Dr Richard Hull and Dr Cecilia Dinardi

As part of a winning bid submitted to the British Council Higher Education Alliance, ICCE has partnered up with UADY, the University of Yucatan, to discuss creative economies and social entrepreneurship in Yucatan, Mexico, and run a series of workshops with the support of the state government’s Institute of Yucatecan Entrepreneurs (IYEM). The goal of these activities was to establish a foundation for the development of a strategic plan in support of the creative industries in Yucatan by the Secretariat of Culture and the Arts (SEDECULTA) and IYEM.

Dr Cecilia Dinardi and Dr Richard Hull spent a week in Mexico exchanging ideas for academic and policy development both in social entrepreneurship and the creative industries. Together with the IYAM and UADY team, they ran four workshops – one with project partners, another with academics from various departments, one with students from Architecture, Urban Design and Visual Arts, and finally one with the state’s government Secretariat of Culture and the Arts, NGOs, industry and practitioners.

On the last day of the visit Cecilia and Richard were invited to inaugurate Fotoquest at the Music Palace – Nikon’s first photography festival of masterclasses and workshops in Merida, together with IYEM and SEDECULTA, to celebrate the city’s Month of Entrepreneurship, aimed at strengthening skills for the development of both commercial enterprises and social projects in the state of Yucatan. They were also interviewed by the British Council.

The collaboration between Goldsmiths (ICCE) and UADY/IYEM/SEDECULTA is expected to continue and will be further developed in the future.