NCAD, IADT and UCD consortium receives €10 million funding for Creative Futures Academy

Posted 8 October, 2020

The Irish Government has awarded a NCAD, IADT and UCD consortium €10 million funding under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) to establish an academy that will deliver creative education to learners at all stages of their careers.

The collaboration – the Creative Futures Academy - aims to accelerate the professional growth and impact of the creative sector in Ireland by preparing graduates from a range of disciplines with sustainable and adaptable skills.

It aims to develop a best-practice model of inter-institutional collaboration that may be scaled up and replicated across the regions, based on specific regional demands and opportunities.

The funding was announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD as one of 22 projects to share in €197m of funding under the HCI's final stage, which focuses on innovation and skills in the higher education sector.

Minister Harris said: “These projects will develop and change teaching and learning. This global pandemic has reinforced the need for us all to be agile and diverse.

“Crucially though it requires us to develop new skills and equip the next generation with the critical importance to the economy and the workplace of the future.” Higher Education Authority CEO, Dr Alan Wall, has congratulated all of the Higher Education institutions receiving funding under the HCI scheme.

“It is great to see the culmination of this process as it represents hundreds of hours of work by the Higher Education Authority working with the Higher Education institutions and our international panel.”

22 new projects to be funded under the Human Capital Initiative - the result of a huge effort between (opens in a new window)@hea_irl and Higher Education institutions.(opens in a new window)https://t.co/WB32SbPPYk (opens in a new window)#HEA (opens in a new window)@SimonHarrisTD

— HEA (@hea_irl) (opens in a new window)October 5, 2020

First announced as part of Budget 2019, the HCI is a three staged HEA programme designed to deliver investment towards additional capacity across the higher education sector to meet industry needs.

“Together with NCAD’s partners – IADT and UCD – we are delighted to receive this funding award,” said NCAD’s Director, Professor Sarah Glennie.

“It places creativity and creative-thinking at the heart of Ireland’s future and supports an HEI consortium that spans the creative sector to work together with industry towards a shared aim of empowering a dynamic creative sector during this challenging time in our history”.

IADT President David Smith said the funding for the new academy was “a significant endorsement and recognition of the value and potential of art, design and media – and the wider arts and humanities – to drive the creative economy and broader innovation agenda.”

(opens in a new window)Professor Sarah Prescott, Principal and Dean of the UCD College of Arts and Humanities added that the Creative Futures Academy is "an exciting opportunity for UCD College of Arts and Humanities to build on our scholarly expertise in a range of creative and cultural subject areas and to equip our students with the skills to succeed".

"We look forward very much to working in collaboration with NCAD and IADT on this important initiative and to supporting the future of the creative arts and creative economy in Ireland and beyond."

(opens in a new window)Associate Professor PJ Mathews, UCD School of English, Drama and Film, said: “The Creative Futures Academy represents a ground-breaking initiative in the Irish creative sector. It will draw on UCD’s distinguished tradition of innovation and achievement in literature, theatre and film; IADT’s expertise in the creative cultural and technological sectors; and NCAD’s reputation for producing leading practitioners in art, design and visual culture.

“This exciting project will be developed with input from key industry partners and national cultural bodies, such as the Arts Council, RTÉ, Screen Producers Ireland and Design and Crafts Council of Ireland, to nurture world class talent and shape the future of Ireland’s creative sector.”

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations