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Researcher Leads Drive on Culture, Creativity and Economy

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:05:00 GMT

Dr Carol Ekinsmyth, Principal Lecturer in Geography, was one of twenty six international scholars from across Europe to launch a new research network tasked with exploring how the Creative Industries can aid economic regeneration, and how, during times of recession, the arts function as agents of urban change.

‌The first colloquium event followed a conference session on a similar theme at the Royal Geographical Society’s Annual Conference in July 2012 in which Dr Ekinsmyth presented a paper. Dr Ekinsmyth’s primary interest as an Economic Geographer is in the relationship between place, gender and self-employment. Her current research investigates how self-employed individuals, especially “Mumpreneurs”, juggle business and work-life balance. Dr Ekinsmyth spoke at the Colloquium on panel discussion entitled “Working in the Creative Economy: The Micro Spatialities of Freelancing, Entrepreneurship and Artistic Practice”.

The network was launched at an event entitled ‘The First European Colloquium on Culture, Creativity and Economy’, and was held at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies, Uppsala University. The event was organised by The Centre for Research on Innovation and Industrial Dynamics (CIND) and the Department of Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University. The researchers formed the group in order to establish a sustainable and ongoing network for international research collaboration, which will function as a vehicle for sharing resources between nations, and allow for the generation of new knowledge and impact on government policy. Academics in attendance were invited to share ideas, discuss current and future projects and had the opportunity to preview cutting edge research within the field.

 

Next year will see the second Colloquium taking place in Berlin, and Dr Ekinsmyth hopes to host the third event, scheduled for 2014, at the University of Portsmouth.