1. LAUNCHING, GROWING AND BUILDING A NETWORK OF NEARLY 4,000 CREATIVES
As of December 2020 Creative Cardiff had 3900 creatives signed up to its member directory. Each one of these represents a touch point for Creative Cardiff and the human capital making up the expertise, dynamism and community for which the network exists. From graphic designers to choreographers and TV producers to architects a great range of specialists have played a part in building the network
2. TELLING THE STORY OF CARDIFF’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY, DEVELOPING ITS NARRATIVE AND SPOTLIGHTING EXCELLENCE
We have delivered this through our website (1.5 million hits), social media channels (18,000 total followers), English and Welsh podcast series, digital storywall, events and research, we have increased awareness and understanding of creative and cultural industries activity in the city. We amplify creative work which has a local, and global resonance, and share stories with our own community as well as across the UK and internationally, in Europe and South-East Asia in particular. This work won Creative Cardiff the inaugural Cardiff Life Civic Award in 2019.
3. FOSTERING CONNECTIONS AND COLLABORATIONS ACROSS THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY
An extensive programme of more than 1500 meetings and 65 events, both online and in real time, has enabled an increase in the connectivity of creative practitioners in the city. Feedback suggests that this has given rise to more collaboration – particularly cross-sector and interdisciplinary fusions – and resulted in new work and innovations.
4. UNDERTAKING RESEARCH TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE CITY’S CREATIVE ECONOMY
Up-to-date and reliable data, information and analysis is key in understanding the rapidly growing and evolving creative sector. A research programme has informed Creative Cardiff’s activity drawing attention to the issues, challenges and needs of the creative community. This work, which has included mapping the creative economy of the city and surveying the impact of COVID-19 income support on freelancers, has been developed by encouraging collaboration both within and beyond Cardiff University with external organisations and relevant sector bodies.
5. ADVOCATING FOR THE VALUE AND DEMANDS OF CREATIVE ECONOMY WORK AND ENCOURAGING CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
We have seen significant changes in how and where creative work is taking place in the last five years, with hubs and coworking spaces coming to the fore. We recognise these spaces are vital in supporting and building a community of like-minded individuals and providing workspaces fit for a future creative workforce, which is why we founded the Coworking Collective in 2017 to facilitate knowledge sharing. Enterprise and entrepreneurship thrives in these environments and in 2017, Creative Cardiff launched Ymlaen! – a creative desk placement for graduates entering the creative industries and wanting to start their own businesses.
