The New Kids on the Block: Youth Creativity Community of Practice, a recently formed collective platform for youth creatives with voices to share

Creative voices have become an increasingly influential factor in the development and progression of our societies, promoting new skills that build economic prosperity while also promoting social well-being. More than ever, new educational practices are prioritising creative and innovative skills.
The New Kids on the Block: Youth Creativity Community of Practice, a recently formed collective platform for youth creatives with voices to share
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Creative voices have become an increasingly influential factor in the development and progression of our societies. Innovative, advanced and evolving technologies are changing the structure of our workforce and how it promotes new skills that build economic prosperity, while also promoting social well-being. More than ever, new educational practices are prioritising creative and innovative skills.

The Youth Creativity Community of Practice (YC-CoP) aims to create a global community of youth (16–25-year-olds) who share the universal passions of creativity and advocacy through innovation. We recognise the importance of connecting the YC-CoP to the global community of both established and emerging voices, with the intention to develop a collaborative network consisting of educators, artists, students, media makers and more. The group will meet virtually and/or in person to exchange theories, ideas and best practices aimed at accelerating the development of creative skills among our disadvantaged youth.

The inspiration for YC-CoP grew from the ideology of its parent organisation The Creative Community of Practice (C-CoP), founded and chaired by BIC Corporate Foundation Executive Director Alison James who has been working with collaborators across the globe for the past two years.         

Why

In the global educational environment, the need to unite, share and collaborate developing technologies and viewpoints are some of the main motivators for emerging creative voices. Through this report, we will provide an overview of the importance to establish a collaborative and creative space for youth that allows them to share theoretical foundations for creativity and innovation in the context of education.

The YC-CoP will serve as an accelerator for the development of creative skills, inspire the design of creative programming, and promote the adoption of progressive policies in education across the globe for children and youth. We strive to drive equitable access to quality education by celebrating plurality and individuality in all its forms by building an open and inclusive forum for collaborative knowledge, creation and sharing.

Who

We welcome exceptional youth to participate in conversations around ecology, education, society, advocacy and the creative well-being of our planet. We intend for the YC-CoP to be a global community that is created by the community for the community, that also collaborates with other established international youth groups and creative societal institutions. As well as other global groups, members presently include representatives from The United Kingdom’s UNITY Schools Partnership of the University of Cambridge, and Festival Bridge.

Through knowledge sharing, creation and exploration, the community hopes to enable individuals to:

  • Improve overall confidence and communication
  • Increase productivity and quality of work 
  • Build global networks with other international youth
  • Develop a sense of professional identity and enhance personal reputation
  • Reduce learning curves 
  • Learn about leading-edge practices in creativity
  • Gain personal empowerment through innovation
  • Learn about advocacy in education through programming practices 

This global forum offers opportunities to share and collaborate with professional experts and change makers, while empowering our youth to actively participate in an open and creative space that inspires them to maximise their collective impact.

How

To further strengthen the impact of the YC-CoP, we will connect our youth not only to each other but also to established voices in the creative community, with the intent to foster mentorship and promote meaningful exchange. Through collaborative participation with audiences that are also investing in this ideology, we hope to attract passionate individuals such as educators, artists and students, as well as not-for-profit and other public sector institutions.

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Inviting different levels of participation for its members

YC-COP presents four levels of participation for youth members:

CORE – who wish to take active participation, shaping the objectives and building the learning agenda.

ACTIVE – who would attend meetings regularly, contributing on an ad hoc basis to areas that are pertinent to them.

PERIPHERAL – who wish to choose to be “on the side-line”, dipping in and out. They will be able to gain insights from the community dialogues and use them in their work. 

OUTSIDERS – These are not members of the community per se but are our “intellectual neighbours” e.g. research partners, educators, experts or suppliers that we might draw on to inform the discussions and support our evolution.

The advantages of joining the YC-CoP include: 

  • Developing a broader understanding of creative education and networks  
  • Sharing on-point learning tactics with an international audience  
  • Building an international profile
  • Creating opportunities to develop career links with specialist networks
  • Chairing meetings and creating creative agendas
  • Gaining further leadership skills and learn how to work with our international youth team
  • Developing more self/ global awareness, communicating with representatives from universities and institutions who are part of our network
  • Developing confidence and self-belief through public speaking and management opportunities
  • Working on the development of projects to support other educational groups and attend summits

    Future development

    The goal of the YC-CoP will be to disseminate its collective findings through published case studies and articles, as well as through interactions with other global practitioners, to develop opportunities to work with youth organisations through organising summits, lectures and talks around creative education. The ambition is to extend the community to collaborative partnerships that motivate universal boards of education, governments and nations to create change.




    Find out more about the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

    Find out more about the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

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