Marlen’s research focuses on media and creative industries-related projects, impact analysis, industry clustering, ecosystem and value network analysis, new business models and the impact of the digitisation on industries and firms. She has worked with the Creative Cardiff team on research projects covering subjects such as intercultural dialogue, creative hubs and creative city networks. She is a master at data analysis and visualisation.
Marlen writes:
In the last five years, Creative Cardiff has become a network and an ambassador for the local creative economy. Especially vis-à-vis policymakers but also with other industry stakeholders on all levels.
Creative Cardiff has helped identify the local creative economy’s strengths and weaknesses.
It is now widely acknowledged that in order to create successful creative clusters, it is necessary to build strategies and enable change based on existing strengths and to recognise existing weaknesses. This is why research and building the right knowledge base is so important. Such research and new insights can support evidence-driven policies and strategies from creative organisations and policymakers on a local level and beyond. As a result, there may be new investment into creative clusters, new projects and new clients.
The UK already enjoys a strong reputation for creative economy research, involving organisations like Nesta and the DCMS, but data about Cardiff’s and Wales’ creative economy is still thin by comparison. I have found that Cardiff has rarely gained recognition as a leading media city in the UK, even though Cardiff has attracted many creative internationally successful projects like high-end TV and film production. Relatively speaking, Cardiff is still not widely known as an attractive location for creative activities.
So, work needs to be done in order to make Cardiff more visible as a leading European creative city and media production centre. Creative Cardiff has made its first steps to close these knowledge gaps. This includes, for example, Creative Cardiff’s Network Directory showcasing the profiles of 3900 creative individuals and organisations in the city, its new podcast series, and its increasing volume of research projects. The Clwstwr programme has greatly strengthened the sector’s R&D capacity and provided a base for further high-profile bids. All of this is possible because Creative Cardiff provided evidence about the strength and weaknesses of its local creative economy.
We are currently working on a mapping platform that visualises in greater detail the local creative ecosystem. I am confident Creative Cardiff’s research agenda will continue to evolve to meet the region’s needs.
