Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre Finds New Home at Newcastle University and RSA

Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre Finds New Home at Newcastle University and RSA

(IN BRIEF) Newcastle University and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) have been selected as the new hosts of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), which provides independent research and policy recommendations for the UK’s creative industries. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Creative PEC has been awarded £11 million in funding to continue its work for another five years. Newcastle University will host the Northern Hub of the Creative PEC, while the Southern Hub will be located in London. The Creative PEC has published one independent research paper every month since its inception in 2018, covering topics such as R&D funding, creative skills education, and the role of the creative sector in addressing climate change and regional economic disparities.

(PRESS RELEASE)  NEWCASTLE, 9-Mar-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Newcastle University, a UK public research university and a member of the Russell Group, announces that it has been selected, alongside the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), as the new host of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC). The Creative PEC is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and provides independent research and policy recommendations for the UK’s creative industries. The AHRC has confirmed £11 million in funding to enable the Creative PEC to continue its work for the next five years.

Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman, said: “Our dynamic creative industries are a national treasure, attracting major investment and creating exciting new technologies, companies & careers in creative clusters all round the UK.

“This additional funding for the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre will help allow yet more brilliant British creative industry talent from Tyneside to Tenby, and Belfast to Bathgate, to flourish for years to come.”

As the host of the Northern Hub, Newcastle University will play a key role in supporting the UK’s creative sector, which has been growing at twice the rate of the overall UK economy since 2011. The Creative PEC is instrumental in providing reliable and impartial research to inform policy decisions that will help ensure the UK remains a world leader in the creative industries.

Following an application process that considered nine bids, Newcastle University and RSA were selected for their expertise and inspiring vision, as well as their ‘twin hub’ structure with a Northern Hub in Newcastle and a Southern Hub in London. This structure is expected to bring significant benefits to the UK’s creative sector as a whole.

Newcastle University, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Nigel Harkness said: “As one of the consortium members for the first phase of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, we are delighted to be the host university for this vital second phase of the PEC’s work.

“We look forward to working closely with our partner organisations and the RSA to realise the significant benefits in the new dual-hub structure which connects London and the North East.

“The PEC will also draw on and enhance Newcastle University’s significant place-based policy expertise, developing partnerships with our Insights North East and Creative FUSE teams from its base in our Business School to inform policy for the creative industries over the next five years and beyond.”

Arts and Humanities Research Council Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith said: “Through its role as a centre of excellence for research and evidence PEC is a critical resource for the UK’s world-leading creative industries.

“The wide range of research and policy expertise provided by Newcastle University and the Royal Society of Arts means they are ideally suited to being the new PEC hosts.

“We very much look forward to the exciting next stage of the PEC’s development and to reinforcing its important role in the sector.”

The Creative PEC has been hosted by Nesta since 2018, and Nesta will continue to do so until the end of May, fully supporting the Creative PEC team during the transition to Newcastle University and the RSA.

Andy Haldane, Chief Executive of the RSA, said: “We are delighted to be co-hosting the Creative PEC at this hugely important time for the sector and the economy. By combining the very best analysis and research, with the RSA’s on-the-ground programme of work, we believe we can realise the enormous potential of the creative industries to grow jobs and skills, income and exports, health and happiness, in communities right across the UK. The UK needs a creativity revolution and the PEC can be its centrepiece.”

The Creative PEC has provided research on various subjects, such as R&D funding, creative skills education, and the role of the creative sector in addressing climate change and regional economic disparities. Since its inception in 2018, the Creative PEC has published an independent research paper every month, providing vital data and evidence to support the creative sector.

Newcastle University Professor of Macroeconomics Giorgio Fazio who will be the Research Director of the Creative PEC following its move said: “Research in the next phase of the Creative PEC will be powered by a new Research Unit hosted at Newcastle University, a consortium delivering regular State of the Nation reports incorporating both key trends commentary and “deep dives” into emerging topics, and a large and diverse network of PEC Research Fellows. Our goal is to become the national and international reference point for research on policy for the Creative Industries.“

Creative PEC Director Hasan Bakhshi, MBE, said: “Over the past five years, the Creative PEC has helped bring about a step change in the quantity and quality of evidence available to inform policies for the creative industries. As well as publishing new research, we have embedded our researchers in the design, planning and implementation cycles of policies. In our next phase of work, our ambition is to work with our colleagues at Newcastle University and the RSA to undertake this “embedded knowledge exchange” activity in both our Northern and Southern Hubs.”

Newcastle University is honored to be chosen as the Northern Hub of the Creative PEC and looks forward to working alongside the RSA to support the UK’s thriving creative sector.

The next phase of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) will continue to build on its previous successes by addressing industry and government identified priorities, as well as advancing research into the longer-term challenges and opportunities facing the sector. The Creative PEC will produce new research, act as a platform for policy-relevant research produced by others, and engage policymakers through embedding researchers in their planning and design cycles.

Over the next five years, the Creative PEC will introduce set piece UK-wide ‘State of the Nation’ reporting in each of four high-level priority thematic areas led by the four organizations that make up the research consortium. These thematic areas include R&D, Innovation and Clusters (led by Sussex University), Creative Education, Skills, Talent (led by Work Advance), Internationalisation (led by Newcastle University), and The Arts, Cultural & Heritage sectors (led by the University of Sheffield). The ‘State of the Nation’ reporting is aimed at improving the availability of data in key areas of policy.

In addition to this, the Creative PEC will convene a new multi-disciplinary network of researchers working on topics that are relevant for policies to support the creative industries. This research network will be commissioned throughout the lifetime of the award to undertake timely research to address industry and policymaker needs while sharing knowledge and insight. The Creative PEC aims to continue providing vital research and policy recommendations to support the UK’s creative sector in the years to come.

SOURCE: Newcastle University