CREATIVE ECONOMY DIGEST
**BEYOND 2022 SPECIAL**

CoSTAR is a total investment of £75.6 million - a research and innovation infrastructure to create new products, experiences and markets for the screen and performance industries. The AHRC is hosting a number of CoSTAR briefing events across the UK, starting in Cardiff on Monday 17 October at BEYOND, then heading to more locations, listed below (you can also register interest on each page below, to receive CoSTAR related news and updates).

❑ 17 October, Cardiff: (2 – 4:30pm) - Register  
❑ 26 October, Yorkshire: (10:30am - 1:30pm) - Register 
❑ 1 November, Manchester (10:00am - 1:00pm) - Register
❑ 3 November, Stratford-upon-Avon (10:00am - 1:00pm) - Register
❑ 15 November, London (10:00am - 1:00pm) - Register
 

Supported by CoSTAR, the AHRC is calling on researchers and creative industries professionals to apply to host a new creative facility for the UK’s renowned screen and performance sectors. Convergent Screen Technologies And performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) will consist of a central hub and experimental studio fitted with real-time digital technologies. The opportunity is open for applications from 11 October 2022 until 2 February 2023 via UKRI.

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Expert speakers at this year's BEYOND include established and emerging faces, with the below and many more speakers onstage and online: 

❑ Lisa Merrick-Lawless, named in Forbes 43 People Changing Advertising For The Climate and Co-Founder & Director of Purpose Disruptors.
❑ Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, Environmental Psychologist  and Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST). 
❑ Professor Owen Sheers, an award-winning poet, author and Professor in Creativity at Swansea University. 
❑ Dr Maruša Levstek , XR Audience Researcher at StoryFutures,  Royal Holloway, University of London
❑ Angela Chan, Head of Inclusion and Doctoral Researcher at StoryFutures
 

DRIVING CHANGE IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

The conference will welcome speakers from organisations doing crucial work to drive change towards sustainability, including BAFTA albert Ambassador and environmental production consultant, Steve Smith, together with award-winning investigative journalist Shirish Kulkarni, who is leading the People’s Newsroom as part of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. They will be joined by many more foward-thinking organisations and speakers.

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 GREEN PLANET: XR TO CHANGE MINDS

Looking at the potential for XR to change audience attitudes and behaviours around sustainability, Dr Maruša Levstek (StoryFutures - Royal Holloway, University of London) will share insights from a range of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality projects, notably the Green Planet AR Experience from the BBC and Factory42. Maruša has an inter-disciplinary background in psychology, sociology, and anthropology, which she implements in researching the role of immersive experiences in social change. 

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 IN CONVERSATION: MICHAEL SHEEN & SOPHIE HOWE

Michael Sheen will join Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, on stage in Cardiff, to tell us about her role as the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales. They will explore what this means for the creative industries and our response to the climate crisis, in a session chaired by Sara Pepper, Professor of Creative Economy at Cardiff University. 

➤ In-person session (also to play-out at BEYOND online)

 

This panel will question the role of advertising and screen narratives in pushing and pulling audiences towards action on climate change. Join Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE (CAST), Lisa Merrick-Lawless (Purpose Disruptors), Owen Sheers (Swansea University) and Angela Chan (Royal Holloway, University of London) to ask if the creative industries are likely to be a footnote in the bigger picture of a world in transition, or if they can be a powerful force to inform and influence audiences? 

➤ In-person session (also to play-out at BEYOND online)
 

BEYOND ONLINE | THURS 20 OCTOBER 

BEYOND includes a full online schedule on 20 October, for those not able to join in-person. Catch first-view access to sessions recorded from both days of the in-person conference, together with live and exclusive online-only sessions, presentations, interviews, keynotes, as well as the opportunity to meet the makers and researchers. Read on for a few session picks. 

➤ Online tickets

 PANEL: BENCHMARKING SUSTAINABILITY & CHALLENGES

Exclusive to BEYOND Online, this live session will include panelists such as Amanda McLaren, (AW Hainsworth), Adam Mansell (The UK Fashion & Textile Association), Parikshit Goswami (University of Huddersfield) and more. They will explore the challenges of benchmarking sustainability and how a transdisciplinary approach could significantly help to overcome the obstacles to Net-Zero. 

➤ Online Schedule 

 MEET THE MAKERS: THE BEYOND IMMERSIVE FUTURES LAB SHOWCASE

The BEYOND Immersive Futures Lab showcase offers delegates the chance to experience cutting-edge creative projects that demonstrate innovative ideas, new types of content and novel uses of technologies – to include early-stage prototypes utilising technologies including Virtual Reality, Haptics, Spatial Audio and more.

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 MEET THE RESEARCHERS: BEYOND POSTER EXHIBITION

Every year at BEYOND, the Poster Exhibition features work from Doctoral Candidates and Early Career Researchers showcasing their R&D projects and ideas. In line with the main focus of this year's conference, their work explores the journey to a Zero Carbon Future and will be presented in dedicated  'Meet the Researchers' sessions as part of the online programme, offering delegates the chance to engage directly with the researchers and their work.

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UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, is a year-long programme of 10 major, multi-site & digital creative projects shaped across science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, delivered across the four UK nations. The UNBOXED schedule (19 Oct) at BEYOND will explore some of the themes, ideas and collaborations that made this programme of 10 extraordinary new commissions truly unique, along with a selection of UNBOXED online sessions running on 20 October.

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UNBOXED: Collective Futures is a research enquiry led by The RSA, which examines the value of taking an inclusive, collaborative approach to shaping better futures for people and planet. Within the context of this research, join creatives from UNBOXED commissions Our Place in Space, PoliNations, and Dandelion to explore their core missions and methods for creatively engaging communities in a journey toward a more sustainable future.

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 Facilitating a free-for-all: Inside The Creative Studio

Join broadcaster Elle-Osili Wood, for the Creative Studio R&D Programme, with creatives from Dreamachine and About Us, to discuss insights and lessons from this unprecedented model of funding, collaboration, ideation and production.

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Join creatives from UNBOXED commissions GALWAD and PoliNations to explore the challenges and rewards of running digitally inclusive projects and the role of technology in deepening our relationship to people and to place.

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The Immerse UK Summit at BEYOND (19 Oct) offers sessions on ED&I, immersive technology and cross sector applications, including the real world use of metaverse technology. The 2022 Immersive Economy Report will also be launched at the Summit, revealing industry trends in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, together with the latest insights and data on the UK immersive tech sector, with evidence of growth and its key drivers and barriers. 

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 Accelerating Inclusion: Workshop on Inclusive Design for Immersive Experiences

Inclusive design creates content that is more accessible and delightful to those with permanent lived experiences of disability, and to all of us who temporarily or situationally move, sense, think or feel differently. Join speakers from StoryFutures Academy, Hyper Luminal Games, Sugar Creative, InGAME and Open Inclusion, who through the Inclusive Design Accelerator challenge, have been working with Open Inclusion and XR Access to offer SMEs the opportunity to pilot an experimental inclusive innovation process.

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 Don’t Just Replicate Your Business in the Metaverse, Build a New World

The biggest opportunity for businesses right now is to create entirely new virtual expressions of brand and customer experience. It's all about world-building. In this talk, you'll hear Sol Rogers, Global Director of Innovation for Magnopus, talk about the essential ways to think about translating your business into a world today.

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Join Karen Newman to discuss the ways Birmingham Open Media are using immersive to highlight environmental issues and engage under-represented communities. Projects include Mother Nature, an XR experience stimulating climate action through game play; and the Queen’s Baton BOM created for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

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