Engaging people in a city’s future

Co-founder of Creative Dundee, Gillian Easson, explains how a city can only move forward when the people work together

Watching your favourite film, playing the latest video game, making your own music, doing crafts with your kids, or admiring the artwork of your favourite bands. These are just some of the ways in which people who work in the creative industries touch our lives.

The creative industries are incredibly important to the wellbeing and economy of Scotland and the UK – and increasingly it’s part of what makes Dundee a place where people want to be based. We realised that to continue to move the city forward there needed to be a plan for the next five years that would ensure Dundee stays at the forefront of the creative industries.

We wanted the whole city to get behind this strategy, which we felt needed to be designed in a different way from normal, with input from as many people as possible. It was created in a very “Dundee” way – by collaborating and working with as many people as possible to make the city a better place.

That’s exactly how Creative Dundee likes to work – we did this when creating our recent crowdsourced guide to the city, 99 Things to See and Do in Dundee; as well as WeDundee which was, and continues to be, a way to engage everyone in the city’s future.

This time we held four workshops, which included people from across the creative industries – from design to dance, from music to art. We invited big organisations and individuals, students and established businesses, meaning that everybody got their chance to contribute.

We wanted to imagine what a Dundee look like that was a good place to live and work? We then went on to look at what steps we’d need to get us there.

We also took a trip to Edinburgh to discover how its creatives are making things happen for their community. We participated in an online survey that involved people from across Dundee and we conducted one-to-one interviews.

The result is not solely Creative Dundee’s strategy as it belongs to the whole city. Residents want to see what they can do to make these actions happen, they’re not passively waiting for somebody else to do it.

Most strategies are top heavy – written and produced by senior leaders in an organisation, but this is much more accessible.

For example, we’ve produced an interactive version that anyone can comment on and there’s an audio version available for download.

Working with Fleet Collective we’ve created a supporting poster campaign, featuring quotes from the workshops. You’ll see them around the city centre and we hope they encourage you to share your thoughts. The poster locations can be found on our website.

There are three main themes that emerged from the strategy, including how the city can encourage and nurture more people to stay and base themselves in the city through jobs and opportunities.

Another theme is around big collaborations in a small city and how we can create the right type of environment for those to happen.

Finally, there is a big theme around space and how the creative industries can turn empty and vacant spaces into vibrant places.

The popular Pecha Kucha Night Dundee events which we’ve held in the city since 2011 give a platform to creative people from all backgrounds to speak about what they do. These events have enabled audiences of around 350 people to hear what’s happening across the city and beyond; and we have regular audiences of 5,000 people watching the live stream of the event from all over the world.

There is a real opportunity for Dundee’s creative industries scene to flourish and grow over the next few years.

This strategy is designed to make the most of the chances that are coming and make sure everybody can benefit.

To read the strategy go to: www. dundeecreates.com or search for #DundeeCreates on social media.

Pecha Kucha at the Bonar Hall; Pecha Kucha at Dundee Design Festival; Creatives at a workshop for the Creative Industries Strategy; and Pecha Kucha at Dundee Design Festival.