British Council Creative Economy

Since November 2016, the Creative Enterprise Programme has worked with 1,250 entrepreneurs in 39 cities, across 22 countries. The 66 workshops have been delivered in six different languages.

For the last 10 years, Nesta and British Council have collaborated to deliver the Creative Enterprise Programme. Developed from the Creative Enterprise Toolkit, the core offer is a three-day capacity-building workshop to support creative entrepreneurs in establishing and growing their business. The programme is aimed at creative entrepreneurs whose business is no more than two years old. 

In 2016, the programme underwent a redesign to increase compatibility with wider regional and local creative economy agendas, generate longer term impact, and build lasting legacy.

Pavel Poboruev

The Creative Enterprise Programme introduces concepts from the Creative Enterprise Toolkit in tandem, with hands-on peer learning alongside fellow creative entrepreneurs.

Day one: You and your idea

• You dissect your personal values, examine how these relate to the purpose of your business, and visualise the future.

Day two: Your customers

• You imagine who your customers are, what their values are, how to communicate with them and how to ensure their needs are being met through your business.

Day three: Your business

• Day three unites the past two days work. You explore the key components required to build your own business model canvas.

A team of global associates has been recruited to facilitate the programme. These associates ensure a consistent and high quality learning experience. This approach also enables the programme to be embedded in the local landscape, increasing reach to creative communities, drawing on real market knowledge, connecting with participants through shared culture and language, and maintaining longer term engagement with participants for maximum impact.

We’re currently working with associates to deliver the programme in Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey, East Africa and West Africa.

Learn more about the Creative Enterprise Programme.

Read success stories from international creative entrepreneurs.