The Night Club: Arts, Culture and Creative Economies Nightlife Network

This event brings Early Career Researchers across the arts and performance, social sciences, business, economics and policy to discuss nightlife and nightlife performance in an increasingly precarious time for the nightlife creative industries. Aiming to build opportunities for collaboration between researchers from different fields in this area as well as other stakeholders, through panel discussion, networking and mapping exercises this event aims to be the first step in connecting researchers, understanding the needs of this field of research, and allowing Early Career Researchers to identify areas for further development in this field.

At a time of increased challenges for the nightlife industry and nightlife performance in London and across the UK, preceding and following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, tightening of licensing laws and the cost of living crisis, this event aims to begin to harness the skills and energy of ECRs in this field to address these areas. As policy across the UK turns towards enabling so-called ‘24 hour cities’ the event will also consider what role researchers can have in developing and sustaining diverse nightlife economies.

The event seeks to build collaborations across disparate fields; from queer performance studies and urban geographies to economic policy and business and enterprise, this event aims to start a conversation that can lead to the creation of new networks with collaborations across disciplines.

This event starts from an understanding that these popular forms of entertainment and engagement are vital to society and its futures, and engaging in an emergent network allows for collective affinities across research forms and discipline to emerge.

This event will lead towards the formation of a Nightlife Research Network which attendees will be invited to join.

Event Programme

• 10-10:15am: Welcome 
• 10:15-11:15am: Session 1 - Opening Panel : Key Challenges for Nightlife Creative Industries 
• 11:15am-11:30am: Break 
• 11:30am-12:30pm: Session 2 - Who’s In The Room? Networking and Planning Exercise
• 12:30pm-2pm: Lunch
• 2pm-3pm: Session 3 – Where, what and who of Nightlife Creative Industries: Mapping and Planning Exercise 
• 3pm-3:15pm: Break 
• 3:15pm-4pm: Session 4 - Futures: Discussions and Next Steps for the Network
• Evening: attending a performance (optional)