Spaces to Belong to: Youth and Culture Conference 2017

The conference programme is viewable here.

Young people’s perspectives on culture, identity and cultural participation on the island of Ireland today

CRAIC Youth GroupThe Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast hosted a conference entitled ‘Spaces To Belong To’ on Friday 15th September 2017 at the Brian Friel Theatre, Queen’s University Belfast, N. Ireland. This event explored young people’s perspectives on culture, identity and cultural participation on the island of Ireland to-day. Cultural participation is defined here as the involvement of young people (ages 12-25) in artistic, sporting, social and other leisure activities. This encompasses both state-funded and non-state funded youth activities.

The conference included shout-outs from young people aged 16+ and presentations from researchers, policymakers, and community, youth and arts and cultural workers who engage with young people (ages 12 – 25) from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The keynote address was delivered by Colin Bradie, Time to Shine Programme Manager at Creative Scotland, and young leaders from the Scottish National Youth Arts Advisory Group (formerly Youth Arts Voice Scotland). The day ended with a discussion about how topics and insights from the conference might be translated into further action.

Presentations and further information are available here.

Our aims for the event were to:

  • Share new perspectives about the role of cultural participation in young people’s lives
  • Provide a chance for young people to discuss ideas and experiences about cultural participation with professionals whose work affects them and
  • Provide an opportunity for those attending to meet, exchange ideas, and learn from one another

This event was curated by Molly Goyer Gorman for the Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland.

For more information, please contact Victoria Durrer, Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at: v.durrer@qub.ac.uk.

Conference made possible by the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation, Queen’s University Belfast.

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