CHEAD, alongside our Subjects Association Alliance, the Crafts Council, Craft Scotland and many other sector bodies and industry partners, are saddened by the continuing and devastating erosion of craft and material making within UK Creative Higher Education.
CHEAD are taking action by to continuing to lobby for the reinstatement of the Strategic Priorities Grant. We can also advise and support individual CHEAD member institutions with their advocacy strategy.
The most effective framing, when advocating against the systemic devaluation of craft and material making disciplines in UK Higher Education, must make a strong case that links material literacy, tacit knowledge and technical hand skills to the modern industrial and technological strategy. With the rise of AI and the rapid pace of emerging technologies we believe the case to retain human-centred skills is stronger than ever.
Whilst we understand that the difficult decisions being taken by university executive teams and Boards of Governors to close craft and material disciplines are largely due to broken funding models and data points, shifts in government funding priorities and other resource-based pressures such as high workshop overheads and high staff to student ratios, this is having a devastating impact across the whole sector, removing vital physical infrastructure and expertise, undermining cultural heritages and limiting educational opportunities for future makers and designers.
This cannot be attributed solely to the heads of individual institution. It reflects a whole systems wide challenge across the craft and cultural sector and will require a collective and robust response from government, institutions and stakeholders. When presenting the case to university management to retain craft and making programmes, it is crucial to translate standard arguments into proposals that will resonate.
CHEAD have provided the following advocacy framework to influence and support decision makers and those seeking to affect the outcome to take a broader, longer-term and more visionary approach when considering closing programme areas.
Leverage Economic and Creative Industry Data. Utilise the Creative Industries Sector Plan and the Craft Council Our Future in the Making Manifesto to evidence how specialist materials skills are in demand but facing severe skills shortages and how craft graduates enter high-value employment in fashion, film, theatre, architecture, interiors, model-making and sustainable industrial and product design, as well as becoming solo artisans. Craft contributes £3.4 billion to the economy and employs more than 150,000 people. The UK Fashion and Textiles industry contributes £62 billion to the economy and supports 1.3 million jobs.
Refocus the Digital-Physical Hybrid as a tool for Creative Innovation. Craft is not an outdated pursuit but is a critical partner to Createch, creative modern technology, advanced creative manufacturing, fabrication and digital prototyping which all require an acute understanding of advanced material literacy and how materials react under tension, heat and physical stressors.
Consider how Craft and Materials disciplines embed the Design Council’s Skills for Planet, Sustainability and Circular Economy Principles. Craft education is the foundational architecture of material longevity over fast production. It builds competencies in ethical sourcing and disposal, the use of renewable and waste materials, recycling and creative mending.
Highlight the Irreplaceability of Heritage and Infrastructure and the permanent loss of unique, specialist skills, equipment and studio spaces. Once it’s gone it’s gone forever. The cost of rebuilding physical infrastructure and re-establishing an educational ecosystem is far more expensive than maintaining it. Can studios and equipment be repositioned as part of adaptable, multidisciplinary regional innovation hubs, shared maker laboratories and fab lab models?
Argue that access to Craft is a Social Justice Issue. Access to specialist skills and facilities should be equitable and democratised across the whole curriculum and not confined to specific areas. Access to kilns, looms, tools and physical studios is an essential mechanism for equity, diversity and student inclusion, self-expression and wellbeing.
Assess Risk and Reputation Management. Dismantling a centre of excellence or a regionally renowned facility will cause lasting damage to the whole institution and its relationships with stakeholders, staff and students.
Present a United Front. Unite with local industry partners, alumni, heritage organisations and align with national movements such as The National Festival of Making and the Green Makers Movement. Create solidarity and common purpose otherwise there is a risk those affected feel they have no voice and therefore no option other than to criticise the institution.
Can a solution be found? Have management reached out and fully considered all alternative options, including innovative, creative and interdisciplinary collaborative solutions, to develop a sustainable model? Could other partners, providers, funders, investors, or local government step in? Could the programmes be repurposed to meet future funding models such as degree apprenticeships, modular HTQs in England or equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland or positioned to meet regional skills needs?
Quote from the Chair of CHEAD -
“As AI and digital technologies continue to transform society, the value of craft becomes increasingly clear. Craft education develops the uniquely human capacities of imagination, material intelligence, judgement and making. These are not alternative to technological innovation; they are the foundation upon which meaningful innovation is built. The designers, engineers, makers and creative leaders of the future will need both technological fluency and deep material understanding. Once specialist expertise, facilities and infrastructure are lost, they are exceptionally difficult to rebuild. We owe it to future generations to protect the knowledge, skills and creative ecosystems that enable innovation to flourish”
Yours sincerely,
Professor David McGravie MA FHEA FRSA Professor of Arts and Culture
Chair of CHEAD Pro Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean
Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences University of Chester