The value of entrepreneurial placemaking for rural development: supporting rural creatives
Place-based policy is well-established in the UK. However, in my research on business support for creatives and conversations with policymakers, I have observed that ‘place’ is often used interchangeably with ‘location’, with no distinction made between the two.
This observation has caught my attention, not only as a former geographer, but also because I believe a more nuanced understanding of ‘place’ is key to unlocking the creative sector’s full potential for socio-economic development. The recent 2024 UK Government Industrial Strategy rightly highlighted the creative industries as a key growth sector as they make many visible and invisible contributions to the economy, so this is a topical issue.
Taking a more relational view of people’s interactions in locations – with each other and with the natural and physical environment – can support business growth ambitions. Interactions are what turns a location into a ‘place.’ This view involves a conceptualisation of ‘place’ as “a temporary localisation, consisting of the interplay of flows of money, visual impressions, verbal and bodily communication.” [1]
I have applied this way of thinking about places in my research as a lens for analysing how some rural locations thrive and others do not. Part of this lens is ‘entrepreneurial placemaking’, which refers to the successful financial, physical, social and digital interactions enacted while drawing on the natural and physical environment (technology, houses, machinery etc.). This work involved over 90 interviews with stakeholders, creatives and support providers in rural England and Scotland, alongside observations of networks and hubs in action in the last three years. What did I find?
The role of creatives in rural economies
Many designers/makers live and work in rural areas eager to earn a living, often with a portfolio of income streams. Yet, some rural creatives are also engines for wider rural socio-economic development, using creative activities as vehicles for bringing residents together and building community cohesion. They know that engaging in creative activities via workshops and events has a positive impact on individual and family well-being, mental health, physical health and social skills.
Despite their contributions to local communities, many creatives lack awareness of where to seek business support, and often there is none locally available. Those who do access support often describe being misunderstood in terms of their different balance of realising their passion and skill, whilst also profit-seeking and supporting their community.[2]
In response to insufficient or inappropriate support offers, many different forms of expert facilitated and designer/artist run networks have emerged. These aim to compensate for a lack of business infrastructure through a bottom-up approach of self-organising mutual support. And it is valuable for local policymakers to support such local network-building, and particularly to facilitate more collaborations between small businesses and designers/artists. [3]
Supporting creative businesses: practical steps
Small businesses can play a valuable role in this bottom-up peer ‘business support’ approach, supporting their local designers/artists in several ways, including, for example:
• Hosting exhibitions on their business premises free-of-charge and bearing the event insurance costs;
• Resource sharing – allowing artists to use space and equipment free-of-charge;
• Collaborative marketing, working jointly with artists to reach broader and different audiences.
These activities can work alongside sponsorship for arts related events offering SMEs social responsibility and PR opportunities. They can create synergies, encourage peer learning and enable new business opportunities. They are also all examples of entrepreneurial placemaking – demonstrating the ways in which existing facilities can be turned into ‘places’ that are used collaboratively for the benefit of the local rural communities and economies.
In one sentence: having the facilities and infrastructure available is important, but it is not sufficient to promote growth: Makers/designers, policymakers, businesses and local communities need to enact it, bring locations alive through their entrepreneurial actions to create vibrant and successful places.
Please note that the views expressed in this blog belong to the individual blogger and do not represent the official view of the Enterprise Research Centre, its Funders or Advisory Group
