Creative Fuse North East is an action-research project coordinated by all five universities in the region: Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside. We work alongside SMEs, freelancers, creative practitioners, cultural organisations, and large businesses to develop innovative ways of working within the Creative, Digital and IT (CDIT) sector.

Creative Fuse works with the concept of Fusion - the combination of creative art and design skills with technology expertise for enterprise. Since the project began in 2016, we have been studying fusion within the North East creative economy, as well as developing new fused relationships and working practices within the sector. 

In June 2017 we published our Initial Report, summarising the results of our sector mapping exercise, qualitative interviews, and survey of over 500 businesses in the region. This research identified opportunities and barriers to growth for the North East CDIT economy.

Throughout the project, we have aimed to provide innovative solutions to these barriers, boosting economic resilience and promoting collaboration between businesses and universities on a wider scale.