Championing Creative Futures: Insights from Presenting at Creative PEC Symposium

Uncategorized Monday 4 May 2026

In April co-investigators from the creative skills and careers work package presented their research at the Creative Industries Policy Evidence Centre Symposium at Newcastle University.

The research, led by Prepared by Samantha Broadhead (Leeds Arts University), Patsy Gilbert (Leeds Conservatoire), Alexandra Willans (Skills House Careers & Technical Education) and Nathan Kelly (Bradford Cultural Education Partnership and Shipley College), explores how a deeper understanding and appreciation of creative skills can enhance information, advice and guidance (IAG) practice across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

In the first two phases of the project – literature review and stakeholder panel events – the significant value creative skills bring to society, the economy and the cultural industries is highlighted, demonstrating this value is increasingly recognised at policy level, with the cultural industries identified as a priority sector in the UK government’s Industrial Strategy. However, for the sector to thrive, it requires a strong pipeline of individuals equipped with the skills and knowledge needed for a wide range of roles and this project suggests that one visible symptom of this mismatch is a hesitancy within IAG provision to promote creative careers to young people.

At the conference the team shared the next phase of the project which is interviews conducted with people across 4 different areas of the educational pipeline – those who have recently chosen heir GCSE and A A Levels, those who are now in tertiary education and those working in creative or creative adjacent professions. These interviews are designed to build a narrative enquiry in how their IAG experiences shaped their future aims and ambitions, as well as other external factors.

Giorgio Fazio, Research Director of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) said of the event:

“The Symposium highlights the growing contributions of the creative industries to economic growth, place-based development and social value, while acknowledging the profound changes driven by technological change, evolving labour markets conditions and policy challenges” 

The event showed how distinctive a project which brings together academics, policy makers, government and community organisations can be – highlighting the importance of this holistic approach when conducting research to influence policy. As part of the conference there were some ideas for how this work could continue beyond the scope of the initial project – looking outside of Yorkshire and Humber, and exploring the research through an economists lens.

Check out the Arts Professional article “The talent pipeline is drying up, action is urgently needed” written by Sam Broadhead and YPIP’s Co-Direction Kersten England. They share reflections on what needs to be done to address the drying talent pipeline in order to support the ambitions of growing the cultural economy.