Scottish creatives receive support through new RGU short course

The Creative Entrepreneurship course provides graduates with the knowledge and skills to transition their creative practice into a viable business.  It is open to those looking to start up a new enterprise, or with an existing creative business who want to take it to the next level.

The course takes participants through a number of business tools and toolkits such as the ‘Value Proposition’ and the ‘Business Model Canvas’ with practical application at the forefront. 

A development of the Creative Accelerator Programme which ran in summer 2019, the Creative Entrepreneurship course is an accredited Masters level qualification which allows participants to accumulate further credits and achieve a full postgraduate qualification over time.

Both initiatives were developed through an innovative collaboration between the university’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group (EIG) and the Look Again team, part of Gray’s School of Art, with funding for this new course provided by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). 

Hilary Nicoll, part of the Look Again team at Gray’s School of Art, commented: “In these uncertain and unprecedented times, it is really fantastic to be involved in something positive and creative that looks to a brighter future

“Our current group of 20 creative practitioners represent the high quality and ambition of the creative graduates in the region, and are working across a wide range of specialisms including animation, illustration, photography, ceramics and music production.”

Sally Charles, from the RGU EIG, added: “We had originally planned for this to take place at RGU’s space in ONE TechHub, but things had to quickly change in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.  With only a week’s delay, the team worked hard to put the course entirely online.”

There are several advantages to the new remote delivery as it cuts travel for everyone and has provided the opportunity to invite guest speakers from outwith the region to ‘beam in’ for short sessions which would not have been feasible if the course were face-to-face.

Hilary added: “For the Look Again team, supported by Gray’s, this is a key achievement in our mission to support the needs of the creative industries community in the North East of Scotland, growing the skills and confidence needed to retain creative talent and level the field with other regions in Scotland.”

With first Creative Entrepreneurship course now approaching its conclusion, the call for applications for the second round is now open, with a deadline of 6th May. 

Both cohorts will be invited to showcase their work in a virtual showcase on the Look Again website in August. 

For more information or to apply to the course please visit the website.