Can Scotland’s creative sector help combat the effects of poverty? Cloudbusting took place in 2012 and was the first in a series of national gatherings led by Big Sky that explore ways the creative sector can be active civic partners in devising and delivering solutions to issues of broader societal importance, in areas such as health, inequality, and economic development.

This one-day event brought together representatives from the creative and cultural sectors with those in health and education, to explore how the knowledge and imagination of the country’s creative sector might be applied to address various issues around poverty. Cloudbusting was open to anyone with an interest in developing a new approach to considering poverty and of particular interest to those in senior decision-making positions in the three sectors concerned. 

Programme Synopsis

The Challenge of Poverty / Considering the issue from different perspectives, locally and nationally.

Ways of Approaching / What are the opportunities, and the relevance, of addressing the issue from the digital world, architecture, environmental design, music and art.

What's Going On? / Case Studies from urban and rural settings, in Scotland, England and the USA.

What Else Do We Need to Know? / Where are the gaps and areas for exploration?

What Next? / Exploring opportunities and future developments.

Speakers & Participants

  • Clive Gilman, Director, Dundee Contemporary Arts
  • Ellis Watson, CEP, DC Thomson
  • Prof. Nora Kennedt, Prof. of Nursing and Cancer Care, Dundee
  • Angy Milne, CEO, SURF, Scotland's Independent Regeneration Network
  • Sir Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
  • Jenny Marra, MSP for North East Scotland
  • Malcolm Fraser, Architect
  • Nicola Killean, CEO, Sistema Scotland
  • Jacqueline Donachie, Artist
  • Chris van der Kuyl, CEO, brightsolid
  • Bob Holman, Community Activist, FARE (Rogerfield & Easterhouse)
  • Alan Lyddiard, Director of Art & Media Projects, Cyrenians
  • Andrew Crummy, Artist & Chair, Craigmillar Communiversity
  • Gerald Richards, CEO, 826 Valencia (USA)
  • Lesley Riddoch, Journalist & Broadcaster
  • Peter Kelly, Director, Scottish Poverty Alliance
  • Joe Fitzpatrick, MSP for Dundee
  • Stewart Murdoch, Managing Director, Leisure & Culture Dundee Trust
  • Caroline Docherty, Creaitve Scotland

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