A creative economy through communication
Presentation/workshop | 12:20 – 13:00 | Seminar Room 2
Main Themes
Innovation | Sustainability | Place
The Session
Many areas of London have risen and fallen as creative hubs, following a cycle in which artist communities attract wealthy new arrivals, who inevitably drive the artists from the area. Can this urban cycle be disrupted and these local economies find a way to co-exist alongside the many demands of redevelopment?
In this workshop, The Local Content Company (LoCoCo) and Creative Wick present their work and research findings on the preservation and promotion of creative circular economies in the areas of Camden and Hackney Wick, using culture-focused media platforms and events programmes.
The Speakers
TOM KIHL, Managing Director, TheLococo
Originally a music and arts journalist, Tom has focused on the evolving field of hyperlocal media for over a decade, having been awarded funding in 2012 to develop local website Kentishtowner into a monthly print title by Nesta: the UK innovation agency for social good. Expanding to cover multiple neighbourhoods in Camden and beyond, using culture as the catalyst for sustainable local print and digital platforms, he launched The Local Content Company (TheLococo) during the Covid lockdowns to evolve the model further. It now oversees two titles: Camdenist is a popular newsletter, website, occasional print magazine and promoter of ongoing events including Secret Feasts, that support local high street hospitality businesses. The title has partnered with Google on a digital upskilling training for local SMBs and with Argent on a creative activation to bring an open mic stage aboard a canal boat at King’s Cross for Christmas.
In East London, The Wick, a joint venture with Creative Wick, is TheLoCoCo’s quarterly print title for the neighbourhoods around the Olympic Park, supporting a creative and circular economy in Hackney Wick, as it undergoes large-scale redevelopment.
WILLIAM CHAMBERLAIN, Founding Director, Creative Wick
William founded Creative Wick in 2010 to facilitate a permanent, sustainable, creative economy in the East London neighborhood of Hackney Wick and Fish Island. It provides free access to a local business network, the Cultural Interest Group, which sources commercial opportunities for local artists and creative practitioners, delivers a range of creative education projects and facilitates academic research. William is co-founder of the Hackney Wick & Fish Island Community Development Trust, set up to engage local stakeholders to secure ownership of buildings and spaces in the community interest.
William is also a solicitor and partner at Counterculture LLP where he advises creative and cultural organisations on social enterprise and urban regeneration. He is currently working towards a part-time practice-based PhD on the role of the creative economy and social enterprise in urban regeneration after being awarded a scholarship by the Institute of Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London. William is a founding member of Collective Community Action, a campaign group advocating for greater community engagement in all London development and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
The Organisations
