13.05.26
We say it often, but Creative Dundee wouldn’t exist without the community that surrounds us. As a network organisation, these connections form the heart of all that we do: setting the stage for collaborations and partnerships; bringing us together to map and action our collective ambitions; and driving us to learn from one another and do better, for our place and for each other.
The inherent value of creative networks is layered and boundless, but all too often underestimated. Despite the benefits well known to those who make and partake in them, their worth isn’t as neatly evidenced or understood as more visible, resourced creative infrastructure is. It takes lots of care, energy and time to create connective spaces that are inclusive, equitable, responsive and sustainable. Beyond the hidden labour of those who steward them, support for networks – to lay foundations for the future, build momentum, and ensure they can serve their community – is hard to come by and in demand when available.
Create:Networks was one such opportunity, and we were delighted to be invited by Creative Scotland to lead on developing a proposal with Scotland’s Creative Networks to deliver the fund for 2024/25. Supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and delivered by Creative Dundee, Create:Networks offered funding and a programme of support to nine place-based creative networks in Scotland. This work brought local creative networks together to learn and share, to develop their own network longevity, and to create a 12-month programme of activity that would help creative practitioners and businesses to grow and become more sustainable – with the ripple effects of this fund strengthening not just the networks themselves but their places and the wider creative ecosystem, too.
We were grateful to then receive further support to gather experiences of the fund through a reflective evaluation process, carefully and skilfully developed by freelance practitioner Kathryn Welch. This resulting report seeks to understand the impact, challenges and learning associated with the 2024/25 round of the Create:Networks fund – not only capturing key learning but further sharing it with others who are enabling, doing and have the ambition of doing this work.
Each of the nine networks funded by Create:Networks 2025/25 – Angus Creatives, Biome Collective, CaraVAN (Circus Artspace), Creative Futures (Narture CIC), Forth Valley Creative Network (Creative Stirling), Network Q (Pluto Q), Neuk Edinburgh (Neuk Collective / Door in the Wall Arts CIC), Shetland Textiles Network and Universal Recognition Movement, Alba Hub – has generously contributed their experiences to this process. We’re grateful to all of them, and look forward to exploring how we collectively continue to grow this body of knowledge to support future provision for building sustainable, inclusive and connected creative networks in Scotland.
Accompanying the report are two summary papers that capture key learning points: an Executive Summary, tailored to network investors and enablers (through funding, advocacy, strategy interventions and policy development); and ‘This is not an Executive Summary’, containing reflections and learning for those building and caring for creative networks.
Presented across five themes, the review captures experiences of the application process before in-depth consideration of the lifecycle of a network, leadership, connecting networks and sustainability in practice. Five ‘impact snapshots’ share further insights – outlining key impacts through compact case studies.
Throughout the delivery of Create:Networks 2024/25, recurring topics and challenges included:
Accompanying these emerging themes and topics are a number of thoughts ‘for consideration’, which are intended to inform the development of future activity to support creative networks.
We believe that this learning can support creative networks with the knowledge to confidently build in response to their community, inform network-enablers on where to focus support, and bridge to next steps for collectively shaping what comes next for provision of support for creative networks in Scotland.
“For Community Wealth Building to be fully realised in Scotland, creative networks must be recognised and resourced as long-term civic infrastructure that grow local capabilities, anchor wealth, and support sustainable inclusive economies.”
Building on the delivery of the fund and evaluation process, Creative Dundee is developing this learning into an event centred on – and leading to next steps for – continued knowledge exchange and practical support provision for sustaining creative networks in Scotland. Tending To/gether is a one-day participatory forum, gathering creative network builders and those interested in collective ways of working to spotlight impact, exchange knowledge and platform the critical role that creative networks play in our cultural ecology and beyond.
This project has been a chance for inward reflection, too. Having grown our own Amps network since 2016, it has been an expansive process to apply this learning to supporting others in doing this work. We look forward to marking a decade of Amps at the end of this year.
Great thanks goes to each of the networks who contributed their time, knowledge and learnings to this report and project, including the nine funded projects: Angus Creatives, Biome Collective, CaraVAN (Circus Artspace), Creative Futures (Narture CIC), Forth Valley Creative Network (Creative Stirling), Network Q (Pluto Q), Neuk Edinburgh (Neuk Collective / Door in the Wall Arts CIC), Shetland Textiles Network and Universal Recognition Movement – Alba Hub.
We’re also incredibly grateful to Kathryn Welch, who designed and delivered the evaluation and report. Her passion for and deep care in bringing people together shines through in all that she does, placing community at the heart of how we collectively shape what comes next.
Create:Networks was managed and delivered by Scotland’s Creative Networks, led by Creative Dundee, with support from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
Illustrations by Kate Scarlet Harvey
Enquiries about Create:Networks can be directed to Jen Collins, Creative Producer: jen@creativedundee.com.
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