Member Article

£250k Creative Fuse rollout sees 31 North East innovation projects launch

Creative Fuse North East, an initiative involving all five of the region’s universities to boost the Creative, Digital and IT (CDIT) sector, has officially given the green light for 31 projects to go ahead via a £250k scheme.

SMEs, freelancers and creative and cultural organisations are teaming up with university academics to deliver a wide range of projects, all sharing a mutual goal of fusing arts and design skills with technology expertise to solve problems.

The Creative Fuse initiative offers a variety of business innovation support opportunities, insights into the regional creative economy, and brings different working disciplines into closer collaboration through their monthly CAKE (Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange) networking events.

Following an initial phase of research, the project is now rolling out across the region to put the principle of creative ‘fusion’ into practice.

North East lean startup authority Justin Souter, alongside Valerie Monti Holland and Claire Robinson, will work with academics from Sunderland and Teesside universities on a pilot named Resilience and Authentic Leadership for Entrepreneurs.

Aiming to help innovators learn how to deal with the emotional travails of entrepreneurial endeavours, the team will investigate how best to bring together a resource to assist people in bringing their best selves to work.

Among the successful proposal teams is also Newcastle-based Southpaw Dance Company, which will be working with digital SMEs and researchers from Sunderland and Teesside Universities.

Their project fuses dance theatre with virtual reality technology to approach social challenges from a range of different perspectives.

Robby Graham, Artistic Director of Southpaw Dance Company, explained: “We’re delighted to be chosen as one of the Creative Fuse Innovation Pilots. We pride ourselves on creating captivating experiences for dancers, community casts and audiences, and the chance to experiment with immersive technologies to enhance our capabilities is very exciting.”

Another project connects art, technology and health. Artist Peter McAdam will be working with healthcare professionals, rehabilitation experts and digital media researchers to develop a novel digital arts therapy product that could be used to stimulate memories for those living with dementia, or to calm children before surgery.

“I’m really excited to be receiving the Creative Fuse Innovation Award” said Peter. “This is a great opportunity to collaborate with academic and clinical partners to try and improve health outcomes and wellbeing of patients through the use of digital arts.”

The idea of art spilling over into innovation within other sectors is illustrated by sculptor Steve Newby’s Innovation Project.

The Ouseburn-based artist will be working with experts from Newcastle University’s Joseph Swan Institute and Northumbria University’s department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering.

The project will develop metal sculptures which will thermally manage buildings in a beautiful and energy efficient way.

“Through this project we intend to create a unique, customisable and desirable energy saving solution,” said Steve. “We are excited to combine the universities’ knowledge with our innovative, aesthetic work to provide installations with a dual functionality.”

Professor Eric Cross, Principal Investigator for Creative Fuse, based at Newcastle University, added: “We have been very impressed with the ideas that the region has brought to this open call.

“We hope that these collaborations generate new ways to bring traditional arts and culture into the digital world and demonstrate how creativity can spill over beyond the CDIT sector and stimulate innovation elsewhere, including the health, agriculture, and construction sectors.

“These awarded projects signify the start of an incredibly exciting time for Creative Fuse and the North East.”