How do cultural and creative industries keep abreast of what is happening, and how can they apply what they see to their own activities? What is important to keep track of - and how do you do it? These questions can be summed up as trend-spotting or world analysis, and that's what Master's student Anna Fredriksson looked into during her internship at the business incubator eXpression. 

As part of the master's programmes at Umeå University, students have the opportunity to apply for an internship to complement their education. As a student in the Master's programme in Marketing with an interest in creativity and creation, the internship was an opportunity to learn more about how this can be combined on a professional level after graduation.

During the internship, I was given the confidence to apply my studies in market analysis and strategic project work to these very challenges - in the form of an assignment on how eXpression Umeå's environmental analyses are made and how they can be improved. 

During the project, experts in cultural and creative industries, actors with insight into the functioning of the industries as well as several incubators and networks were interviewed. One theme quickly became clear - no one does things exactly the same way as anyone else!

However, some things were common; environmental scanning is considered important but has a bias towards requiring a lot of time and resources. Environmental scanning as a concept is also difficult to grasp, as there are many interpretations of what an environmental scan actually is, or should contain.

eXpression Umeå's strengths lie in the fact that the incubator moves across many contexts, industries and networks, possesses great and broad internal knowledge and at the same time is both good at and accustomed to working with idea generation.

At the same time, some challenges emerged during the project - such as the need for cultural and creative industries incubators to keep abreast of all the industries within these industries, but also of what is happening within the incubator industry itself.

Key factors for successful external monitoring

The survey resulted in a number of points that show how cultural and creative industries can achieve results-driven foresight. For example, it proved to be of great importance to have a structure for your foresight in order to make it time-efficient. There is a need for tools that bring together the knowledge and idea generation that takes place within the incubator, as well as in the contexts in which the incubator members act.

For eXpression Umeå, a great asset is the networks it has established and is involved in creating - through new contacts and continuous sharing of experiences. Digitalisation both facilitates and hinders this type of exchange. The digital meetings we are now used to allow us to exchange knowledge with people far away from us geographically, but at the same time it reduces the possibilities for more spontaneous meetings.

A time of new lessons and insights

The internship provided many interesting lessons about environmental analysis as well as the cultural and creative sector. The project did not result in a manual for success concepts in environmental scanning but provides guidelines on how to start - and as a student looking at professional roles and interesting industries, new doors have been opened, and inspiration found in meeting passionate and driven creators and actors along the way!

Anna Fredriksson, master student in marketing and intern spring 2021 at eXpression Umeå.