Consultancy news /

11 Aug 10

Sheffield Praised for Hard Work and Creativity in Culture Bid

Sheffield's UK City of Culture 2013 bid has been highly praised by Ed Vaisy, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries; the Independent Decision Panel; and Regeneris (the UK City of Culture consultants) for the impressive hard work, creativity and commitment that has been invested and the great plans and ideas that were reflected within the bid. The Minister said that Sheffield had demonstrated a "unique cultural journey that reflected their history, issues and opportunities."

This positive feedback comes after Londonderry pipped Sheffield to the post of UK City of Culture 2013 last month.

Mr. Vaisy said: "Your bid was commended for the strong and innovative use of digital technology; the strength of community engagement and the way in which ideas for 2013 had been generated from the grass roots; and the way in which being UK City of Culture would enable the city to build on the transformation which has already taken place and in particular to enhance the city's creative economy.

"I hope that Sheffield will be able to benefit from having entered the UK City of Culture competition, and from having reached the shortlist - no mean achievement in itself. In particular, I hope that you will be able to build on the considerable work you have done, the partnerships you have formed, and the plans and proposals you have drawn up."

TFCC was the lead consultancy in support of Sheffield's bid to be UK City of Culture in 2013, which saw Sheffield shortlisted in the final four, out of the initial fourteen cities that applied.


www.sheffieldcityofculture.com

04 Aug 10

Understanding and Shaping Culture & Creativity in Croydon Workshops

Over the last couple of weeks we have been running workshops in Croydon as part of our research into understanding and shaping the cultural and creative sector in the Borough. The first part of our work has been about 'mapping' the numerous organisations, individuals and businesses that make up the cultural and creative profile across Croydon.

The recent workshops took a closer look at the issues facing Croydon's cultural and creative sector and examined what the priorities for the future should be. The workshops were attended by an array of creative practitioners, cultural organisations and creative businesses based in Croydon.

The workshops were brought to life by our visual scribe who produced graphic summaries of all the discussions - click on the links below to view the illustrations.

Workshop 1
Creative Skills and Education Workshop: Croydon at the Forefront
How can Croydon make the most of its creative and cultural strengths for the educational and learning benefit of children and young people?
download illustration

Workshop 2
Growing Croydon's Night-time Economy
How can culture help develop Croydon's Night-time economy? What role can culture have in making Croydon a better place to live, work in and visit in the evening?
download illustration

Workshop 3
Creative Businesses Workshop: Croydon's Creative Economy
What would make Croydon a better place for creative businesses? What would help Croydon's creative business grow?
download illustration

13 Jul 10

Andrew Erskine speaking at London Cultural Policy Reference Group

TFCC Senior Associate Andrew Erskine was asked recently to present to The London Cultural Policy Reference Group meeting on 'Culture in the Outer Boroughs'. This advisory group has been established to provide the GLA and other strategic agencies with guidance on research and policy for London's cultural sector. Chaired by Professor Sara Selwood, it provides a forum whereby leading cultural policy figures can discuss and analyse issues and research findings, in order to ensure that policy and interventions in London government are as well informed as possible.

Andrew spoke on TFCC's work 'Understanding and Shaping Culture and Creativity in Croydon'. As part of this mapping and strategy work he described how a new approach to culture in the outer-boroughs or suburbs was required, in order to address the relative lack of engagement and density of activity found in many boroughs. This approach which is currently being developed - understands and positions culture as central to the core planning and strategy process in relation to the defining social and economic features of the outer-boroughs - such as challenges with the night-time economy, the lack of established creative organisations, the relationship between centre and district and the importance of underground culture.

This work forms part of TFCC's development of fresh approaches to culture which explore the opportunity for creativity and culture in districts and locations outside of the metropolitan centres of cities and towns in the UK and internationally.

www.tfconsultancy.co.uk/projects.php

29 Jun 10

Tom Fleming Provides Think Piece for Estonian Government

Tom Fleming has been commissioned by the Estonian Government to write a commentary on opportunities and challenges for developing a joined-up approach to creative economy policy across the three Baltic States of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. This is part of a wider document that explores how the three countries can build on set of cultural, economic and geographic ties to develop a stronger and more competitive sector. This will be published over the summer. Watch this space.

www.eesti.ie

16 Jun 10

Tom Fleming speaking at Annual Irish Theatre Forum - Resilience and Renewal

Tom Fleming will be speaking at this year's Irish Theatre Forum's annual conference at the award winning Wexford Opera House - Resilience and Renewal - on Friday 18th June.

Tom's presentation will aim to introduce the strategic context for the creative industries and explore the shifting policy dynamic between art, culture and the economy by providing an overview of the core terms and themes developed over the last 12 years of creative industries policy, internationally.

To find out more about the conference visit:

theatreforumconference2010.wordpress.com