The Creative Innovators Programme drives the synergy between creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for social impact. It aims to contribute to more sustainable and impact-led creative hubs that can better support the Philippines’ creative industries, thereby creating more inclusive cities and communities.
The project is initiated by British Council and DTI through Design Center of the Philippines , in partnership with Philippine Trade Training Center , Apl.de.Ap Foundation and Thames International .
The Creative Innovators Programme builds the next generation of creative community leaders in the Philippines through a one-year Fellowship for creative hub managers. It includes mentorships, management trainings, grants, and networking opportunities in the Philippines, ASEAN, and the UK. The Fellows will not only serve as inspiration and mentors for creatives but become global ambassadors for the Philippines’ creative and cultural industries.
The selected Fellows, through their creative hubs, will support and help grow hundreds of creative entrepreneurs, designers, and artists from all over the Philippines and abroad. Fifteen creative hub leaders from the Philippines have been selected to become Creative Innovators Fellows.
As a Project Leader of the PWC of Davao Artisanal Heritage Studies and Creative Enterprise Center (AHSCEC), a CHED-IDIG funded hub, Emi Englis applied along with eighty-four applicants from three key cities within the Philippines to a highly competitive open call launched by British Council, DTI and partners last June 2018. A selection panel composed of artists and creative industry leaders narrowed down the list to 15, based on the creative hub’s potential to scale impact, long-term plans, and narrative, among others.
The Fellows will undergo a professional development programme for over a year. The Fellowship will include a hub management training by Nesta , the UK’s innovation foundation; a study tour in the UK; a creative skills bootcamp by Thames International and Apl.de.Ap foundation; mentoring sessions; and network-building activities within the Philippines, ASEAN and the UK.
According to Mr. Englis, “being the only hub from Mindanao, chosen to be part of the CIP fellowship, I realized that I have a big responsibility on my shoulder to carry on the vision of realizing the potential and impact multi-disciplinary creative entrepreneurship has in education. Our experience in Fine Arts and Interior Design through the past 12 years inspired us to bring it across the full circle Programs of our College including HRM, Tourism, Education, Business, Psychology, Information Technology, Food Technology, Broadcasting, and the like. With our existing frameworks like Institutional Management Enterprise and Integrated Creative Arts mandatory to all programs, the AHSCEC will now institutionalize creative entrepreneurship and create an exciting direction rooted in our local culture, heritage and identity.” This endeavour magnifies PWC of Davao’s “innovation is our tradition” direction.
With that, exciting long-term opportunities are up ahead. Our CHED-IDIG support fund is currently establishing the groundwork to ensure the sustainability of the hub by integrating its concept and context in curriculum and instruction, research and community extension. AHSCEC will facilitate the retooling mechanism of instructional materials that can be used by both our enterprising students and the community to jump start ideas, products and services into viable enterprises. Providentially, the British Council CIP is magnifying the roadmap for us to see further into the future through hub management mentoring, networking and capacity building.