Create Strategy 2026 – 2031 launched

On the 23rd of June 2026, we welcomed guests to join us as we launched our new Strategy for 2026 to 2031, People Practice Progress: Building Sustainable Futures. You can read the full strategy in PDF, accessible word and audio format here. Our Director Damien McGlynn was joined by chair of Create’s board Kevin Murphy, CEO of the Playhouse Derry~Londonderry, Ann O’Connor, Head of Participatory Arts at the Arts Council, and Silvina Sisterna, artist and member of Create’s Artist Mentor Panel.

Throughout 2025 we were lucky enough to engage with a wide variety of artists, arts workers, community and charity sector representatives, researchers, activists, arts managers and more, who shared with us their experiences of collaborative arts practice, and their hopes for how Create may be able to support the field of practice further in the coming years.

Create aims to respond to the times in which we live in a way that aligns with the values we have identified for our work. One important aspect of this strategy is the aim to recognise and support the all-island reality of the work we support. The report on the first C.A.F.E. national seminar in 1984 made clear the ambition of cross-border work, and now we are renewing this vision. The goals detailed in the strategy are intended to guide us in building our work across the island of Ireland. While the challenges facing us all at this point in time are significant, we have identified ‘hopeful’ as one of our core values in this strategy. Create will continue to play an active role in imagining and building what comes next. We are committed to listening, testing and sharing, in a process of collective learning with everyone involved and with our shared field of practice.

We invite artists, academics, community members, partners and more to journey with us as we implement this Strategy over the next five years.