For the last 18 months more than 60 groups of artists, creative businesses and community groups have been taking over once empty spaces in the centre of Newcastle, NSW, Australia under a program called Renew Newcastle.

Soon we will be announcing that we have received some seed funding to grow the project and create "Renew Australia" as a national scheme.

This video is actually an edited version of the video that was our application to the program that will be supporting us. I've edited out a bit about the business model and some of the financial details but it tells the story of what we've done so far and what we hope to do from here. It also tells some of the story of the transformation that has taken place in Newcastle over the last 18 months and the people doing it.

For more information see renewnewcastle.org

If you're watching this from the USA (or maybe nearby bits of Canada), check out our "Coming to America" tour set for Jan - Feb 2011 marcuswestbury.net/2010/10/09/renew-newcastles-coming-to-america-tour/