From the Margins to the Centre: Supporting contemporary craft and creative workers in rural and remote geographies

Abstract

Creative and cultural industries are an increasingly significant element of rural and island economies, but investigation of the support of creative processes in such areas has remained neglected. It has been argued that creative hubs can be used to mitigate issues associated with precarious patterns of work by offering opportunities for a supportive, safe context as well as economies relating to proximity. Funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), this research focused on the Northern Isles of Scotland and aimed to explore the role of such hubs in supporting the work of creative and craft workers in the region.