Creativity and Culture are more than 'nice to haves' they are powerful tools in a city's wheelhouse for benefiting its residents and visitors.
 
A report providing a snapshot of the Greater Cambridgeshire Creative Industries highlighted that… "The cultural and creative industries (1) are predicted to be a major growth sector. For young people graduating from secondary education in 2024, the growth of creative jobs is more than double the average growth of all occupations across the UK at 5.3%, and 2.5% respectively. (2) Nesta predicts that 87% of creative workers are at low or no risk of automation, compared with 40% as an average of all occupations. A distinctive feature of the creative industries is their increased collaboration and outsourcing, leading to the development of creative business clusters in specific areas of the country. This supports a key finding provided by Nesta that 75% of approximately 900,000 new jobs created within the creative industries between 2013 and 2030 will be in 10 national locations, of which Cambridgeshire is positioned ninth."

 

How can we maximise this potential within the creative and cultural industries on our doorstep?

 

The next CAN conference seeks to highlight how and where the creative and cultural industries can positively impact our city demonstrating the value of our creative economy.

 

Creative businesses generate spillover effects, which are additional benefits to “places, society or the economy through the overflow of concepts, ideas, skills, knowledge and different types of capital” (European Centre for Creative Economy).(4) 

 

Join in our annual gathering of creative organisations and practitioners to discuss good practice, question the challenges and needs, and discover ideas that might make our creative and cultural delivery more impactful and sustainable.

 

The day's workshops and presentations will:

 

 

CAN is pleased to be partnering once more with Anglia Ruskin University and Cambridge University in creating the conference programme.

 

The conference will be a day to put a spotlight on Cambridge's creative and cultural sector and advocate for its contributions not only to economic recovery but also, place-making, wellbeing, community cohesion, skills development and so much more.

 

Featuring perspectives within Cambridge and beyond, the conference will cover:

Keynote: The Thinking City  | Idrees Rasouli (Cambridge School of Art)
Idrees presents a vision to form a new narrative for Cambridge based on a mission to enable community-led, creative, and interconnected responses that draw upon real-world and ethical local knowledge and resources to develop and deliver big opportunities for the sustainability of further and higher education, employment and knowledge.

Creative Influence on Skills and Careers  | Chris Land (Anglia Ruskin University) | Lucy Laing (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Region of Learning) | Anne Bailey (Form the Future) | Tim Gardiner (Access Creative) | Tariq Sadiq (Long Road Sixth Form College)
Creativity is in high-demand. How do we enabling the this talent to be harnessed and create suitable pathways to  employment? This panel will explore the challenges of creating opportunities, the transferability of skills and supporting the creative sector to attract new entrants.

Maximising the Ripple Effect  | Jane Wilson (Cambridge City Council) | Will Young (Cambridge Club) | Cathy Moore (Cambridge Literary Festival) | Kate Collins (Mill Road Winter Fair) | Ian Sandison (Cambridge BID)
In this session we explore how culture plays a part in putting Cambridge on the map through a range of offerings of differing scales and focus. We'll understand where each has a ripple effect on the City's wider economy and how that might be maximised.

Reimagining Cambridge  | David Cain (University of Cambridge) | Hilary Cox Condron (County Councillor, Artist and Activist) | Owen Garling (Bennett Institute for Public Policy)
How do we imagine the Cambridge of the future? This is a exploration of research and cultural interventions asking "Can we learn from the imaginings of the past?" What can we do today to turn our dreams into reality?

The Power of Creative Communities  | Heather Thomas (Together Culture) | Beverley Carpenter (Oblique Arts) | Mari O'Neil (Northstowe Arts) | Selena Scott (Skin Deep Arts)
In ten years time, if Cambridge was known as one of the most inclusive and ecological cities in the world, how would we have achieved that?  Potentially we could combine our creative skill sets, and devise a new creative culture. This session will discuss examples of what is possible when creativity becomes a shared purpose, how we start to build more creative communities, and how we measure the impact of more creative communities.

Afternoon Provocation: Is culture off the agenda?  | Nick Morgan (We Are The Fair)
Nick Morgan, CEO of live production agency We Are The Fair and public realm placemaking agency We are Placemaking  shares thoughts about the role the changing economic landscape, the rise in experience economy and the contribution of festivals and events to place.

Developing a Contemporary Cultural Offer  | Matt Burman (Cambridge Junction) | Kirk Woolford (ARU) | Rachel Drury (Collusion) | Laurence Oldham (Frontier) | Prof. Paul Fletcher (University of Cambridge)
In Cambridge, does the local creative and cultural sector make the most of the City's greatest export and resource?  This is a conversation about the possibilities when Creativity and Culture Meets Technology and the opportunities we might be missing.

Heritage as a Door to Culture for All  | Carol Brown-Leonardi (The Open University) | Annie Davies (Museum of Cambridge) | Lawrence Becko (UK Antarctic Heritage Trust) | John Bull (Cambridge Science Centre)
This is a conversation about the ways we open culture to everyone and the role of heritage in enabling the understanding of others lives and perspectives.

Creative and Commercial Harmony  | Emma Salgard Cunha (Cambridge Enterprise) | Emanuele Giovannetti (ARU) | Gail Hoban (GAS Studio/Cam Creatives) | Sue Keogh (Sookio)
Is there a disconnect between the commercial sector and the creative and cultural sectors? In this conversation we explore opportunities where these sectors intersect and the potential to generate greater benefits for both.  

Setting out a pathway to the industry  | Ruth Laslett (Long Road Sixth Form College) | Long Road Sixth Form Students, James Ward (ARU) | Max Louth (20Twenty Productions) | Rosie Cooper & Michaela D'Agati (Wysing Arts Centre)
CAN has partnered with Long Road Sixth Form to produce a session about young people's aspirations for entering the creative industries and overcoming some of the challenges. This session will be live streamed into the conference with delegates invited to submit their questions to the Sixth Formers in advance.

4 From <https://pec.ac.uk/blog/eight-things-to-know-about-the-creative-industries>