Exploratory Panels get to Work

This online meeting was held on 28 April 2022 with 26 people in attendance representing 

• Roscommon Leader Partnership
• Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland
• Circular sector - Women’s Network – Cycle Up initiative, Rummage, Men’s Shed repair shop
• Creative sector - An Bealach creative hub, creative musician, fashion designer

During Panel meeting 1, the background, objectives, the vision of the Circular Creatives project and bigger picture were shared. Three keynote contributors set the scene of their personal experience to upskill attendees on what circular creatives is all about.

• Michael Frain, Board Member, An Bealach, shared the importance of Creative Entrepreneurship in our region.
• Catia Da Nova from Rummage shared business and impacts from the pandemic,
• Martina Hourigan from Roscommon Womens Network profiled Cycle Up

A survey was circulated to the attendees to establish a baseline of knowledge. The results showed how some of the individuals attending were unsure about what circular economy was, while some individuals were carrying out best practices within their business/home life.

This in-person meeting was held on 14th October 2022 in Kilbride Community Centre, Roscommon with 67 people in attendance representing 

• Roscommon Leader Partnership
• Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland
• Circular sector - Rummage, Circular Fashion Ireland
• Creative sector – An Bealach creative hub, Roscommon Town Team, fashion designer, jewellery maker, creative musician, creative videographers
• Local media – Shannonside FM and Roscommon Herald

The focus of Panel meeting 2, was to delve deeper into the collective panel understanding of circular creatives.  The meeting included a workshop with Circular Economy expert Carrie-Ann Moran from Circular Fashion Ireland.  Carrie-Ann is an award-winning Irish social entrepreneur, recognised nationally as a leading voice on circular fashion. 

For over 15 years, Carrie Ann has pushed sustainable fashion across the private and third sectors in Ireland, serving as sustainability manager for multiple small brands, Head of Fashion and Textiles for Rediscovery Centre Ireland and now owner and lead consultant at Circular Fashion Ireland. She has served on the National Advisory Committee of the Irish Government for the implementation of the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy and as a judge on the European Commission’s Social Innovation Competition “Reimagine Fashion”. 

Carrie-Ann captivated the audience with her sustainability presentation. Carrie went into great length on how the circular economy works inside businesses and how to think about it and implement it in your own. The panel discussed different aspects of circular creatives including questions:

• Have they undertaken circular creative practices and if so to describe?
• Do they know of any other creative business using circular practices?

To broaden our Panel’s reach beyond the craft sector, the third meeting was hosted by Panel member Crew Digital in their premises in Green Room, Creative Arts Campus, Co. Galway on 24th February 2023 with 29 people in attendance including film, tv, gaming, animation, immersive, virtual production, and creative technologies.   

Panel 3 began with a quick explanation of the circular economy's fundamental principles and key goals as they relate to this digital creative industry sub sector.

The CREW attendees are in the process of exploring establishing/ growing their creative businesses and saw this panel as a way to understand and incorporate circular economy's advantages and disadvantages in terms of securing their future employment/enterprise development. The panel was facilitated by Sharon Johnson of RLP who started the workshop style meeting with a deep briefing on the ERASMUS+ Circular Creatives projects, its deliverables and how it will benefit creative entrepreneurs.

Then, Ainslie Peters, CREW’s Programme and Community Manager and Circular Creatives contributor put a spotlight on the Circular Creatives training program, and CREW's opportunity to pilot test same.  Momentum's Orla Casey led a session on Identifying the Challenges and Opportunities for Circular Approaches for Creatives in the Digital Economy, to feed into our Action Planning.  This interactive workshop brought interesting ideas to the fore.

• Documentary maker sees an opportunity to build on their work with schools and create more materials on Waste Circulatory education and learning
• Those working with video acknowledged the sector focus on “fast” cameras and equipment- the newest/brightest models but one participant shared a trade in and upgrade website MPB.COM to encourage more circular economy. The discussion on hardware evolved and explored:-
• Consumable energy
• Console repair collective
• Module design of machines
• Mitigation-remote working
• Participants would like a Circular Creatives Badge to use to share , e.g. a circular creative micro credential that they can use in their marketing. This is an Action we can look to implement under Circular Creatives.

• Sustainable filmmaking, known as green filming, is the concept of producing films in the most resource-efficient way possible. Reducing and offsetting carbon emissions is the key focus here, and so the main factors contributing to CO₂ emissions have to be identified and optimised. See more on Sustainability in the film industry | Sustainable Arts | Nachhaltigkeit im Kulturschaffen
• Gaming industry. The work of Playing for Planet Alliance is very interesting. Home - Playing for the Planet (playing4theplanet.org) . The Playing for the Planet Alliance was launched in 2019 by the UN during the Climate Action Summit. The initiative is facilitated by UNEP with the support of GRID-Arendal and Playmob. In joining the Alliance, members have made commitments ranging from integrating green activations in games, to reducing their emissions and supporting the global environmental agenda. It’s resources centre is very useful Resources - Playing for the Planet (playing4theplanet.org)
• Customer segment for retro/more sustainable gamer-new but a niche? Encourage/incentivize the gamer to use green energy etc.  

• Orla highlighted sustainability can make better business sense e.g. elements cost/values- frugal innovation
• A festival organiser highlighted their work in Ballina to become Ireland’s Greenest Town is an initiative to make Ballina Ireland’s greenest town by 2025. Orla referred her to www.futurefestivaltools.eu a fantastic set of free resources developed by Europe’s top festival organisers and sustainability experts in which Momentum is a partner.
• A film making participant shared the BBC Albert-sustainability guidelines as a really interesting model to review for best practice. It includes a Bafta albert carbon footprint calculator, carbon action plan, offsetting, certification and useful links Sustainable production requirements: albert certification - Production and Delivery (bbc.co.uk)

• 3D printing + design – huge role in circular communities e.g. the contribution 3D printing can make to a circular economy as 3D printed parts can extend the life of other products. Repairs, spare and replacement parts, and custom modifications are all possible with a 3D printer.
• User Innovation was highlighted as a leaner/less wasteful form of product development. It is the process of developing new products, services, or processes by the end users themselves, rather than by manufacturers or suppliers. User innovators are often motivated by their own needs, preferences, or problems that are not met by the existing market offerings. What are the benefits and challenges of user innovation for your business model? (linkedin.com)