Crafts businesses in the Highlands and Islands are being given the chance to shape the future of the industry through a new study commissioned by HI~Arts.

HI~Arts, the arts development agency for the Highlands and Islands, have commissioned the scoping study into the potential demand for, and the remit of, a Crafts Development Officer for the Highlands and Islands based within HI~Arts.

To date, HI~Arts' main involvement in the crafts sector has been to develop crafthighlands - a pilot project which gave birth to craftscotland (www.craftscotland.org.uk ), the successful national web resource for the crafts sector. In addition, HI-Arts currently manages a small grant awards scheme for craft makers based in the Highlands and Islands.

3,000 crafts businesses in Scotland have a combined turnover of around £150 million, and 30% of these businesses are in the Highlands and Islands (Scottish Arts Council figures, 2003).

HI~Arts now believe that the time is ripe for a development programme focused on the crafts, which would seek to deliver support to individual makers across the Highlands and Islands, whilst encouraging and assisting new graduates with crafts skills to return to, or move to, the region. In addition, such a programme would increase visibility for the crafts sector through combined marketing initiatives, and through better integration with national initiatives.

This scoping study will consider what should be the specific remit of a Crafts Development Officer for the Highlands and Islands, and how this post would complement, and work with, the existing Craft Development Officers in parts of the region, as well as national schemes such as craftscotland.

Robert Livingston, Director of HI~Arts, comments: "We know that there are very many makers producing high quality crafts throughout the Highlands and Islands. At a time of change and uncertainty, we want to ensure that those makers have access to the right kind of advice and support. The Crafts Development Officers in Skye and Shetland show what can be achieved with dedicated posts, and HI~Arts wants to determine whether other parts of the Highlands and Islands would benefit from a similar service."

Leading the scoping study will be Amanda Bryan of Aigas Associates, based near Beauly. Aigas Associates is a small Development Consultancy specialising in rural development and research, and Amanda is also currently researching a PhD with UHI Millennium Institute on the subject of how public agencies’ policies affect the sustainability of rural communities in the Highlands and Islands.

In approaching this study, Amanda will use desk research of existing craft studies, one-to-one interviews with existing Crafts Development Officers in Shetland and Skye, as well as meetings with arts centres and organisations in the Highlands and Islands with a remit for crafts sales and development, and other key agencies across Scotland.

Amanda will also undertake online and postal surveys of a cross-section of makers in the Highlands and Islands area, and of relevant regional and national makers’ groups and associations across Scotland, as well as hosting focus group meetings with makers in the greater Inverness area and in Caithness and Sutherland.

Craft businesses and individual makers are invited to complete the online survey at www.hi-arts.co.uk/craftsurvey . The deadline for submissions is 20th August 2007. The scoping study is due to be completed and published later this year.