Thursday, October 16, 2003
Durham, NC is in the middle of preparing a cultural master plan. Depending on how it turns out, this project could serve as a model to other communities trying to connect their "creative industry" cluster more tightly with economic development.
Traditionally, arts organizations have been treated on the periphery of economic development, part of the "quality of life". More recently, especially in the UK, EDPros are seeing that creative industries stand at the center of economic development. (See, for example, the web site for Creative London. Go.)
(Treating creative industries as a cluster is different from Richard Florida's notion of a "creative class". Florida's thinking does not offer a very insightful approach to economic development, in my opinion. "Being a creative place" is not much of a strategy.)
Visit the Durham project web site. Go. Download a fact sheet on the project. Go. Or, read an update.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Durham Cultural Master Plan
