Monday, 7 September
DAY ONE
WHY CREATIVE SKILLS MATTER
At LUCA School of Arts, sessions will explore creative confidence as a driver of innovation, competitiveness, societal resilience, and Europe’s capacity to navigate uncertainty. With an immersive and interactive exhibition inspired by CYANOTYPES, keynote plenaries, high-level dialogues, and networking moments.
Selected sessions will be livestreamed. See the programme below for details and links.
*All session times are listed in Central European Summer Time (CEST)
12:30
Registration opening
Venue: LUCA Entrance Hall
13:00 – 14:00
Immersive Opening: CYANOTYPES Creative Agency Clinic
Venue: LUCA Entrance Hall + Exhibition Space
How can you prepare for the challenges that lie ahead? Are you addressing the right problem? Do you have a strategy, but not yet a clear pathway for implementation?
Begin Creative Skills Week by stepping into the CYANOTYPES Creative Agency Clinic, an interactive exhibition inspired by four years of experimentation across Europe and beyond. Through real-life implementation stories and hands-on exploration of practical tools, participants discover new ways of approaching the challenges they face in their own organisation and professional practice.
Moving through a series of interactive consultation stations, visitors will explore how creative competences and creative agency can help reveal new perspectives, strengthen collaboration, navigate complexity, and turn ideas into action. Along the way, they will meet the people behind the CYANOTYPES Pilots – real-life implementations of the CYANOTYPES Framework – exchange experiences, and discover practical approaches already tested across higher and vocational education, SMEs, cultural organisations and creative ecosystems across the globe.
The Creative Agency Clinic creates the shared experience that sets the stage for the Opening Plenary, inviting participants to move from individual challenges to a wider conversation about Europe’s future, innovation, and the role of creativity in shaping change.
14:00
Opening Plenary & High-Level Policy Debate
Venue: LUCA Auditorium + live streamed
Watch livestream (pin: 831547)
Europe’s future competitiveness, democratic resilience, and innovation capacity increasingly depend on the ability to navigate complexity, imagine alternatives, and act collaboratively across sectors.
The Opening Plenary explores the strategic role of culture and creativity in shaping Europe’s future, bringing together the perspective of policy, education and industry.
The session explores:
- Why creative agency matters beyond the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI)
- How culture and creativity contributes to innovation and competitiveness
- How European policy can better connect strategic ambitions with real-world learning ecosystems
- Why adaptability and creative confidence are becoming core capacities for Europe’s future
Welcome:
- Maria Hansen, Executive Director, ELIA
- Geert Werkers, Vice Dean for Education, LUCA School of Arts
- Georg Häusler, Director for Culture, Creativity and Sport in the European Commission (DG EAC)
Speakers:
- Lars Ebert, Secretary General, Culture Action Europe
- Charlotte Gimfalk, Managing Director, YNFT – Screen Skills Committee Sweden
- Georg Häusler, Director for Culture, Creativity and Sport in the European Commission (DG EAC)
- Willem-Jan Renger, System Designer & Education Strategist, HKU – University of the Arts Utrecht & CYANOTYPES
- Gerin Trautenberger, Board of Creative Pact for Skills and President of CreativeFed
Moderated by Barbara Revelli, Head of Programmes, ELIA
The session will close with a musical performance by Clare Sands a sixth-generation fiddle player and bilingual singer from Cork, Ireland
16:00 – 16:30
Coffee break
16:30 – 18:30
The Irish Case: High-Level Debate
Venue: LUCA Auditorium + live streamed
Watch livestream (pin: 831547)
Hosted by Creative Futures Academy (CFA), as a recognised Associated Event of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.
Moving from the European to the national perspective, this high-level dialogue explores how Ireland is positioning creative skills, micro-credentials, and flexible learning models within wider innovation, education, and economic strategies.
The session examines:
• New models of investment in creative education and skills
• Creative competences as drivers of innovation and competitiveness
• Flexible learning pathways and micro-credentials
• Measuring cultural value beyond GDP
• Building stronger links between higher education, research, industry, and policy.
The Story of CFA: Investment, Foresight and Impact
- Louise Allen, Director, Creative Futures Academy
Investing in imagination: Insights into creative process and practice
Case Studies:
- Creative Hospitality
Jennie Moran, Artist and Programme Lead, Professional Certificate in Creative Hospitality (NCAD/CFA)
- A Version of Life
A multi-disciplinary performance created in Trapdoor Theatre at University college Dublin with support from Creative Futures Academy. Robert Power in conversation with PJ Mathews, Director of CFA at UCD
Panel 1: The Wider Impact of Design and Creative Skills across Sectors
Speakers:
- Charlotte Barker, CEO of The Institute of Designers in Ireland
- Shane Casey, Creative Lead at Accenture and Speculative Design Futures Graduate, CFA at IADT
- Martin McGinn, CFA Arts & Health Lead, and Service Design Graduate, CFA at NCAD
Moderated by Alex Milton, Head of The School of Design, NCAD and CFA Institutional Lead
Panel 2: A Model Worth Scaling: Creative Skills and Cultural Capacity for Europe?
Speakers:
- Sarah Glennie, Director, National College of Art and Design, Dublin
- Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement, Higher Education Authority
- David Smith, President, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
- Barbara Stacher, Senior Expert, Cultural Policy, DG EAC, European Commission
- Regina Uí Chollatáin, Dean of Arts and Humanities, University College Dublin
Moderated by Barbara Revelli, Head of Programmes, ELIA
18:30 – 20:00
Food for Thought
Venue: LUCA Garden
Hosted by Creative Future Academy (CFA), as a recognised Associated Event of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.
Networking reception hosted by Jennie Moran with live musical performance by Clare Sands celebrating contemporary Irish creativity and cultural connection.
