Keep creative people for sake of all

Jun 12 2009 Nicholas Craig, Watson Burton law firm

THE region’s student graduate shows fizz with originality, skill and ideas. The National Glass Centre at Sunderland was the venue this week for a stunning collection of exciting, unique works from Sunderland University’s BA hons glass and ceramics degree show.

I was bowled over by the quality and beauty of the pieces. The students have generous resources at the National Glass Centre to help them produce spectacular, fragile objects from material first made in Wearside 1,300 years ago.

We live in a genuinely creative region. To keep that innovative streak alive we need to keep the best graduates here and engage the next generation in the excitement of learning skills old and new.

Newsweek dubbed Newcastle one of the world’s eight most creative cities – the only British city to make the list – five years ago. According to Professor Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, most important ingredients in economic development are the ideas and creativity of talented individuals.

Prof Florida shows a clear connection between the ability of a city to attract talented workers and its growth rate of high technology work. The cities, regions and nations that will thrive in the 21st Century, he says, are those able to attract and retain creative talent.

Economic development will need to change from being company-driven, focusing on inward investment and creation of businesses, to a people-driven process.

The new Design Network North and the planned Design Centre North at Gateshead’s Baltic Business Quarter do much to fill a gap. They aim to nurture small design companies and create a network of designers, businesses, agencies and universities. The Design Centre and Network provide the resources to allow creativity to flourish and businesses to thrive.

The region’s economic strength relies on unlocking potential of talented people from school years to post-retirement. We are cultivating extraordinarily innovative, creative individuals in our universities. Keeping them in the region as they begin their careers and become established is essential.