Youth Arts: Creative Production and Skills for Work

Anna Hickey-Moody, Sophie Hartley, Peter Kelly, Tammy Wong Hulbert, Scott Brook, Rimi Khan and Christen Cornell

2026

Policy Press (Bristol University Press)

URL: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/youth-arts

Collaboration, critical thinking and cultural competency are essential skills that shape young people’s futures. These key skills are often cultivated in the informal, creative spaces that society easily overlooks.

Drawing on the Australian Research Council and industry co-funded Vital Arts project, this book offers a bold and practical new vision: an inclusive, practice based micro-credential system that recognises the competencies that young people build through creative cultural participation. Challenging prevailing policy narratives that pathologise young people, the book shows how partnerships between industry, cultural organisations and youth-led initiatives can reimagine education, diversify pathways into work and support genuine social mobility.

Offering fresh conceptual tools, compelling empirical insights and a transformative model for accrediting skills, this book repositions youth arts organisations and creative programs as key actors in constructing more equitable and meaningful routes into employment.