Good practice:

Donegal Creative Coast

The Creative Industries is a dynamic economic sector in its own right and it plays an important role in the wider economy of Donegal although that contribution is not always recognised. Creative industries in Donegal account for hundreds of jobs and millions of euro in the economy of the county. It is vital to develop robust and innovative creative industries jobs that continue to contribute to our economy.
The overall aim of the Creative coast is to create the right conditions for creative entrepreneurship in Donegal. This is achieved by:
•Increasing the profile and the business skills of creative entrepreneurs
•Inspiring new creative ideas and enterprises through cross-sectoral collaboration.
The Strategic Action Plan developed in 2015 set the objectives of the Donegal Creative Coast:
•Inform… people of potential opportunities and inform a coherent identity for Donegal’s creative sectors.
•Connect… people across different disciplines and activities.
•Broker… partnerships around creative innovation.
The Creative Coast Donegal is overseen by a creative partnership committee made up of representatives from the public and private sector, facilitated by the Local Enterprise Office of Donegal County Council.
As part of the long term strategic development a Branding Initiative was developed.
Existing business supports have been tailored to the needs of the creative industry and developing training and offering financial supports to business to attend trade fairs.

At the start 1 Full time staff now part time and annual budget of circa €40,000

The Creative Coast was established in 2015 and has since then achieved all the strategic objectives and actions identified in the first plan. It has piloted a number of new programmes such as the Generate programme which has resulted in over 25 jobs being created in the sector, designed and delivered a pilot investment programme for the creative sector with 5 investments being made. The Creative Coast Website was designed in 2021 as an online database for businesses-currently 204 listed.

Challenges encountered included:
Overcoming the perceived conflict of satisfying the creative and business agendas of owner managers
The need to accommodate the working patterns of creative business owners
The need for strong facilitation skills and for flexibility in responding to business needs

The project which is still ongoing has significant potential for learning and transfer:
• It addresses the needs of the creative sector which can be difficult to both identify and respond to.
• It had an excellent participative process as part of the development of the strategic plan.
• It is overseen by a private sector-led steering committee.
• It applied flexibility and innovation in responding to identified needs by developing a range of new pilot programmes and supports.
• It engages directly with the sector.