Following the design and implementation of a UK tour of creative hubs for 16 Hub Managers from across Africa, Many Studios produced a research paper for British Council Nigeria that analysed the structure of creative economy programmes and interrogated the practicalities of international exchange to understand how best to facilitate international partnership working to allow for long-term impact. The report considered the capacity for learning according to the restrictions and benefits of intensive tours and made recommendations on how best to design exchanges to address the most common issues that new and emerging hubs face at these stages of their development. One of the main aims of this advice was to ensure that support programmes aid the long-term sustainability of creative businesses.

In response to this research, British Council Nigeria invited Natalia to Lagos in October 2018 to scope the creative hub ecosystem in partnership with the Arts team at British Council Nigeria. Over one week, we visited ten, diverse creative spaces and conducted over 20 one-to-one meetings with creative entrepreneurs across the city, identifying commonality and uniqueness of the needs of creative spaces in Lagos. The purpose of this research was to consider how programmes can best address those needs to support creative practice in the country.

Natalia has since re-visited Lagos twice and will be returning in 2020 with a delegation of 6 curators to lead a scoping exercise on behalf of Creative Scotland.