Delving into R&D in International Markets; What to Consider and Why?

I am often asked, ‘how can I work internationally?’ It is a great question and direct, but the most interesting question is ‘why do you want to work internationally?’ The motivations vary and they usually fall within connecting, creating, collaborating, accessing, and learning. The answer provides a steer and guides you to how and where you might like to work.

I use the latter question a lot and did so early in Here + There in recruitment and prototype selections. It gave me a sense of what individuals or companies were looking for, and importantly to Here + There’s foundation, how local rootings, whether it's work or experiences, allows us to see ourselves within a larger interconnected network.

Each of the different strands within Here + There explore the different dimensions and questions of international collaborations and working. We are over a year into the pathfinder, so what has recently happened and what have we learnt so far?

Prototype Teams

In February/March of this year, we selected 4 teams to develop international prototypes and businesses. Missed who they are? Why not meet the teams?

Here + There is structurally different in comparison to other pathfinders. This was a conscious decision to allow teams to look at how they operate and collaborate, and give the necessary space for reflection on their R&D. During this time we have been fortunate to work with the brilliant Gill Wildman on business development. She has encouraged teams through a combination of group workshops and 1-2-1s to think further about how this R&D is supporting the direction and development of the company.

If you are familiar with R&D you will know that it is a process and one that often diverges from its plan early. This is true for the teams. Since starting, the teams have amended the original proposals, welcomed new collaborators, and shifted their timelines. Each team had previous international experience of running R&D so they knew what bumps they may encounter; what we are finding are deeper questions about how collaborations come together both practically and creatively. Below is a brief overview of a few reflections from prototyping:

Developing deeper understandings of product and company needs when entering new partnerships or geographies
Identifying gaps, challenges and opportunities when different company structures come together; including where models clash
Responding to differences in audience expectations (for creative products)

I have summarised those very generally; the teams will share their specific insights at a later date. What I find most fascinating is how these questions are already having a direct influence on their future thinking.

There has been a huge amount of activity since March and we are entering the final 2 months of R&D for the teams. Going forward we will be thinking about their next steps and the learnings they intend to present at our November event. Here is a snapshot of what the teams have been up to recently:

Raucous completed a two-week creative sprint at Bristol Old Vic with their collaborators Lost and Gone.
Bristol Ideas and their partners have commissioned 12 poets to create and perform new works. These will be shown in their upcoming festivals (September – November).
Everything is Music began a new collaboration with Amsterdam Dance Event and will be taking their Digital Trail to Amsterdam in October.
Trigger Stuff grew their partnerships, since starting they have brought on the National Trust, Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seed bank, and Take Me Somewhere.

The Collaborative Enquiry

The Collaborative Enquiry is the most complex part of Here + There and the most difficult to describe. If the prototypes are testing existing work and knowledge, the collaborative enquiry is looking at new collective future thinking (around international working).

The Collaborative Enquiry began at the end of 2021 and has quietly run parallel to other parts of Here + There. With Made Culture we have been developing a strand of collective thinking culminating in 2 labs which took place in June and July with 20 creative professionals from across Bristol, Bath, and Lagos.

Something Malaika Toyo (Made Culture) said in the quiet moments before kicking off the first lab in June has stuck with me, she said “Here we go again, with mischievous smiles…’.

For context, Watershed and Made Culture have a long history and deep connection, it is a trusted and treasured relationship that has only grown stronger over time. In the build-up to the labs, there was mischievous energy where we, Malaika, Remi and I, felt an urge to break away from what we have done before.

Provocations felt an appropriate starting point; with these, we wanted to examine scenarios taking time to look at the losses and gains to individuals, businesses, cultures and more. We created 3 provocations based on an earlier insight survey and gave these to the group as the starting point.

Our intentions were to make the labs iterative, adaptive, and avoided solutions and consensus; the process became fluid and responsive. By taking an adaptive approach the labs became a very different experience to the one we had initially thought out. The collective thinking transformed into speculative designing, realising future ways to collaborate, connect, and care across borders.

The conversations within the labs were deeply rooted in the contexts of our cities giving us the opportunity to speak to tensions, challenges and opportunities present. Applying the idea of ‘local rooting and global connection’ we progressed from the abstract and dug into specific contexts affecting and influencing people, projects, and companies.

The labs were intense, and not without difficulties. After a much-needed summer break, we returned to that collective thinking and are looking at how we capture, share, and present the extensive collection of thought.

What next?

Everyone across Here + There is in the process of distilling and pulling together the rich learnings that have emerged over the last few months. On the 10th & 11th of November, we will publicly present our experiences, insight and learnings for the first time.

Image Credit, Evan Dawson - Festival of the Future City from Bristol Ideas,