The State of Creativity, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 26 April 2023
The State of Creativity
reflects on creative industry policy over the last 10 years and asks where next for the creative sector. It includes contributions from 24 creative industry thinkers from seven UK universities and across the creative sector. In the report, researchers highlight the priority areas for creative industries policy, and research. These short essays are supported by on-the-ground case studies from those working in the creative sector, including Syima Aslam from Bradford Literature Festival, entrepreneur Tom Adeyoola, and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Sarah Ellis.
The report suggests that priority areas for creative industry policymakers over the coming years include the need to focus on creative education in schools and universities, ending unequal access to the arts and the regenerative power of the creative sector, if the UK is to fully realise the potential of its world-leading creative industries.
In his opening essay, Hasan Bakhshi, Director of the Creative PEC, remarks that “the creative industries are no longer an unsung success story in the UK’s industrial strategy but their place in mainstream policies in areas like education, skills, immigration and the climate emergency are not yet secured. The challenge for the Creative PEC during the next five years is to ensure that policies across government – not just in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport – are grounded in an assessment of Creative Britain’s needs, informed by robust evidence”.
The report was launched on 27th April 2023 at a conference attended by policymakers, researchers and industry professionals. It also marks the £11 million investment from the AHRC for a further five years of the Creative PEC, as it moves to a new North/South twin-hub model in June this year, led by Newcastle University, with the RSA.
