The Creative HubKit is a free toolkit for people looking to set up a hub, cluster or network. It is made up of best practice examples, helpful experiences and tried and tested approaches from some of the most successful hubs in the UK and Europe.
Creative Dundee and Creative Edinburgh were commissioned by British Council to develop the Creative HubKit, a toolkit for people looking to 1. set up their own hub; 2. diversify their existing hub; or 3. understand the hub movement from an outside perspective.
Anyone who runs a hub, whether it’s a physical or virtual hub (like Creative Dundee) will understand how complex the role is and how ever-changing the business model can be. The Creative HubKit aims to give you the tools to help you work through the design and purpose of your own hub while understanding the invaluable nature that your community plays in its success.
Creative hubs have a variety of purposes:
- To provide support by way of services and/or facilities to the ideas, projects, organisations and businesses it hosts, whether on a long-term or short-term basis, including events, skills training, capacity building and global opportunities.
- To facilitate collaboration and networking among its community.
- To reach out to research and development centres, institutions, creative and non-creative industries.
- To communicate and engage with a wider audience, developing an active communication strategy.
- To champion and celebrate emerging talents; exploring the boundaries of contemporary practice and taking risks towards innovation.
The Creative HubKit includes the following content which we hope will be useful for anyone considering setting up a creative hub:
- Defining the Vision
- Connecting the Network
- Designing the Opportunity
- Building it to Last
- Communicating Strengths and Impacts
- Reviewing and Improving
- Sustaining and Scaling
Made by hubs for emerging hubs, the Creative HubKit also includes helpful case studies from Watershed, CodeBase, Baltic Creative, FuseBox, Hackney WickED, Impact Hub Birmingham, Cardiff Start and Residence, with European examples from Factoria Cultural and FabLab Lisboa.
The Creative HubKit can be downloaded here.
Developed by Creative Edinburgh & Creative Dundee
Commissioned by the British Council
Supported by Creative England
Designed by Martin Baillie
