€300,000 made available for Education and Training Boards to focus on creative partnerships as part of new initiative.
The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, opened applications for Local Creative Youth Partnerships (LCYP), a pilot initiative under Creative Youth, the plan for Pillar 1 of the Creative Ireland programme. The pilot initiative will see up to three Education and Training Boards (ETBs) establish networks which enable collaboration and information sharing between local creative youth service providers to bring about better use of existing resources, practices and initiatives in an ETB area. A total of up to €300,000 is being made available for the pilot to the end of 2019.
Opening the call for applications, Minister Bruton said, “Creativity and flexibility are key skills for our children and young people to develop in a modern society. Today’s announcement underlines my commitment to encouraging the development of these skills in our young people to ensure they are equipped for the future.
My Department is engaged in a range of activities as part of the Government’s Creative Ireland Programme. In establishing these Local Creative Youth Partnerships, we will see collaborative plans and networks developed across local communities. These networks can then be used to help new local initiatives develop.
The voice of the child is core to LCYPs. LCYPs should be reflective of the voice of youth in their area. Each successful LCYP will be required to hold a youth consultation event which will be held with the support of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
Marking the announcement, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, added,
this initiative is a good example of how my Department and the Department of Education and Skills collaborate to include the voice of young people in our work, recognising the valuable contribution that the youth voice can bring to such exciting initiatives.
The Director of Creative Ireland, Tania Banotti, welcomed the opening of the applications process.
I am delighted another initiative for young people from the Creative Ireland Programme is becoming a reality. Individual and collective wellbeing is enhanced through increased participation in creative activity at all stages of life. These partnerships will mean better linkages between school and out of school activities. Groups at local level working with young people will be able to plan and programme ambitiously.
Creative Youth Partnerships are an important piece of Creative Ireland’s work with young people. I welcome the launch of this pilot and the involvement of Education and Training Boards around Ireland
added Minister for Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan.
Applications for Local Creative Youth Partnerships open and closes at 5pm, 21 September 2018. Further information and the application form can be found here
The commitment to pilot Local Creative Youth Partnerships was made in Creative Youth, the programme for Pillar 1 of Creative Ireland. The Partnerships will build on the model for Local Arts in Education Partnerships contained in the Arts in Education Charter. The aim is that by establishing and building these networks, the following can be achieved:
- collaborative creativity plans can be developed across local communities and between schools and out of school activities;
- these networks can facilitate and develop new local initiatives, targeting different groups more effectively to ensure wider coverage,
- duplication of effort will be avoided and resources and impact of member’s efforts will be maximised.
While ETBs are free to develop their own models, all should include these objectives and seek ways to better utilise resources in the area for improved access and participation.