Supporting Young People to Become International Creative Talents: Educational Enterprise Collaborations between Shanghai and Liverpool

Lead Research Organisation: Edge Hill University
Department Name: Faculty of Education

Abstract

Graduate job readiness and the mismatch of expectations between employers and educational providers on the role and requirements of industry training provision are key issues facing the creative industries. This project proposes that educational providers need to move beyond chasing rapidly changing technology and business practice and concentrate on preparing young people to co-produce skills through formal training, work experience and informal practice, designed and delivered in partnership with industry.

This project will bring researchers, employers, and creative practitioners together to establish a new international network and identify best practice to support young people to become creative talents. Team members' mutual visits to Liverpool and Shanghai will create opportunities to establish new business partnerships, develop education and industrial training provisions, and create a joint programme of research into creative career paths, which will increase the flow of creative talent in and between the UK and China.

Two international consortiums will be held in Shanghai and Liverpool. They will provide space for different key stakeholders (researchers, students, creative practitioners and employers) to share their perspectives, expectations, and practices to develop creative talents, and identify innovative practices that are culturally-specific and can be used to develop training provisions. This will lead to rich opportunities for research-industry exchanges between Liverpool and Shanghai, building on the two cities' shared heritage and strong political, cultural and economic relations.

The proposed activities will also form the basis for a future major research grant application on developing international creative talents, for example ESRC Research Grant.

Publications

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Description Introduction
Graduate job readiness and the mismatch of expectations between employers, students and higher education institutions regarding industry skill requirements are key issues facing the creative industries in the UK and China. This project proposes that the HE sector needs to form partnerships with industry in order to better prepare young people to co-produce skills through a combination of formal training, work experience and informal practice. Professor Ming Cheng at Edge Hill University coordinated a team of 16 to conduct this project to create new educational and enterprise collaborations between Liverpool City Region and Shanghai. The project activities took place in two stages from February to July 2019.

Stage One Activities
Seven delegates from Edge Hill University and creative industries in the Liverpool region visited Shanghai in the period of 29 March-7 April 2019.
• Ming Cheng, Professor of Higher Education at Edge Hill University. She is the PI and coordinated the UK team to visit Shanghai.
• Jo Wright, Director of Wright Consulting (UK) Ltd. He is a strategic management consultant with a wide range of experience in the creative, cultural and digital industries in the UK. He is a member of the Creative Industries Federation UK Council, associate of Counterculture LLP, chair of Sound City Liverpool and ambassador for Club Liverpool.
• Professor Matthew Pateman, Head of Media Department at Edge Hill University.
• Professor Martin McQuillan, Director of Institute of Creative Enterprise at Edge Hill university.
• Joann Kushner, Liverpool City Councillor Croxteth Ward, film maker, photographer, and a company director of Urban Revolt Media.
• Gemma Bodinetz, Artistic Director of Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres.
• Paul Corcoran, Chief Executive of Agent Marketing Limited Liverpool

The Shanghai visit went smoothly and established links with nine organisations in Shanghai. The symposium on developing creative talents hosted by Tongji University was well received.

The UK team visited ten organisations in Shanghai:
• Tongji University (College of Design & Innovation, Institute of Higher Education)
• Tongji-Huangpu School of Design & Innovation
• FabLab
• N-ICE Livingline 2035 (community lab)
• MOCA Shanghai
• Digital FUN
• MYDESIGNKIDS
• Shanghai Museum
• Chronus Art Centre
• Zhida Science & Technology Company

Key contacts established & opportunities identified in Shanghai

The UK team had the opportunity to meet and engage with senior leaders at Tongji University and also leaders within the business community in Shanghai.

Professor Sanfa Cai, Director of the Institute of Higher Education at Tongji University, and Professor Ming Cheng who chairs the Higher Education Research Group at Edge Hill University discussed opportunities to establish a research partnership between the Institute and the Group. Professors Matthew Pateman and Martin McQuillan met the Dean of Performing Arts at Tongji University and discussed opportunities for MA programme collaboration.

The visit to Digital FUN identified opportunities to work with the UK team and their wide network of contacts. Digital FUN specialises in innovative creative technology. The visit to the N-ICE Livingline 2035, a community lab in Shanghai, offered a great opportunity for the UK delegates to learn about the partnership established between Tongji university and business sectors. This community lab demonstrates how private organisations can collaborate with the academic world to bring about commercial and social impact in the residential and small business community.

It was also extremely useful to be able to engage with and find out more about the education system at both school and university levels in Shanghai. For example, the visit to the Tongji-Huangpu School of Design & Innovation enabled the UK team to develop their understanding of how the School operates and how it is bridging the gap between traditional academia and the working world by providing the students with well thought out and current technical skills and knowledge. This model will be useful for the Liverpool City Region.

The symposium held at Tongji University was well received and attended by 40 participants from the Shanghai region, including students, academic staff and creative industry employers. A new network of creative talents was developed via email list and WeChat group. The UK team found it valuable to hear from colleagues working in China, who shared their experiences and learning in terms of developing creative talent, as well as the challenges they faced and their views on the opportunities to develop in the future.

Stage Two activities
Four colleagues from Shanghai and one colleague from York St John University visited Edge Hill University and the Liverpool City Region in the period of 30 June - 7 July. Unfortunately, two colleagues from Shanghai were denied a visa to travel. These delegates included:

• Professor Sanfa Cai, Director of Office of Development & Planning and Director of the Institute of Higher Education at Tongji University.
• Dr Lingling Li, Lecturer at the Institute of Higher Education in Tongji University.
• Mrs Jiajun Shen works at Division of Planning and Development in Tongji University,specializing in College and Department Performance Evaluation.
• Dr Olalekan Adekola, Lecturer of Geography at York St John University.
• Mr Ruokun Chen, Founder of Digital FUN in Shanghai.

The Liverpool visit ran smoothly and enabled the visiting team to establish links with eight organisations in the Liverpool City Region. The symposium on developing creative talents held at Edge Hill University on the 4th of July was successful. Nearly 40 people attended this symposium. The symposium presentations are thought-provoking. Jo Wright, Director of Wright Consulting, reflected on the achievement from the Shanghai trip and analysed the challenges and opportunities for collaboration between Liverpool and Shanghai. Liam Kelly, CEO of Make CIC, and Andy Kent, CEO of Angel Solutions and Chair of BIMA Liverpool shared employers' perspectives and experiences of developing creative talents, and the role of creative business in talent development. The challenges of establishing educational enterprise collaboration, especially that between China and the UK were also discussed at the symposium.

The Shanghai team visited nine organisations in the Liverpool City Region:
• Edge Hill University (Faculty of Education, Confucius Institute, Creative Edge, Computer Science Department, and Media Department)
• Fabric District
• Everyman Playhouse
• Royal Court Theatre
• Agent Marketing
• Baltic Triangle
• Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT)
• Liverpool City Council
• Modern Sky UK

Key contacts established & opportunities identified in Liverpool

The Liverpool visit is fruitful in many ways. Apart from meeting key staff at Edge Hill University and leaders within the business community and City Council in Liverpool, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Institute of Higher Education at Tongji University and the Higher Education Research Group at Edge Hill University on the 1st of July. This MoU focuses on developing international research collaboration and student and staff exchange activities. Professor George Talbot, PVC (Research), International Office key staff, and Dr Jane Moore, the Dean of the Faculty of Education attended the MoU signing ceremony.

The visit to the Fabric District increased the Shanghai team's knowledge and interest in the history and rapid transformation of Liverpool as a city of arts, culture and music. The Baltic Triangle is an exciting and fast-growing area of Liverpool and it is home to digital and creative businesses. The Shanghai team enjoyed the beautiful street art, graffiti, and the diverse culture, which reveals that art is not a project or independent of the city, but deeply rooted in Liverpool.

A welcome meeting was organised by Agent Marketing where the Shanghai team had reunion with the CEO of Agent Marketing, Paul Corcoran, who visited Shanghai in April. It proved useful to receive a briefing on the rapid development of creative business in the Baltic Triangle and its creative business' strong interest in building up connections with Shanghai.

The Shanghai team enjoyed the visits to Everyman Playhouse and Royal Court, which gave them opportunities to understand the needs for theatre development at Liverpool and to experience the local culture through attending theatre show at Royal Court. Both theatres are interested in collaborating with the Shanghai team to promote their shows internationally.

The Shanghai team met China Invest team and the Head of Mayor's Office at Liverpool City Council on the 3rd of July. Both offices at Liverpool City Council found this AHRC funded project invaluable and welcomed the potential opportunities it brings to Liverpool to contribute to the region's development.

The Digital Culture Network meeting and event attended at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) was also constructive. The Shanghai team was briefed about the digital ambitions, future plan and support of Arts Council England and opportunities for the Digital sector. The team also had good networking opportunities to get to know colleagues from creative industries in the UK.


Achievements of the project

This project started in February and completed in mid-July. It has achieved all the intended outcomes. The below is a brief summary of key achievements.

1. The Shanghai visit established new links with nine organisations in Shanghai.
2. The Liverpool visit established new links with nine organisations in Liverpool City Region.
3. The project team's reciprocal visits have successfully engineered new research partnership between Tongji University and Edge Hill University, as well as educational enterprise partnership between Edge Hill University and Everyman Playhouse Theatre and potential business collaborations between Digital FUN and Modern Sky UK.
4. New international industry-research networks between the UK and China are established through email list, WeChat group and Twitter.
5. Four video clips have been created for the project to disseminate its achievement and to increase its impact in the wider community:
Three-minute video for Shanghai visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmuk4HouVc4&t=3s
One-minute video for Shanghai visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntPNQA6L-bY&t=2s
Three-minute video for the Liverpool visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2O2UZzvcfc
One-minute video for the symposium held at Edge Hill University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y59wYJdlRQQ&t=4s
6. A website to introduce the project's activities and increase its international impact: https://developing-creative-talents.weebly.com
Exploitation Route The project team collectively view this AHRC grant as invaluable as it offered them opportunities to expand their international networks. They have identified a wide range of areas with potential and opportunities to be explored after this project completion.

Take the two newly established partnerships as an example: the research partnership between Edge Hill University and Tongji University, and educational enterprise partnership between Edge Hill University and Everyman Playhouse Theatre. Edge Hill University and Tongji University are planning activities to make this partnership sustainable, such as further reciprocal visits, the development of student and staff exchange activities, and collaboration in applications for major grants. Both universities are interested in working with enterprise partners to develop education and industrial training provisions and a joint programme of research to support the development of creative career paths in China and the UK.
This project's team members have identified rich opportunities for research-industry exchange and collaboration in the areas of creative design and interactive technology between Liverpool and Shanghai. They are planning to apply for further grants to develop long-term research-industry collaboration, co-design cutting-edge products to compete in the international market, and attract major investment from China to develop creative businesses in the Liverpool Region and the rest of the UK.
Sectors Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
URL https://developing-creative-talents.weebly.com
 
Description The findings of this award have contributed to the non-academic impacts in creating new partnerships and links between university and creative industries in Shanghai and Liverpool: 1. New international links are created among creative industries in Shanghai and in Liverpool region (9 organisations in Shanghai and 9 organisations in Liverpool were connected during the visits) 2. The project team's reciprocal visits have successfully engineered new research partnership between Tongji University and Edge Hill University, as well as educational enterprise partnership between Edge Hill University and Everyman Playhouse Theatre and potential business collaborations between Digital FUN and Modern Sky UK. 3. New international industry-research networks between the UK and China are established through email list, WeChat group and Twitter. 4. The findings of the two symposiums organised in Shanghai and Liverpool revealed the key skills and attributes identified as essential for developing young people to become creative talents. This findings are useful for the future training on developing creative talents in China and the UK.
First Year Of Impact 2019
Sector Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services