[cma-l] Stimulating Participation in the Informal Creative Economy (SPICE) workshops

[CMA-L]

Dear Supporters

Very short notice but here is some info about the Stimulating Participation
in the Informal Creative Economy (SPICE) workshops. Ideally people will be
able to take part throughout, as the workshops carry a kind of narrative to
explore the topic. But, no problem if not. People from outside of Sheffield
can attend, but their travel is only covered from Sheffield due to the
funding.

There are people taking part from broadly each of the four workshop
areas.The idea is that the participants have some connection with one of
those areas and the communities in them.  Steve Thompson, Community Media
Manager at the Teesside University, is leading the first workshop.

The organisers definitely need to confirm today/tomorrow about next week's
attendees though.  There are three places left available, so get in touch
with them asap if you can attend - contact details at bottom of email.

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   - Travel expenses from Sheffield will be covered for delegates
   - In advance of each workshop, delegates will meet at Sheffield Train
   station and travel with the other delegates to the workshop locations.
   - There is no registration fee.
   - Accommodation for the workshops is provided as are meals.

There are four workshops, dates and locations listed below:

*SPICE: Stimulating Participation in the Informal Creative Economy  *

This project investigates the informal creative economy (such as guided
walks, ad-supported blogs and community-
generated tourism or marketing materials) that has grown up around cultural
heritage projects and its role in
developing the well-being of communities. University researchers from Kings
College London, Sheffield Hallam
University and the University of Teesside are working with members of
communities based in four distinctive
locations (London, Oxford, Sheffield and N Yorkshire/E Cleveland) where
innovative cultural heritage activity is
taking place. Through a series of workshops blending discussion and
practical tasks, key issues in developing a
vibrant informal creative economy will be analysed by active participants
from the four neighbourhoods.

The Council of Europe defines cultural heritage broadly as ‘a group of
resources inherited from the past which
people identify, independently of ownership, as a reflection and expression
of their constantly evolving values,
beliefs, knowledge and traditions’; including ‘all aspects of the
environment resulting from the interaction
between people and places through time’. And the UK Government says that
active cultural heritage work makes
an important contribution to community cohesion. We will be exploring how
these resources and the creative use
that people make of them build values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions to
share.

There are four workshops as part of this project, each focussing on a
slightly different aspect of the relations
between people, place, identity, creativity and sustainability. These are:

*Understanding the Informal Creative Economy: Definition/Scope/Reach –  *

*East Cleveland/North Yorkshire, May 24th-25th *

What is an* Informal Creative Economy*? And how and why would we nurture it?

This workshop looks at the value of activities that grow up round place and
community and identifies core
elements with an eye to attracting more engagement: both as audiences and as
participants. The economy is
unpicked as a site of value exchange, including how cultural, social or
financial aspects interplay.

We will do our work in Saltburn, in the former homes of the mine owner and
mine manager in an area that has
been building a new identity as tourist destination in the wake of the
withdrawal of the coal and steel industries.

*Nurturing the Informal Creative Economy: Identity/Impact –

London, June 15th-16th
*
What does it mean to recognise heritage? Whose counts and how is it to be
expressed?

This workshop acknowledges that all movements for change – even those that
protect/develop heritage,
environment and place – introduce chosen and hidden impacts. It looks at how
processes work to highlight
different aspects and considers the effects on participants, bystanders and
those to be influenced.

The London workshop will focus on the life of The Strand, a historic street
in the centre of the West End, and the
many strata of people who come through it, work or live there.

*Maintaining the Informal Creative Economy: Viability/Sustainability/Income
–

Sheffield, August 1st-2nd
*
What does it take to make creativity sustainable? How do values balance in
the informal economy?
This workshop considers the nitty-gritty of keeping your activities afloat,
whether by recruiting fresh energy or
generating more cash.

We will be based in the Gist Lab, a city-centre open source hub for local
activities that is so new that it is still
creating its identity within the Creative Industries Sector that Sheffield
is known for.

*Summing up the Informal Creative Economy: Cohesion/Growth/Summary –

Oxford, August 26th-27th
*
What are the big goals? How do we keep them in focus? How do we attain them?


This workshop sees us drawing our learning together and preparing case
studies and tips to put into a summative
document and multimedia record of the project. We will gather insights on
building community, preserving culture
and making longer-term projects viable and record this learning for use with
policy- makers and publics interested
in generating an informal creative economy based on place.

The last visit is to Oxford’s Jericho Boatyard, focus of a long campaign to
preserve both a historic location and a
way of life. We will be based on a boat on the canal and close the sequence
with thoughts on what we need as
moorings and what we can carry with us.

*Notes: *

The purpose of the workshops is to gather information about existing
informal creative activities which draw on
the resources of cultural heritage and to look at practices that make them
sustainable and of value to the
community. People may contribute in different ways, from providing
publishable case studies to giving anonymous
accounts of their feelings of involvement. The final materials that
summarise our findings will be circulated to
community groups, policy makers and cultural heritage projects as well as
being available to the participants of the
project to use under a creative commons licence.

We have space for only a few people from each location to visit others. You
may sign up for one or many; places
will be allocated on a basis of availability, topic and balance of
participants. If you are interested, please contact
Michelle (on *M.Tanner at tees.ac.uk *or* 01642 384334*) in the first
instance.

Journeys will be primarily by train and will be pre-booked/paid for as part
of our arrangements for visiting
participants. In addition, at each workshop, we will cater for visiting
participants and provide a bed. Please note
that in Oxford that bed will be on a boat and in shared berths.

There will be additional spaces for local participants at each workshop and
lunch each day will be provided.
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