Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) Director Anita Brown-Graham is investigating the roles institutions of higher education across the globe are playing in driving an innovation-based economy, the strategies put in place to support this role, and the effects of a broader ecosystem on success. Building upon her work in the area of creative economies, Professor Brown-Graham’s research will be the basis of two academic journal submissions. However, the primary focus is on sharing the information with those who need it to guide decision making including public officials, urban planners, economic developers, educators, business leaders, designers, artists, gamers, planners and other interested constituencies who are now working with the Institute for Emerging Issues on bolstering North Carolina’s opportunities for innovation in the creativity economy.
In summer 2013, Professor Brown-Graham presented her research with 100 post-secondary leaders at a conference on workforce learning in Copenhagen, Denmark. Core ideas were also shared with 700 STEM K-12 education leaders at a “Scaling Stem” conference organized by the New Schools Project in March 2013. Emerging Issues Fellows John Coggin and Allison Hawkins were able to examine stakeholder engagement processes as part of this research initiative. Professor Brown-Graham will publish a final report and distribute it to the 12,000 people who receive electronic communications from the Institute for Emerging Issues. This project has helped frame the focus of the 2013 Emerging Issues Forum on Manufacturing and the 2014 Emerging Issues Forum, which examined “Creating a Globally Competitive Teaching Workforce.”