Enhancing civic engagement activities in local creative media entrepreneurship ecosystems

The project runs from October 2024 to October 2025.

• Background
• Activities
• Team
• Related links 

Background

This knowledge exchange project sits within the context of university-partnerships and local community development in creative media entrepreneurship ecosystems. The aim is to develop an initial network of internal and external stakeholders from East London’s creative media entrepreneurship ecosystem. It will focus on the following four Olympic Boroughs:

• Newham.
• Tower Hamlets.
• Hackney.
• Waltham Forest.

It will identify and coordinate future collaborative activities based on civic engagement. Stakeholders include:

• UCL academics and members of UCL’s entrepreneurship eco-system
• external policy-makers
• community leaders
• East London start-ups, and
• BA Media and IoE students and staff.

This network would share an interest in the following:

• Developing an understanding of the local creative media entrepreneurship ecosystem. They will achieve this by identifying challenges and opportunities for community-based startups, with a focus on:
  • funding sources
  • mentorship programs, and 
  • collaborative spaces.
• Examining the interplay between creative media entrepreneurship and civic engagement. They will investigate how startups contribute to:
  • informing and engaging local communities
  • fostering public discourse, and
  • raising awareness.
• Actively engaging in self-reflection on their own roles and responsibilities in informing and engaging local communities.

With the launch of UCL East, the East London Olympic Boroughs are places UCL and IoE now call their neighbours and home. These are also places where innovative media startups contribute to the creative landscape and host innovation centres. For example, Plexal, where some 800 startup entrepreneurs work, study and collaborate. UCL, like other residents, is keen to extend its reach and to be a good neighbour as well as an innovation hub. 

This project utilises the Department of Culture, Communication and Media's (CCM's) activity and expertise associated with creative practice media. CCM will be at the centre of fostering knowledge exchange on:

• how organisations engage the local community, and
• the value created by creative media entrepreneurship. 

Activities

Three Knowledge Exchange (KE) activities in the form of three podcast programmes will create a dynamic space for stakeholders to share, discuss, and learn from each other.

The podcasts aim to do the following:

• Foster a collaborative approach to understanding and engaging with the local creative media entrepreneurship ecosystem in the East London Olympic Boroughs.
• Be a platform for dialogue and collaboration between:
  • local residents,
  • creative entrepreneurs in the four Olympic boroughs, and
  • larger creative media companies based in and around them.
• Facilitate a deeper understanding of East London's needs and potential for creative media growth and innovation.

Podcast episodes

Episode 1: Unearthing the Creative Pulse in our East London Olympic Boroughs

We meet community leaders, residents and representatives from creative media companies. They will share their perspective on the dynamics shaping the boroughs' creative landscape.

Episode 2: Empowering Creative Talent in our Olympic Boroughs

We hear from initiatives and organisations dedicated to nurturing and retaining creative talent in East London's Olympic boroughs.

We explore the ecosystem that fosters innovation and growth in the region, including:

• skills development programs
• access to affordable workspaces, and
• support for emerging entrepreneurs.

Episode 3: Building Sustainable Creative Media Ecosystems in our Olympic Boroughs

We delve into the imperative for larger media companies in and around the boroughs to actively engage with East London's local community.

The podcasts will be co-produced by local creative entrepreneurship actors. This will not only enhance the authenticity of the podcast series but also promote reach and connections to networks. Our panel discusses the potential for collaboration between local creatives and big media players. This highlights the mutual benefits of partnerships that leverage resources, expertise, and networks. We also identify areas where additional support and resources are needed to empower creative entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities. 

Team

Principal investigator

• Dr Anne Preston

Collaborating partner

E17 Films & Emerging Talent CIC, a not-for-profit organization with charitable objectives, demonstrates a strong model of university collaboration, particularly in its commitment to supporting emerging talent from underrepresented backgrounds into entry-level roles within the UK's film, TV, media, and creative industries. 

Co-founded and co-directed by Liza Fletcher since 2010, the CIC fosters invaluable partnerships with universities. Liza Fletcher, who also serves as the community engagement manager, spearheads the organization's activities, including the Walthamstow International Film Festival, the careers platform Future Film Focus, and various ad hoc collaborative visual arts and film projects with communities in Waltham Forest and wider East London. 

Related links

• Department of Culture, Communication and Media
• Centre for Research in Media Arts and Play