Category Archives: The future of Universities

C4CC is amazing – what next?

C4CC-LOGO
The Centre for Creative Collaboration
will close on 17 December 2014

C4CC will close at noon on 17th December 2014.  For 5 years, we have supported collaborations between Universities, businesses, staff and students and creative freelancers.  In the past two years we have also worked with Small and Medium Enterprises across London as part of the London Creative and Digital Fusion project – supporting more than 200 businesses directly ourselves.  We’ve also helped to form and support 37 start-ups creating over 100 jobs.

We’ve spoken to our resident projects and partners about the closure over the past month or so – and this post will, I hope, let a wider group of friends hear the news directly from us.  To cut a very long story short – our funding has finished, the University of London has decided not to support us further and the lease on our building expires early next year.

I talked to Lloyd Davis recently and we recalled the excitement of getting the keys early in February 2010 – and how big and empty the space seemed.  The project was scary and exciting at the same time.  It’s worth remembering that, when we did the research for the project (in 2008/9) there were very few spaces in London that we would now recognise as co-working or collaboration spaces.  So it was a bit of a leap in the dark – and a testament to the vision of our early supporters, especially Sir Graeme Davies who was
Vice-Chancellor of the University of London at that time.

We will hold an event on 12 December at C4CC to share our experiences, tell stories and celebrate what we’ve all been part of – if you would like an invitation, please let me know.

My plan is to ‘to do my own thing’ again as an independent consultant and adviser; I’m looking at a number of opportunities for 2015.  I’ve learnt a lot of new (and I hope useful!) things in the past 5 years – and I will be happy to help other people and projects to benefit from my experience.  So if you’d like to talk about opportunities to work together, please get in touch.

I am on social media as brian_condon or add a comment to this blog.

Keynote – Brian Cantor

Brian Cantor at the re:centre
Brian Cantor at the re:centre

Debating the Digital Economy and the Creative Industries

Beyond Text

Making the case for higher education in the creative economy

A particularly apposite time to hold this event.  Here’s an event overview from Universities UK

“In light of the comprehensive spending review, and following the changes to the regional development funding structures, we will need to assess what this will this mean for collaboration between higher education and the creative industries.

This conference will launch a report on the role of UK universities in supporting the creative industries, particularly during the current economic downturn. The report will make a number of key recommendations to Government regarding their future thinking around supporting the creative industries through higher education partnerships.”

You can find more information on speakers and programme here

Immediately after the event, I made an audioboo piece – which gives you a flavour of the feeling in the room and some thoughts on “Frustration and Fear”:

Here’s a Liveblog of the Plenary sessions:

Should the University Survive in its current form?

What does the future hold for universities? What could the role of the university be in the Big Society? As part of the Inside/Out Festival the University of London hosts a debate on the issue.

Speakers:
May Chien Busch, MCB Enterprises, ex Chief Operating Officer Morgan Stanley Europe
Professor Geoffrey Crossick, Vice-Chancellor, University of London
Professor AC Grayling, Birkbeck, University of London
Professor Rick Rylance, Chief Executive, Arts and Humanities Research Council
Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State for the Universities and Science

Chair:
Anne McElvoy, New Statesman Columnist and Executive Editor of the London Evening Standard.

I’m liveblogging the event using a web-based service called CoveritLive

[Please note that the liveblog is my notes taken in realtime at the event and not a transcript – happy to take any comments or corrections].