The Whisky Bond
Creative Hubs: Learn is a brand new programme that we have been scoping and testing together with our partners, Hivos and Nesta, for the last 2 years. We have worked directly with a number of hubs across the globe to understand the main challenges and skills gaps amongst hub communities at different stages, so that we could design a programme that was relevant and valuable.
As a partnership, we are interested in ways in which the creative economy is innovating to remain relevant, diverse, sustainable and inclusive, particularly with the future of work prescribing changes that we may and may not be aware of at this stage. With a growing young workforce, global shortage of jobs and opportunities and an ever present need for community organising and activism, there has never been a more important time to be supporting communities to be creatively entrepreneurial and collectively strong.
Emily Chappell
As an ethos, we believe that by helping to support and sustain the invaluable people running creative hubs, we in turn support the sustainability and growth of the creative communities that they represent.
Creative economies are an important part of any economy across the globe, and are even more critical drivers of employment and GDP in low- and middle-income countries in the Global South. Within this, creative hubs play an important societal role, increasing access to information literacy, creating jobs, developing creative and cultural sectors, and creating space for freedom of expression. They also have the potential to strengthen and deepen developing creative ecosystems, and provide a vital lifeline for growth and sustainability of often unique artistic practitioners and budding entrepreneurs.
At present there exists very little support for creative hubs to access which is why Creative Hubs: Learn was developed, building on the experience and expertise of all three organisations who have worked with, through and for hundreds of creative hubs over the past 5 years. It has been tried and tested in The Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Egypt. The programme will be delivered during 2019/20 in a number of countries across South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Americas.
For more information on the programme, please contact Roxana Apostol.