Youth Arts Now is an initiative led by Waterford Youth Arts that aims to research and advocate for the future development of youth arts practice in Ireland.

Youth Arts Now is a call to youth arts practitioners, groups, leaders and stakeholders to advocate for the development of a national policy for youth arts in Ireland, a strategy to support the development of sustainable funding and professional development of youth arts.

Youth Arts Now aims to improve the profile of the youth arts sector and establish an effective network for advocacy and mutual support of youth arts practitioners, organisations and young people.

Youth Arts Now is committed to youth-led creativity and holds central the voice of young people and their active participation in the design, delivery and engagement in Youth Arts Now.

Youth Arts Now aims to advocate collectively for the adoption of youth arts policy at national level by Government with funding commitments by 2023.

In 2020, Youth Arts Now undertook a three-month research piece on youth arts in Ireland and the potential for national youth arts network.

In 2021, Youth Arts Now proposes to examine exemplary youth arts practice in the southeast, with a contracted Researcher that will contextualise youth arts in Ireland and examine models of best practice internationally. Simultaneously, a national network of practitioners and organisations will be further developed.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.