Investing for a Creative RegionMadeline Smith, The Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, UK

Parallel Session 1.3: Shaping Creative Economy through Clusters

The Highlands and Is-lands

90 inhabited islands

Scattered small towns:2,000 – 10,000 people

Covers half of Scot-land

500,000 people

One city: Inverness population 70,000

Creative Futures Part-nership

• Design Innovation re-search since 2010

• Partnership approach• Communities, business,

research teaching

• Create a flourishing re-gion

• More than economic development

Complex, “wicked” or “nutty problems” entered the commercial lexicon and professional practice for designers: they focused upon multiple variables, temporal as well as spatial variables, computers or digital interactions and behaviours that fed back into the core “problem”.

Evolution: Method & processUsers, stakeholders and collaboration

Increasingly human behaviour became the central focus of such “wicked problems”…

So, if engineers solve problems, then design-ers…

… are fashioning engagements between people and things…

• Innovation from the edge• Innovation from tradition• Distributed city• Creative Collaborations

(Tourism, Malt Whisky, Digital Health)

Research– with an im-pact

Creative Industries - The Design Network

Supporting a flourishing Design Community in the Highlands and Islands

What is the Design Network?

The Vision

An internationally-connected, entrepreneurial design and design research community within the Highlands and Islands.

The people, enterprises and communities that transform [traditional and contemporary] cul-tural skills, knowledge and ideas into econom-ically productive goods, services and places. Beate Becker, Director Designing Industry, Mass College of Art and Design

Delivered through a vibrant programme linking businesses and communities with Academia

Xpo North: the Design Panel

Xpo North: People, GSA international connections, opportunities

“Inspiring and encouraging. I am inspired with such a world class event on my doorstep.”Avalon Santos WilmottArt Director and Graphic Designer

Design on the Road Events

- Strategic skills for design consulting, Inverness- Preparing for Art School, Inverness- Bespoke, boutique and international, Oban- Exploiting creativity with software tools, Shetland- 3D printing workshop in Moray

Cluster for commu-nity

- Who is out there? Database of designers in H&I

- Bringing people together engaged with approx 200 people so far

- Engaging businessdeveloping internships, student projects, mentoring with big business, collaborative opportunities

- School Engagement plan- Cross sector - Working with other CI trade

networks- International connections - Participation in

Pixel Lab , Dutch design week

- More than economic return

Madeline Smithm.smith@gsa.ac.uk