Creative Economy Engagement Fellowships - Northern Bridge

Investment in Creative Economy Engagement Fellowships via the Northern Bridge consortium will be informed by the results of the Queen's University of Belfast-Ulster University Creative Exchange Northern Ireland (CXNI) initiative and supported by Creative Fuse North East (CFNE). CXNI has investigated the enabling and inhibiting relationships between solo and micro creative professionals and academic researchers in Northern Ireland. CFNE is researching the fusion of creativity, culture and digital technology in North-East England. The heart of its work lies within the Industrial Strategy's Technologies for the Creative Industries Challenge Area (especially the Creative Economy), as well as with Transformative Digital Technologies, and overlaps with Integrated & Sustainable Cities (especially The Wellbeing City). This provides a significant platform for our CEE Fellows to participate in an ongoing programme of networking events, symposia and research dissemination activities in two regions that have historic challenges around urban regeneration, economic investment and Research and Development.

In Northern Bridge (Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen's University Belfast), our consortium's specialisms include: (a) Design for health and wellbeing, with a focus on the ageing population; (b) Energy design, with a focus on the need to develop a new energy paradigm that prioritises energy-justice and ethical approaches to meeting the needs of all members of society; (c) participatory design approaches to immersive heritage environments; (d) service design; and (e) the impact of digital media on local and global participation and economic models for collecting, editioning, and distributing new art. Newcastle has a range of interdisciplinary structures, such as the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice and Open Lab, to support work across different sectors, bringing together, for example, creative practitioners, HCI specialists, health professionals and SMEs. As the institutional lead for CFNE it has forged powerful collaborations between the North-East England universities and the Creative, Digital and IT sectors that will facilitate an innovative and flexible approach to joint, often interdisciplinary mentoring for Early Career Fellows. As a leading member of CFNE, Newcastle's particular contribution has been in deploying models of design-led innovation in the context of real-world commercial needs. Fellows based at Newcastle University working on research projects will have access to the resources and network of creative industries and cultural partners who work with the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice. Fellows based at Durham will have access to the Durham Energy Institute (DEI) in CESI (the national Centre for Energy Systems Integration), a £20m 5-year multi-disciplinary centre incorporating 5 universities. Access to energy specialists and researchers, through the centre's membership, its Industrial Strategy Board and its international academic advisory board would facilitate fellows' access to a broad range of specialists in research and industry. Queen's is ranked first in the UK for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, with more than 350 partnerships to date, and was identified in the most recent Higher Education-Business and Community Interaction Survey (2014-15) as the UK leader for intellectual property commercialisation. Its spin-out companies have created around 1700 new high-tech jobs in the private sector. The CEE Fellows in Northern Bridge will foster innovation and produce highly transferable research outputs of excellence, mentored by teams of leading academics and industry partners.

There are numerous pre-existing platforms for Northern Bridge CEE Fellows to participate in networking events, symposia and research dissemination activities. Collaborative interdisciplinary working and co-creation with external partners in alignment with delivering the objectives of the Creative Economy and Industrial Strategy will be integral to the Fellowships. Via the Northern Bridge DTP and Newcastle Centre for Creative Arts Practice (NICAP), we have active partnerships with non-HEIs engaged with the Creative Economy (e.g. BALTIC, Sage Gateshead, Seven Stories, Bloodaxe Books, Samling, Northern Stage). Newcastle University has a range of interdisciplinary structures, such as the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice and Open Lab, to support work across different sectors and build pathways to impact, bringing together, for example, creative practitioners, HCI specialists, health professionals and SMEs. As the institutional lead for CFNE it has forged powerful collaborations between the North-East England universities and the Creative, Digital and IT sectors that will facilitate an innovative and flexible approach to joint, often interdisciplinary mentoring for Early Career Fellows. As a leading member of CFNE, Newcastle's particular contribution has been in deploying models of design-led innovation in the context of real-world commercial needs. Fellows based at Newcastle University would have access to the resources and network of creative industries and cultural partners who work with the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice. Fellows based at Durham will have access to the Durham Energy Institute (DEI) in CESI (the national Centre for Energy Systems Integration), a £20m 5-year multi-disciplinary centre incorporating 5 universities. Access to energy specialists and researchers, through the centre's membership, its Industrial Strategy Board and its international academic advisory board would facilitate fellows' access to a broad range of specialists in research and industry. Queen's is ranked first in the UK for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, with more than 350 partnerships to date, and was identified in the most recent Higher Education-Business and Community Interaction Survey (2014-15) as the UK leader for intellectual property commercialisation. Its spin-out companies have created around 1700 new high-tech jobs in the private sector. Key to the delivery of these Fellowships is a combination of critical mass of academic mentoring expertise, access to industry partners, and provision of bespoke training that takes into account the distinctive nature of NPIF Fellowships. We are uniquely positioned to offer this as a consortium, specifically with regards to the Creative Economy.

The appointment of CEE Fellows is time-limited, but they will be invited to participate at the annual Industry Partners Forum, with a view to networking and showcasing their research. The IP Forum is linked via the Advisory Board of CFNE, which comprises representatives from key agencies (ACE, NESTA, Knowledge Transfer Network, Creative England, National Centre for Universities and Business, Thinking Digital, Generator, the Digital Catapult) and CEOs from businesses including Ubisoft, Eutechnyx, Zerolight, Plan Digital and Animmersion.