28
July
2022
|
12:09
Europe/London

Upon Reflection: Creative and Cultural Collaborations Workshop

In July 2022, Creative Manchester hosted ‘A Framework for Creative and Cultural Collaborations,’ an online workshop in partnership with Aspect and an excellent opportunity for academics and professionals to hear about latest research.

A Framework for Creative and Cultural Collaborations

Professor of Poetry and Creative Manchester Director, John McAuliffe, opened the workshop by providing a brief overview of Creative Manchester and the Creative Industries Deep Dive Aspect Project, followed by Research Associate Dr Alicia J Rouverol presenting on the project to date, along with a proposed framework for creative and cultural collaborations.

Taking place throughout 2021, and working in partnership with Creative Manchester, University of York, and XR Stories, the project interviewed Creative and Cultural Industry professionals and academics in Higher Education Institutions who were engaged in partnerships. These interviews helped locate ‘best practice’, allowing the Deep Dive research team to develop a framework (or toolkit) with key distinct phases to help facilitate stronger, more viable partnerships between academics and industry professionals.

Attendees were then divided into breakout rooms and asked to consider their experiences when working in partnerships and collaborations and to put forward their thoughts on frameworks. The provocations provided to each breakout room were:

  1. How best can you sustain an effective partnership?
  2. Given your experience, in your own context, what are the challenges in developing, implementing and evaluating a framework?

When everyone reconvened, there were clear themes in each breakout room’s responses concerning best practice in partnerships. Some of these included: finding common interests with partners; communication, both formal and informal, including regular check-ins with colleagues and acknowledging differences with collaborators; and supporting early-mid career workers in their development.

Attendees were also able to hear from other project partners, including:

Deep Dive Aspect Project Overview
  • Suzie Leighton, Co-Founder and Director of the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE), concluded the workshop with an oversight of the NCACE’s key areas of work and its crucial findings, such as the value that collaborative activities bring to the arts and cultural sector.

If you would like to catch-up on the workshop and hear about the exciting research and thoughts of speakers and attendees, you can watch it on the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures YouTube channel.