Melissa Blackburn
DCRC/UWE Bristol
Melissa works for UWE as Senior Producer on Bristol + Bath Creative R+D which aims to develop inclusive and climate-led approaches to creative work, and for Watershed on their Create Growth programme.
Worked on
Alternative Technologies: A Just Transition
This workshop series examines technologies and their past, present, and future role in climate justice (and breakdown) and explores what the alternatives could be, through a process of carefully facilitated design thinkingGrounding Technologies
Grounding Technologies is a pilot project exploring how creative technology can be used to support climate action.I'm Senior Producer at UWE currently working across a number of projects: managing Bristol+Bath Creative R+D and building on its creative legacy of responsible and inclusive innovation; Grounding Technologies, which investigated how creative technology might support climate action in the West of England, Alternative Technologies: A Just Transition thinking about just, regenerative futures, and on My World supporting universities to work with creative companies and practitioners. I also work on Create Growth as a facilitator for Watershed.
Come and talk to me if the following is of interest: In the last five years I've worked with hundreds of creative companies and artists to prototype their ideas, businesses, and processes, creating a responsible environment for R+D that is inclusive and climate-led. I'm inspired by putting ideas and strategy into action and reimagining ways of working that improve governance and culture. I'm known for sensing the strategic landscape, cultivating collaborative relationships with partners and stakeholders, growing imaginative teams, and fostering strategies that are inclusive and regenerative.
My roots are in producing documentaries and I've been CEO for a national modern slavery charity where I tested ways of talking about exploitation and supply chains. As Co-Chair of charity Artspace Lifespace I'm a vocal advocate for community-led creative and cultural spaces.