Join our design jam to shape the future of cultural work
A one-day, hands-on Service Design Jam for people working across the cultural and creative sector in the West Midlands. To find out more about the thinking behind our workforce strategy, you can watch our WMCRU session ‘Co-designing a Workforce Strategy’ here.
Hosted by Culture Central and facilitated by Innovation Unit, this Jam brings together practitioners, organisations and creatives to tackle some of the most urgent workforce challenges facing the sector.
Date: Tuesday 24th February 2026
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm (Breakfast from 8:30am)
Location: x + why Foundry, 6 Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2JB
What is a service design jam?
Service Design Jams bring people together around real social challenges that need fresh thinking and collective action.
We want your help to explore what it’s like to work in the cultural sector today, and to develop innovative responses to Culture Central’s regional workforce strategy.
Together, we’ll explore three connected priorities:
Now: Tackling precarity by improving working conditions and support for practitioners.
Next: Advancing equity, diversity and inclusion within cultural organisations.
For the future: Building sustainable, inclusive systems for workforce development across the region.
The Jam is a chance to move from insight to action. You’ll work alongside artists, makers, creatives, system leaders and managers, students, educators, trainers and commissioners to help shape what happens next.
The Service Design Jam experience:
During the day, teams will investigate, design and prototype new ideas.
It’s a chance to work with people you’ve never met before, unearth new insights, surface bold ideas, sharpen your design skills and have fun along the way.
Taking part offers:
● Community connection: Connect with fellow creatives, innovators and people working across the cultural ecosystem
● Design methods in practice: Deepen your understanding of design and innovation tools, methods and ways of working.
● Creating social solutions: Collaborate to develop new ideas that support the cultural workforce and improve working lives across the sector.
What can I expect?
The aim of the Jam is to develop and prototype completely new services, ideas or initiatives inspired by the workforce strategy.
The day kicks off with breakfast and team formation, bringing together a mix of creative workers, freelancers, organisational leaders, commissioners, social change practitioners, students and designers.
Teams begin by immersing themselves in the challenge. This might include interviews, research or getting out into the surrounding area to understand different perspectives.
The rest of the day focuses on generating ideas, developing concepts and testing and refining them. Along the way, teams hear what other groups are working on, send “spies” to learn from each other, seek advice from expert coaches, and experiment, build and play with ideas.
The Jam finishes with teams presenting their final ideas to a judging panel. Prizes are awarded, and everyone comes together to celebrate what’s been created.
The Jam will be facilitated by the service design team at Innovation Unit. You’ll be supported throughout the day by Ella, Aviv, Alessandra, Sav, Bethan and Ellen, who bring experience in design, facilitation and system change.
What you’ll leave with
● New connections across the region and sector
● A clearer shared understanding of workforce challenges
● Practical ideas and early concepts that could shape future work
● Experience of design and innovation tools you can use again
● A sense of collective energy and possibility
How to take part
Places are limited. To find out more about attending, please sign up here. We’ll be selecting people to take part to ensure we have a diversity of people, places and experiences from across the West Midlands.
There are four £250 bursaries available to support freelancers or community/voluntary organisations to attend. Our freelance bursary places have been taken up, but if you are still interested in attending please do complete the application below.
Whether you’re curious about design, passionate about improving working lives in culture, or simply keen to collaborate and create, we’d love you to join.