to involve researchers, academics, practitioners and policy makers at regional, national and international level. 

The key research questions that the network aims to address are: What is role of HEIs in developing human capital (graduates) for the creative economy?The importance of ‘creative’ skills is becoming increasingly vital in our post-industrial economies, but how do ‘creative graduates’ perform in the economy? What kind of skills and experiences are valued by the creative job market? How are universities developing their curricula in order to address these issues? What is the relationship between human capital and the creative economy? The interaction between the concept of human capital and the creative economy is underexplored. The concept of ‘creative class’ has tried to provide an answer to relationship between the importances of creative skills in the local economy as complementary to the role of higher education. What are the evidences in favour of one theoretical framework or the other? What value does HEIs add to the ‘creative economy’? What is the broader impact HEIs in the creative economy?

The impact and interconnections between HEIs and the creative economy do not simply relate to human capital development but can be understood in a broader perspective which includes physical infrastructures within HEIs hosting and supporting creative companies, knowledge transfer and many other forms of partnerships and engagement. The key topics addressed by the event represent an interesting ground for debate and knowledge sharing. While, there has been limited attention towards the topic from the academic community, policy makers have pointed out the role of HE in the creative economy and the importance of human capital development in this field to support the economic growth of this sector in UK and Europe. (DCMS, 2006)  

Conference papers & presentations: outcomes

  • Keynote speaker: Margaret Wyszomirski, The Ohio State University Five Skill-Sets for Creative Industries Professionals: Assembling the Portfolio from Across the Campus 
Presentation / Paper not available
  • Challenges for creative careers in the 21st century, Linda Ball, Senior Research Fellow, University of the Arts London, Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLTAD) and Emma Pollard,  Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies (IES) 
Presentation available
  • Targeting Creative Industries? Career Strategies Of Creative Graduates, Prof. Claus Noppeney, Bern University of the Arts & Section Business & Administration, Bern University of Applied Sciences
Presentation not available
  • Keynote speaker: Lucinda Lavelli, University of Florida College of Fine Arts. Envisioning a Creative Campus or Minding the Gap
Presentation / Paper not available
  • ICE Cool: a case study on the university and the creative industries, Christine Hamilton Director Institute for Creative Enterprise, Coventry University 
Presentation available
Website
  • Researching creative media work: Media Studies in/and the Creative Economy,  Dr Daniel Ashton, Department of Film and Media Production, School of Humanities and Cultural Industries, Bath Spa University
Presentation / paper not available
  • Activating Connections between the Creative Heart of Cities and Universities, Peter Quinn Davis Marca, School of Architecture and Design, Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth 
Presentation available
  • Higher Education and the Creative City, Dr Alessandra Faggian, School of Geography, University of Southampton 
Paper available
  • Life is short, art is long: from bohemian graduates to the creative class, Dr Maria Abreu, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands 
Presentation available
  • Higher Education, Creativity and Economic Growth In Spain, Prof. Miguel Ángel Pesquera, High Technical School of Civil Engineer, Santander-España 
Poster available
  • Keynote Speaker:  Scott Bridges, University of Alabama The Creative Campus and the Role of the Academic Entrepreneur
Presentation available here
  • The Currency of Our Time:  The strong entrepreneurial orientation of an art and design curriculum and the contribution of creative graduates to the needs of the UK economy, Emma Hunt, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield 
Presentation / paper not available
  • The teacher-practitioner: particular perspectives on professional development. Antonia Clews, Bath Spa University and David Clews, University of Brighton 
Presentation available
Project Website
  • The creative clustering effect of qualified human capital in France, Daniel Sanchez-Serra, Autonomous University of Barcelona and Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris 
Presentation not available
  • Emergence and clustering of Creative HEIs for the development of the Nord-Pas-de Calais Region, Dr Christine Liefooghe, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Lille 1 University 
Presentation available
  • Towards Creative Entrepreneurship: An Erasmus Intensive Programme under the Life Long Learning Programme, Mark Gaynor, Principal Lecturer Visual Art, Southampton Solent University 
Presentation / paper not available
  • 21st Century Creativity and the HE Curriculum, Angela Partington, Head of Art & Design University of the West of England  
Presentation available
  • The collaborative Print studio within an Higher Educational Institution and its relationship to the art marketplace, Paul Laidler, Research Associate, Centre for Fine Print Research Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE Bristol 
Presentation / paper not available
  • Universities and the Creation and Articulation of Value in Creative Industries, Dr Lorraine Warren, School of Management University of Southampton
Presentation available 

Final Programme

The FINAL PROGRAMME of the conference is now available to download here. 

Local Organisers

The conference was promoted and organised by the University of Southampton with the support of the University of Winchester, University of Portsmouth and Southampton Solent University and the Creative Campus Initiative. The local organisers were:

  • Dr Roberta Comunian, School of Geography, University of Southampton
  • Dr Alessandra Faggian, School of Geography, University of Southampton
  • Dr. Bill Brooks, School of Humanities, University of Southampton
  • Dr. Peter Smith, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton

Scientific Committee

  • Dr. Roberta Comunian, School of Geography, University of Southampton
  • Dr Alessandra Faggian, School of Geography, University of Southampton
  • Dr Bill Brooks, School of Humanities, University of Southampton
  • Dr Peter Smith, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton
  • Prof. Peter McGregor, Department of Economics Strathclyde University  
  • Dr Charlotta Mellander, Jönköping International Business School, Sweden
  • Prof Rod Pilling, Faculty of Media. Arts and Society, Southampton Solent University
  • Dr Loykie Lominé, Faculty of Arts, University of Winchester
  • Kate Oakley, Visiting Professor , Department of Cultural Policy and Management, City University
  • Dr Caroline Chapain, CURS, University of Birmingham
  • Dr Nick Clifton, Cardiff School of Management, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

Call for Papers (now closed)

CALL FOR PAPER: International conference "Higher Education and the Creative economy"
22nd-23rd March 2010, University of Southampton
You can download this call for paper in PDF format here 

Useful Links

Useful research links on the topic of Higher Education & the Creative Economy. 
  • CREATIVE ENTERPRISE AND HIGHER EDUCATION
  • CIBAS - UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
  • CREATIVE REGIONS RESEARCH NETWORK
  • CREATIVE CAMPUS INITIATIVE
  • DCMS: Developing Entrepreneurship for the Creative Industries. The Role of Higher and Further Education
  • NESTA Report: The art of innovation (by Kate Oakley, Brooke Sperry and Andy Pratt) Edited by Hasan Bakhshi

Partners

The conference was organised and supported by:
  • University of Southampton
  • University of Portsmouth
  • University of Winchester
  • Southampton Solent University
  • PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire)

The Keynote speakers

Kevin Stolarick, Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute, University of Toronto. 
His research interests include the relationship between firm performance and information technology and the impacts of technology, tolerance, talent, and quality of place on regional growth and prosperity. Kevin provided quantitative research and analytical support for Richard Florida during the development of his books The Rise of the Creative Class, The Flight of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?. He continues to actively collaborate with Richard and other researchers. This research includes primary development of measures, indicators, and benchmarking approaches with significant impact on the growth and development of the Creative Class theory.
Kevin will address the question "The University and the Creative Economy: Is This Thing On?". As Kevin suggests "our findings demonstrate that universities contribute much more than simply pumping out commercial technology or generating startup companies. They suggest that the university's role in the first T, technology, while important, has been overemphasized to date, and that the university's even more powerful roles in the two other Ts-in generating, attracting and mobilizing talent and in establishing a tolerant and diverse social climate have been mostly neglected." More information on Kevin's work and research here

Lucinda Lavelli, Dean of the University of Florida College of Fine Arts.
Based on the work of the university and the college, Dean Lavelli launched a creative campus initiative joining other major universities recognizing that arts are a catalyst for creativity and innovation. In 2007, UF received a record $582 million in research funding — a tangible example of the rewards of innovation. As the university works to serve the demands of its students, academic requirements increasingly provide opportunities to foster the skills needed in the new marketplace of ideas. These skills — creativity, empathy, innovation, design skills, storytelling, caregiving and big-picture thinking — have long been developed in arts programs. Dean Lavelli has positioned the College of Fine Arts to act as a catalyst for fostering right-brained skills and incorporating creativity across the curriculum through the creative campus initiative. More information about Lucinda work here
Lucinda will be discussing "Envisioning a Creative Campus or Minding the Gap"

Scott Bridges,  former Director Creative Campus Initiative, University of Alabama
Scott Bridges, former Director, Creative Campus Initiative, University of Alabama, is now "academic entrepreneur" at the University of Alabama. For the past two years his work has included developing a Creativity and Innovation Lab in the Division of Marketing and Management, A Creativity Track, Consulting/coordinating curricular reform at our local arts magnet k-8 School, and developing creative-student centered approaches to music listening classes in the School of Music.  An internationally acclaimed clarinetist, Bridges has been on the University of Alabama faculty since 1978. A former member of the United States Army Band and New Jersey and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras, he has also served as a faculty member at the Shenandoah Conservatory and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an invited participant to the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Creative Campus Conferences,  the 2007 Dana Foundation (NYC) conference, presenter at the 2007 "Creativity or Conformity" Conference in Cardiff, Wales, to the 2008 Arts Leadership Institute, (Monterey, CA), the 2008 Creative Leadership/Managers of Innovation Conference (San Diego, CA)  The Arkansas Arts Council, The Alabama Arts Council/Arts Education Conference,  the 2006/7/8 Imagining America conferences, and the 2007 Higher Education Partnership of Alabama Conference. Most recently he served as panelist for the 2009 Alabama Arts Council (Music). Scott Bridges will talk about "The Creative Campus and the Role of the Academic Entrepreneur"
More information about the University of Alabama Creative Campus Initiative here

Margaret Wyszomirski, Director, Arts Policy & Administration Program and Professor, Department of Art Education, The Ohio State University
Professor Wyszomirski is a faculty member of both the Department of Art Education and the School of Public Policy and Management. She has served as staff director for the bipartisan Independent Commission on the National Endowment for the Arts, as director of the Office of Policy Planning, Research and Budget at the National Endowment for the Arts, and as director of the Graduate Public Policy Program at Georgetown University. Professor Wyszomirski has been on national advisory committees for a Foundation Center analysis of arts funding, for the economic impact study of arts and tourism conducted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and for the National Center for Charitable Statistics. She was a founding member of the Research Advisory Committee of the American Council for the Arts, and was chairman of the steering committee for the 1997 American Assembly on "The Arts and the Public Purpose."  More information available here
Professor Wyszomirski will talk about "Five Skill-Sets for Creative Industries Professionals: Assembly the Portfolio from Across the Campus" 
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The research network is supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)  
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Logo design by Robin Bini Schneider.