Coastal Catalyst Local Solution Building Sessions

Across spring 2025, Coastal Catalyst brought together local partners, educators, and young people from three key hubs -East Brighton, Newhaven & Eastbourne, and Bexhill -for a series of co-creation workshops. These sessions were part of our mission to design place-specific solutions that build long-term, inclusive pathways into the creative industries for 14–25-year-olds along the Sussex Coastal Corridor.

Drawing inspiration and insight from national models shared in the online knowledge exchange session, these collaborative workshops focused on local connection and idea sharing. Focusing on a question specifically catered to each local area. 

The result? Four distinctive, scalable project ideas rooted in local need, creative opportunity young peoples’ and organisations’ lived experience and insight.

EAST BRIGHTON: A Youth-Led Creative Takeover of a Community Space

“How can local communities provide safe and trusted spaces for young people to build the skills and confidence needed for the creative industries?”

The East Brighton session centred on transformation: turning a historic venue into a vibrant youth-led space. The proposed project will:

Engage young people from local schools in a phased programme of creative workshops and work experience across summer 2025.

Establish a Youth Advisory Board to shape programming and governance.

Culminate in a creative showcase and public event in September 2025, co-designed and led by young people.

By embedding creative voice and leadership from the start, this project aims to build a lasting sense of belonging and possibility. Young people will not just take part- they’ll shape the future of spaces in their community.

NEWHAVEN & EASTBOURNE: A Whole-Town Work Experience Festival

”How can we develop inspiring work experiences for young people that showcase future career possibilities whilst fostering wider creative thinking and essential life skills?

In Newhaven and Eastbourne, two creative hubs joined forces to imagine a multi-organisation, youth-led work experience (WEX) offer, inspired by the structure of the Artwave Festival. Key features include:

A menu-style WEX template enabling organisations to offer modular opportunities—flexible, meaningful, and aligned with their strengths.

Youth co-design and cross-school collaboration, with different schools taking on roles in design, comms, tech, curation and more.

A layered ‘lasagne model’ that supports progression: from creative tasters to setting up collectives or businesses with peers.

This model also looks to bridge age gaps, offering tailored pathways for 14–16, 17–19 and 20+ groups - with a strong focus on real-world skills, peer mentorship, and long-term entrepreneurial development.

BEXHILL: Young Producers and Creative Changemakers

“How do art organisations, creative businesses and freelance creatives come together to develop sustainable ways to offer work experiences to local young people?”

At Bexhill, the conversation focused on giving young people real power to create the change they want to see. The proposal centres on:

Forming a youth producer panel to co-design creative work experience experiences.

Hosting a panel conference and live illustration event to explore ideas and pitch to local employers.

Documenting the experience to create a replicable WEX model, supported by mentors, youth alumni, and partners.

This project is about agency and autonomy. It will develop skills like co-mentoring, leadership, and creative producing - especially for those aged 17–25 who are transitioning into the world of work.

BOGNOR REGIS & LITTLEHAMPTON: A collaborative E-Sports pathway

“How do we design something that makes esports careers visible to young people – and credible to their parents?”

In Bognor and Littlehampton, the session focused on a fast-growing creative sector that feels out of reach for many: esports. The group explored how to bring visibility, legitimacy and real opportunity to this exciting field - especially for young people who are passionate but under-supported.

The proposed project will:

Begin with in-school taster workshops, introducing young people to different E-sports roles such as commentators, stream technicians, content creators and event producers

Support schools to build and train their own esports teams

Culminate in a youth-led event co-designed with schools, University of Chichester Esports Students and supported by local creative and tech professionals.

Aimed at 14–16-year-olds, particularly those less engaged by traditional education, this project is as much about confidence and credibility as it is about careers. It’s designed to close gaps in opportunity, spotlight alternative skillsets/different career routes, and help young people - and their families - see the future in creative tech.

Coastal Catalyst is Funding All Three Projects

We're proud to share that Coastal Catalyst will be funding all four projects - making these bold, locally driven ideas a reality. Over the coming months, delivery teams will begin recruitment, development, and documentation.

We’ll be reporting back later in the year to share learning, highlight impact, and spotlight how these place-based models could inspire further action across the region.

Take Part in the Next Place-Based Sessions

The next round of place-based solution building begins soon - and you can be part of it.

Join our next online session to set the scene and provocation:

Tuesday 24 June 2025

Whether you're an educator, employer, cultural partner or young creative—you’re invited to help shape what comes next.

Book your place below.

Together, we’re not just imagining creative futures - we’re building them.