From rustbelt to creative city: repositioning Newcastle as a city of learning and culture

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From rustbelt to creative city repositioning
Newcastle as a city of learning and culture

• Prof. David Charles, Cheryl Conway Dr Stuart
  Dawley CURDS, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
  UK

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Key points

• Principal city in the North East of England
• Total population - 1.6 million
• 16.3 in Newcastle City Council area
• Joint fifth biggest city-region in England
• Declining industrial region since early 20th
  century
• Growing employment currently in public sector and
  business services
• Policy experiments since 1930s
• Strong regional identity within an English
  context historically based and rooted in
  adversity and working class culture
• Sense of mismatch between identity and external
  perceptions
• Low educational achievement, but need to
  reposition for higher skill, knowledge based
  economy low skill equilibrium
• Learning as a common theme within much policy in
  the city and region learning as policy and
  learning from policy experiments

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Innovation and the knowledge base
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Policy and governance
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CRITICAL case studies

• Cultural learning Newcastle-Gateshead cultural
  development
• Policy learning - SHINE
• Learning in informal clusters - KIBS
• Facilitated learning amongst SMEs - RSC
• Access to learning for the disadvantaged
  Learning NE
• Community based learning CHAT shop
• Learning in urban regeneration Lower Ouseburn
• Learning sustainability Carbon Neutral Newcastle

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Dimensions of learning specific themes

• Role of key individuals
• Porosity
• Learning trajectories
• Chatter/buzz
• Facilitated learning
• Inclusive governance
• Reflection

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Learning in Urban Regeneration Lower Ouseburn
Valley
The grassroots community- led regeneration of the
formerly industrial wasteland of Ouseburn Valley
has been cited as best practice within the UK
governments sustainable communities award
programme. Since 1988 the regeneration has
shifted from a reactive to proactive
strategy, including episodes of partnership
working with the city council, but remains wedded
to the voluntary contributions and interests of
the members of the grassroots Ouseburn Trust
organisation. Key projects include conversion of
former industrial sites for social housing and
workspaces, together with an array of cultural
projects.

• Learning Trajectories
• Participatory, experiential and practice driven
  learning
• Formalisation (e.g. funding)
• Working alongside the professional regeneration
  community (akin to apprenticeships) out of
  hours participation of professionals within the
  community
• Development of non-accredited/ informal learning
  and
• knowledge
• If you go to a university course on planning or
  regeneration, it would cover all the stuff they
  have done and learnt through the Ouseburn. They
  dont realise it.
• They have learned a lot
  (Regeneration Policy Officer, Research
  Interview 2004)

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• Inclusive governance
• Development of an organisational structure for
  meaningful engagement and preservation of core
  principles and shared vision
• Themed interest related sub-groups (e.g.
  Heritage Community Culture)
• Learning through formalisation
• Core of Trust linked to broader range of
  community interests and commitment levels
• New forms of innovative governance links with the
  city council

Internal and External Governance Structures of
the Ouseburn Trust
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Cultural Learning Newcastle-Gateshead
Between 2001 and 2003 Newcastle-Gatesheads joint
bid to be nominated European Capital of Culture
for 2008 drew extensive economic, political and
public attention to the role of culture within
the city-region. Although ultimately unsuccessful
in winning the nomination, the bidding process
provided a goal and imaginary hook upon which
a wide array of public, private and community
partners from different disciplinary backgrounds
worked together in a constructive manner. In the
longer term, however, the Capital of Culture bid
represents but one episode within a broader set
of high-profile cultural development projects and
networks within the city-region. As such the case
study draws important connections to a range of
projects and strategies, from the Year of the
Visual Arts in 1996 to the development of the
current Culture 10 strategy.

• Learning Trajectories
• Learning between projects governance, networks
  of actors, trust and familiarity
• Learning within the Capital of Culture bid
• Competitive bid as a learning exercise hook
  and focus for collaboration, especially between
  non-cultural and cultural actors
• Shared vision which galvanised a sense of
  ambition for the partners and public within the
  city (role of political legitimacy and media)

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• Key Individuals
• Visionaries and Cultural entrepreneurs
  catalysts
• Continuity of key actors, drawing on successive
  project experiences ( assoc. networks/relations)
  and institutional learning
• Capturing learning beyond the individual and
  project
• I dont think the learning and knowledge has
  been particularly well documented, evaluated
  and drawn upon formally, thats partly to do
  with individuals going and organisations
  changing
• Balance past experience v stifling creativity

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Policy Learning SHINE
SHINE was a strategic futures exercise undertaken
by the regional development agency to inclusively
engage a wider stakeholder audience in
identifying potential strategies challenges and
policy scenarios for the region. The 18 month
project involved scenario development exercises,
facilitated by external consultants. The project
had a small formal working group together with
the multi-sector management group. The process
was designed to feed into the 2005 Regional
Economic Strategy.

• Facilitated Learning
• Region wide scenario building gt 200
  stakeholder interviews strategic conversation
  workshops for stakeholders
• Neutral places of dissent and discussion
• Consensus v Conflict
• Porosity
• External Consultants from outside the region
  (the Henley Group) Capacity, Expertise and
  Credibility.
• Two-way exchange Henleys methods adaptation to
  local circumstances
• Inclusive region wide and interdisciplinary
  stakeholder engagement not the usual male,
  stale and pale

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Learning in informal clusters
Knowledge Intensive Business Services
(KIBS)

• Within the Newcastle city regions creative
  industries sector, there exists a youthful and
  flourishing new media sub-sector. An important
  catalyst in the recent growth of this sector has
  been the work of Project North East (PNE) who
  acquired and converted office space within a
  historical area of the city centre. Formerly a
  red light zone, the redeveloped Pink Lane area
  has recently been dubbed Silicon Alley due to
  the growth of small independent companies
  involved in film, video, multi-media and TV
  production, design and internet related
  activities. A key stimulus in the growth of
  Silicon Alley was the inclusion of broad band
  access within the workshops, the low cost of
  office space and the ability to draw on business
  support and advice from PNE.

• Chatter/buzz
• - Formation of strong professional and social
  ties between
• Pink Lane firms
• - Community identity expanding firms re-locate
  close by
• - Basement Exchange old and new Pink Lane firms
  showcase
• new ideas with some wine
• - Forth Pub is a key node and tool for social
  networking learning
• - Developing a mailing list for quick exchange of
  soft tech
• related information.

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Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS)
contd

• Porosity
• Open to different opinions and different
  perspectives friends of the business include
  other agencies and clients who input into the
  thinking process
• Encouragement of new talent into the region from
  outside has re-invigorated the knowledge pool
  and lead to a much more outward looking region
• - Open to collaboration - groups of firms
  collaborate on a project by project basis
  combines expertise and transfers knowledge
  between companies.

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Facilitated Learning among SMEs Regional
Service for Clustering

• The RSC was a small agency that was developed by
  North Tyneside Council to help SMEs to
  collaborate together in micro-clusters for mutual
  advantage. It emerged in the mid 1990s and began
  by helping two clusters of SMEs emerging from the
  marine design and pipeline sectors and up to 2005
  had worked with over 30 such groups. There was a
  strong community of practice within the RSC, but
  also the agency sought to encourage collaboration
  and learning among the cluster firms
• Reflection
• Use of research projects to reflect on experience
  of cluster development desire to codify the
  process. Benchmarking and evaluation of
  clusters.
• Chatter and buzz
• Strong community of practice within the RSC
  office including network of friends and
  regular catching up sessions. Sharing of
  experiences in open plan office.
• Varied cultures within clusters compare
  Agonautics and Pegasus clusters

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Community based learning The CHAT (Churches
Acting Together) Shop

• The CHAT Shop is based in Arthurs Hill in the
  north of the West End of Newcastle. Once a
  tightly-knit community of Tynesiders who worked
  in the heavy manufacturing and service
  industries, development policies and economic
  instability have greatly fractured the cohesion
  of the community. Many long term residents have
  since left the area. These problems prompted
  representatives from four local churches to come
  together in 1990 to establish the CHAT Shop which
  aimed to address the social and health issues of
  the area, to promote social inclusion and enhance
  and support cultural development. The CHAT Shop
  has since evolved from a drop- in and advice
  facility to the establishment of two independent
  organisations The Yours and Mine Community Cafe
  and the Toy Cafe.
• Key Individuals
• Original churchmen who provided essential
  driving force
• have since moved on raises issues of
  succession
• New individuals have initiated the moving on
  but this
• requires energy and commitment beyond day to
  day
• management
• Learning from other voluntary sector and
  community
• projects boundary spanners
• Volunteers who have been with the CHAT Shop from
• the start have established continuity, a sense of
  shared
• history and have spearheaded new projects.

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Community based learning The CHAT (Churches
Acting Together) Shop contd

• Reflection
• What next for the CHAT Shop?
• I dont want to go down the route of so many
  other people of wasting a load of money on
  something thats not needed and is not going to
  continue to have any real impact or benefit
  beyond the funding stream. Theres no point in
  sitting there doing good works that dont
  actually benefit anybody, so we want it to be
  grounded in decent information and be able to say
  to people, we really have thought about this,
  were not just trying to find something to give
  us an existence for another five years, weve
  looked at it, weve thought weve got an
  imperative from our faith, what should we do and
  this is what we are going to do.
• Neutral places of dissent and discussion have
  enabled reflection
• I think the Trustees know each other and
  trust each other, I think we have quite
  productive meetings, people arent frightened to
  say what they think, there is robust debate about
  significant issues.
• Away Days issues were problematised what is
  already in place, where do we need to go,
  what is the way forward?

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Access to learning for the disadvantaged
Learning North East

• LNE emerged from a pilot project to develop a
  University for Industry. The project was led by
  the University of Sunderland with a wide range of
  local partners schools, colleges, public
  agencies, health service, libraries, BBC, firms,
  unions etc. The project aimed to connect
  potential learners with learning opportunities
  courses, drop-in sessions, IT-based courses and
  paper-based tasters. Delivery was done via
  educational outlets, workplaces, libraries,
  shopping centres and even a football club. The
  project had a complex system of partnership
  mechanisms to design and develop new programmes.
  A particular feature of the scheme was being
  demand-led
• Inclusive governance
• Steering committee with broad membership
  includingcommunity organisations, SMEs, churches
  etc
• Development teams with representation from
  different partner groups

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• Facilitated learning
• The aim of the project was to connect people with
  learning
• Building encouragement for learners
• Connecting learners with opportunities through
  call centre and database of courses etc
• Development of a team of learning advisors to
  reach into SMEs
• Provision of new content

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Learning Sustainability CarbonNeutral
Newcastle

• The CarbonNeutral Newcastle campaign works with
  organisations and individuals to help them
  measure, reduce and offset their carbon dioxide
  emissions to become carbon neutral. Activities
  have also been aimed at educating the city about
  climate change, raising the campaign profile and
  brand, stimulating CO2 reduction and encouraging
  web hits. CarbonNeutral is the point at which the
  amount of CO2 produced by a manufacturing
  process distribution system and / or product use
  is equal to the amount being removed. It can be
  removed through forestry sequestration programmes
  or through the purchase of technology offset. The
  campaign was established as a not for profit
  organisation with its finances under the
  charitable control of the Community Foundation
  serving Tyne and Wear. It has since evolved into
  a Charitable Trust.
• Porosity
• Learning from networks of expertise beyond the
  region
• Future Forests national company with existing
  market presence
• Eurocities Research Network- EU level exchange of
  city research and best practice
• ZeroCarbonCities - international campaign to
  foster awareness and dialogue.

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CarbonNeutral Newcastle - contd

• Reflection
• Switch to Charitable Trust status (better access
  to funding)
• Interim Review set out the honest failures of
  the campaign against objectives with
  recommendations for change and taking the
  campaign forward
• Commissioning research to help better understand
  the problems faced the environment is a hard
  concept to sell
• Management team more pragmatic in balancing
  tensions between philanthropic ideals with
  commercial realities.

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Conclusions

• Case studies illustrate key elements of informal
  learning and knowledge systems and processes
• General Research findings
• re-emphasise the socialised and temporal
  contexts of learning
• restate how the governance of social networks and
  relations shapes the learning process
• informal learning and knowledge exchange
  remains unrecognised and undervalued compared
  with formalised/accredited learning processes
• Key Challenge better identify, capture and
  cultivate learning. Means raising the profile and
  awareness of learning as a valued process and
  outcome in strategies, projects and activities
  across cities.
• Specific research findings
• problems of capturing learning beyond the
  lifetime of projects and individuals
• the role of individuals creates issues of
  succession, support and capacity (especially in
  voluntary sector)
• the fertile nature of interdisciplinary learning
  processes
• importance of shared visions and identities in
  cultivating buy in and participation
• if much informal learning is unrecognised, is
  learning being utilised in enhancing fortunes of
  city-regions

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Intelligent cities should be

• Open to external ideas with an ability to
  synthesise knowledge from outside and inside.
• Willing to invest in experimentation and to learn
  from both success and failure
• Have an ability to value and build up an
  inheritance of knowledge culture and institutions
  without being trapped by the past.
• Open and inclusive to knowledge and ideas from
  all parts of the community
• Respond effectively to crisis and with an ability
  to generate a sense of urgency and avoid
  complacency
• Constantly reflective and building capacity to
  develop new ideas and initiatives
• Having and encouraging key individuals both
  leaders and champions as well as
  moderators/communicators and boundary spanners.
• Neutral places of dissent and discussion
• Learning towards shared visions
• Empowered to act wisely on the basis of knowledge
  with social and environmental responsibility.