[ecrea] CFP Reminder: Investigating Regional Creative Clusters

CALL FOR PAPERS Investigating Regional Creative Clusters

A One Day International Symposium, Watershed, Bristol, 6 March 2018

Hosted by the University of the West of England and the BAFTSS Screen 
Industries Special interest Group (SISIG)

 There has been considerable interest in the concept of ‘regions’ and 
‘creative clusters’ of late: in the UK, Nesta’s The Geography of 
Creativity in the UK (2016), the BFI’s Creative Clusters Challenge Fund 
(2016), the AHRC’s Creative Clusters Programme call (2017) and Sir Peter 
Bazalgette’s Independent Review of the Creative Industries (2017) being 
the most prominent. However, is the concept of a regional creative 
cluster hardening into a doctrine, a mantra that is frequently invoked 
but rarely inspected? Is the ‘cluster strategy’ ‘solution’ to an ailing 
and profoundly unbalanced economy closing down the opportunities for a 
disinterested and genuinely independent enquiry into the potential 
benefits and possible drawbacks of regional creative clusters?

This symposium offers the opportunity to discuss and debate these 
concerns and to present research projects and work-in-progress that 
address these questions.

Papers are invited (but not limited to) any of the following topics:

How have ‘regions’ been defined in media and cultural policy and what is 
the relationship between regions and nations (Northern Ireland, Scotland 
and Wales)?

How, and with what effects, does the concept of regionality differ 
between countries?

What is the relationship between regions and the ‘centre’ or ‘centres’ 
of production? (e.g. in the UK between the regions/nations and London).

How might European disintegration/Brexit effect the operations of 
regional creative clusters, nationally and transnationally?

How does the economic significance of particular regions relate to the 
cultural myths, stereotypes and self-images that are associated with 
these regions historically?
How effectively are regional clusters being supported by local, regional 
and national policies? What is or should be the role of any specific 
agencies (e.g. Screen Yorkshire)?

How have the regional concentrations evolved historically?

What has been the regional impact of major national institutions (e.g., 
Arts Council England, BBC)?

What are the similarities and differences between contrasting regional 
creative clusters? What causes differences?

Is the effect of regional clustering to homogenise or diversify creative 
talent?Are clusters characterised by a mixed ecology or a concentration 
of specialisms?

Have the production cultures and output of regionally-based creative 
companies been shaped by their respective locations? If so, in what ways?

What is the relationship between creative clusters and the predominantly 
freelance labour on which those clusters depend? How open are cluster 
labour markets and how diverse are regional labour forces?

What role do creative companies play in the wider civic, social and 
cultural life of their regions? What is their impact on regional and 
social cultures?

What is the nature of the interrelationships between the companies that 
compose regional clusters? How useful is network analysis or the ecology 
metaphor for understanding clusters?

What are the best approaches and methodologies to investigate regional 
creative clustering?

 The symposium will be held at the Watershed, Bristol (location and 
further details here: https://www.watershed.co.uk/visit)

 Please send 200-word abstracts to (laura.mayne /at/ york.ac.uk) by 20 
December 2017.


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