Resilience workshop for creative and cultural micro-businesses @ We Are Super, WSM – 12th December
21st November 2024
Join the Economy Team on 12th December at 10 am at We Are Super in Weston-super-Mare for an in-person interactive workshop on resilience for creative and cultural micro-businesses led by Dr. Tarek Virani, Associate Professor of Creative Industries, UWE.
Agenda
Title: Resilience workshop for creative and cultural micro-businesses
Date: 12th December
Time: 10 am – 1 pm (Lunch provided from 1 pm – 2 pm)
Location: We Are Super, The Sovereign, High Street, Weston super Mare, BS23 1HL
- Introductions
- Resilience presentation – introducing the CCERR project
- Resilience facilitated discussion with businesses
- Breakout sessions dealing with specific resilience markers
- Using the digital toolkit and on the day analysis
- Final discussion of results and areas to focus on
About Dr. Tarek Virani
Dr. Tarek Virani is an Associate Professor of Creative Industries at the School of Arts – College of Arts, Technology and Environment (CATE).
His research interests in the creative industries includes: Organisational resilience, urban and cultural policy, creative and cultural ecosystems, post-creative cities, culture-led regeneration and cultural districts, creative and cultural hubs and international dimensions of creative and cultural work and policy.
Background
Creative and cultural micro businesses are facing numerous external challenges – the fallout from Brexit and the pandemic as well as the recent cost of living crisis are examples of this. If one thing is for certain it is that uncertainty seems to be the norm, which makes it increasingly challenging to run a creative business. While there has been much discussion about ‘resilience’, determining the specifics of what it might look like and how it can be achieved seems to be missing for creative and cultural businesses. Initial research during the pandemic showed that while many creative organisations were negatively affected by the pandemic some were either not affected or indeed thrived.
On the back of this, Covid 19, Creative Economy, Resilience and Recovery ( CCERR) was an 18 month project delivered by UWE Bristol’s Dr. Tarek Virani aimed at uncovering markers of resilience for, specifically, creative micro-businesses across the UK. There were eight markers including: Levels of hybridity of product, service or offer (Digital, non-digital or hybrid); using online business models to generate partial or substantial revenue; being able to pivot and / or repurpose; using R and D Funding; collaborating with other sectors; using freelancers; using government funding or initiatives; and using more locally-orientated production chains.
These were then turned into an online diagnostic toolkit for creative micro-businesses that is now freely available online. It allows users to be scored on their level of resilience to external shocks. It also highlights where businesses can improve their resilience and compare their scores to that of other users. It provides useful signposting information and can become a tool that creative businesses use regularly to check their progress. Through a suite of workshops designed and run by Dr. Tarek Virani that combines the underpinning research and knowledge as well as the toolkit, a useful framework for resilience can be offered to creative businesses in the region.
Additional Information
A lunch will be provided by Loves Café from 1 p.m. in We Are Super, providing an opportunity for further discussion and networking.
This workshop is part of a series of free events throughout 2024 for the North Somerset Creative Industries that is run in partnership with the WofE CA Create Growth Team, Super Culture, and the hive.
The workshop is free to attend, but places will be limited. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Find out more and book your place.
