NEWS RELEASE: GSA research project leads to targeted business support for Creative Businesses in Argyll and Bute

April 28, 2020
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Dr Michael Pierre Johnson working on a previous research project in Bristol

Creative workers, enterprises, venues and organisations across Argyll and Bute are set to receive bespoke business development help thanks to financial support from Creative Scotland’s targeted Covid-19 funds it has been announced.
Working with Culture, Heritage & Arts Assembly Argyll & Isles (CHARTS), Dr Michael Pierre Johnson of the GSA’s Innovation School, identified how a micro-cluster network could help contribute to local creative economic sustainability. Through identifying a network of six interconnected creative business communities, knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer networking will now be delivered and business and market development support provided.  This important support comes at a time when creative businesses are facing particularly significant challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We were invited to help identify key challenges for the sector in the region and what collaborative opportunities could help address them,” explains Dr Johnson, a Research Fellow in the Creative Economy at the GSA . “Partnering with CHARTS we were able to devise an approach that could help deliver bespoke business support for creative businesses. Now thanks to the financial input from Creative Scotland’s Covid-19 funds it will be possible to put collaborative proposals that emerge into practice.”
The research project was part of Dr Michael Johnson’s AHRC-funded Innovation Leadership Fellowship, The Value of Creative Growth. 


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CREATIVE SCOTLAND PRESS RELEASE


Local Support for Creative Industries in Argyll and Bute
Creative workers, enterprises, venues and organisations across Argyll and Bute are to receive bespoke business development support through a new initiative from Culture, Heritage & Arts Assembly Argyll & Isles (CHARTS), in partnership with the Innovation School at The Glasgow School of Art.
Backed by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland’s Create:Networks fund, six interconnected creative business communities will be developed throughout the region to encourage knowledge sharing, facilitate peer-to-peer networking, and provide business and market development support. 
Kathleen O’Neill, Development Manager at CHARTS, said: “Our ambition is to build relationships, encourage more joined-up working across Argyll and Bute and support the CHARTS membership over the coming months. We’re especially pleased to be receiving support at this time, which will help us introduce new partnership resources to creative businesses and individuals during lockdown.”
This initiative is one of several creative business support networks being developed across the country as a result of the Create:Networks initiative. 
Jessica Bonehill, Creative Industries Officer at Creative Scotland, said: “In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever that support for creative businesses is tailored according to the needs of local sectors. These newly strengthened local networks will allow creative enterprises and practitioners to access specialist advice and support, and we hope this will prove valuable for creative businesses through the difficult months to come.”  
Today’s announcement follows the launch of three new funding programmes designed to provide dedicated support to help sustain Scotland’s creative community during the COVID-19 outbreak.
One-off bursaries are being made available to freelance creative professionals and film and tv sector workers who have lost earnings due to the cancellation of work as a result of Covid-19; and Open Funding: Sustaining Creative Development  is providing support for individuals and organisations to develop and create work in the coming months.
A list of other helpful resources and sector specific support groups and organisations is also available on the Creative Scotland website.
Notes to Editors:
The Create:Networks fund helps organisations, creative businesses or creative practitioners to create new or develop existing local creative business networks in Scotland. The fund supports these networks through knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer networking, and business and market development support.  Full information can be found here: https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/targeted-funding/createnetworks-fund
The Culture, Heritage & Arts Assembly Argyll & Isles (CHARTS) is a membership organisation developed through Creative Scotland’s Place Partnership to support the wide creative and cultural sector in Argyll and Bute. More information can be found here: https://www.chartsargyllandisles.org/
CHARTS was developed through Creative Scotland’s Place Partnership to harness the creative potential of Argyll and Bute. The potential of a micro-cluster network to contribute to local creative economic sustainability was identified by work with the GSA’s Innovation School, engagement with a member-led Steering Group and research into enterprise models in the creative economy.
The Innovation School at The Glasgow School of Art is a leading centre for design teaching and research, with a focus on the Creative Economy. It works to support more balanced and expansive notions of economic development through projects spanning creative micro-enterprises, craft and heritage, creative cultures of innovation, circular economy and place-based innovation. More information can be found here: https://www.gsainnovationschool.co.uk/
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.  
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