Creating Entrepreneurship report launched
'Creating Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship education for the creative industries' was launched on 21 May 2007 at the offices of National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) in London. The report was presented by David Clews, Subject Centre Manager and Michael Harris, Senior Research Fellow at NESTA. The presentation was followed by a discussion led by a distinguished panel about what educational provisions should be made to help students to grow their own creative businesses. Panel members included Professor Bruce Brown, Director of Research and Development, University of Brighton and Subject Centre Co-director, Stuart Cosgrove, Head of programmes (nations and regions), Channel 4 and Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector, Royal College of Art and was chaired by Chris Powell, Chairman of NESTA. The audience was drawn from businesses and agencies within the creative sector as well as representatives from a number of higher education institutions.
Professor Brown said that the quality of educational provision in creative disciplines in the UK compared
favourably with other countries and was not in doubt, however the
challenge now was to harness expertise appropriately and provide an
effective and sustainable framework in which to develop students'
entrepreneurial skills.
Sir Christopher Frayling emphasised
the value of the practitioner/teacher in the role of visiting or
part-time lecturers whose professionalism resided in their own
practice. He saw these individuals as occupying an important role in relation to helping students bridge the gap between their academic education and
industry. He
also highlighted the need to embed effective careers advice into
courses, a theme which was picked up in later discussions concerning
longer term support for graduates. Stuart Cosgrove expressed the view that there is a need to
form more interrelationships between education and business thus
enabling students to build effective networks prior to and following
their graduation. Other questions raised by the audience focused on widening participation and the development of positive behaviour
in students - the need to instill and encourage confidence, self-esteem and good
communication skills.
It is anticipated that the research will inform a forthcoming government green paper, the first assessment of the state of the UK creative economy and the creative industries within it.
Download a copy of the 'Creating Entrepreneurship' report here in PDF format, or contact the Subject Centre for hard copies:
T: 01273 643119