As we approach the close of 2024, we at Creative Futures Academy are proud to reflect on a year filled with inspiring achievements, groundbreaking projects and vibrant collaborations. This year has been a testament to the power of creativity to shape industries, communities and futures. Since CFA launched we have engaged with over 1300 enterprises, 5,000 learners and delivered 160 modules.

From hosting thought-provoking events to launching cutting-edge programmes, this year has seen our community of students, educators and creative professionals push boundaries and redefine possibilities.

Thank you for being part of our journey and we’re excited to continue in 2025 with a host of incredible creative courses.

As 2024 draws to a close, we take pride in reflecting on another vibrant and impactful year at Creative Futures Academy. Our commitment to fostering creativity and innovation has driven an exciting array of events, collaborations and programmes throughout the year. We continued to strengthen ties with industry leaders, providing students with opportunities to engage directly with the professional world. Workshops, guest lectures and collaborative projects helped bridge the gap between education and practice, empowering students to make an impact in their fields.

Among our highlights:

• Dublin International Film Festival: CFA has further strengthened our relationship with Dublin International Film Festival in 2024 by supporting the festival for a second time in February. Festival Director, Grainne Humphreys has also continued to coordinate the popular ‘Cinema Creatives’ CFA@UCD module which immerses students into contemporary Irish cinema culture and the key creative forces within film production, exhibition and distribution and film media through weekly lectures with different practitioners from across the film industry.
• Exploring Creative Pedagogies: CFA was delighted to host a national forum for academic institutions entitled ‘Exploring Creative Pedagogy’ on Tuesday 23rd April. This one day symposium was held in Trapdoor @ UCD, the new home of CFA on the UCD campus. The event saw the coming together of staff from all three institutions: NCAD, IADT and UCD to share their insights and experience of creative practice and pedagogy.
• New CFA Podcast series: Makers and Creators was officially launched on 24th May. This six-part pilot podcast series tells the story of CFA through its creators and educators. Each episode focuses on a lecturer / practitioner at IADT, UCD and NCAD teaching across a wide range of creative practice – fashion, music, film, media, art and drama. Guests included Fashion and Costume Designer Peter O’Brien, Theatre and Festival-maker Jenny Jennings, Broadcaster David Cooper, Artist Jennie Moran, Musician Dr. Peter Moran and Filmmaker Vanessa Gildea.
• Creative Fellows in Immersive Technologies: In June, IADT welcomed two fellows, Daithi Magner and Sean Burns who led staff workshops and inspired fresh approaches to innovative teaching and learning.
• The Animation Directors’ Lab: Supporting a week-long residential lab for industry professionals in Roscommon was a standout moment in June, designed to empower the next generation of animation directors to compete on the world stage. 
• Panel on Women and Craft in Irish Film: At the Galway Film Fleadh, our panel discussions spotlighted important voices in the film and craft industries. Find out more HERE.
• 24-Hour Design Challenge: For the third consecutive year, CFA@IADT partnered with IADT Media Cube, DLR and LEO to host this exciting event fostering rapid innovation.
• BETA Festival Taster Sessions: NCAD and IADT delivered a range of diverse workshops, exploring areas such as electronics for the arts, digital making, digital sculpting, immersive storytelling and more.
• CFA has continued our relationship with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Country Council and in particular dlr Arts Office. CFA and dlr brought ‘Festival in a Van’ to UCD in April 2024, showcasing student performances and intercultural music and spoken word
• Tech for Humanity: In November, CFA students took part in ‘Tech for Humanity: Shaping AI’s Impact for a Better Future’ hackathon with Youth Connect at the British Council. The hackathon took place on the NCAD campus over 2 days. Youth Connect aims to empower youth (18-35) globally through training and engagement to foster skills, representation and societal trust.

Our partnership highlights:

• Kilkenny Arts Office: CFA and Kilkenny Arts Office collaborated once again on providing bursaries for Kilkenny based students.
• Design Skillnet: CFA and Design Skillnet renewed their collaboration awarding funding to participants on Fashion Communications and Creative Diversity. They also co-designed a new service design course and supported its promotion in April. 
• Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet: In June, CFA were delighted to revisit their collaboration with Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet offering special membership rates to learners for 2024/2025 across our CFA institutions.
• Creative Spark: We also partnered with Creative Spark in Dundalk to launch a brand new ‘Professional Diploma in Digital Making’. Creative Spark also brought in The Arts Service of Louth County Council to offer a bursary to learners based in Louth for this programme.
• IDI Awards: CFA were honoured to support the ‘Design Education Research Award’ at this year’s IDI Awards on 14th November and to nominate the first ever recipient of the ‘Design Impact Award’ to Greg Osborne of DesignOpp.
• Creative Boardroom – Collaborate4Climate: We also partnered with the Institute of Directors Ireland and Northern Ireland, funded by Creative Ireland’s Climate Action & Shared Island initiative, to host Creative Boardroom – Collaborate4Climate. This groundbreaking project comprised seven workshops held across Ireland, culminating in an exhibition at the NCAD Gallery in November, highlighting the critical role of creativity in addressing climate challenges.
• We also partnered with  Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) at St James’s Hospital and  DesignOpp on our core programmes.

Throughout 2024, CFA supported graduate showcases, and participated in creative and cultural events including:

• • The Creative Arts Research Laboratory, made possible through EQUIP Funding from UCD Research, has further enabled and enhanced the creativity of students and staff across the UCD College of Arts & Humanities.
  • Theatrical Development and Residencies: Trapdoor welcomed our Dancer in Residence, Justine Doswell, and creative teams from THISISPOPBABY and Lords of Strut to develop Dream Factory (Dublin Theatre Festival 2024), as well as Robert Power’s  A Version of Life (Dublin Fringe Festival 2024). A UCD graduate, Power’s innovative production captivated audiences and underscored the impact of our commitment to supporting emerging voices in the arts. 
  • Fringe Was Here led by Michelle Browne looked at the archive of works made in and for the city across the 30 years of the Dublin Fringe Festival.
  • Creative Fellows: NCAD welcomed Istanbul-based visual artist Banu Cennetoğlu and Lucia Pietroiusti (Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London) as their 2024 strategic collaborators. They engaged with the NCAD community through workshops, curated talks, student-led projects and public facing activities, including IMMA Talks & Screening – Right? with Basak Ertür & Banu Cennetoglu and Professional Certificate in Sustainable Exhibition Making 
  • CFA Film Screenings: A year-long film programme for students and staff culminated in a special screening of Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr (1924), featuring an improvised live score by Dr. Seán Clancy, Viktória Šinkorová, and Sebastian Adams from the UCD School of Music.
  • CFA Showcase at UCD: Creativity, a module coordinated by CFA’s own Professor PJ Mathews, held a showcase in November in Trapdoor. Students presented the creative work produced during the autumn trimester, including short films, performances, and creative writing, offering an inspiring glimpse into the work shaping the future of the creative industries. Read more HERE.
  • New Music Collaborations: Dr. Seán Clancy hosted the renowned Crash Ensemble for student composition workshops and the Bozzini Quartet for a lecture-recital and album recording, supported by the Craig Dobbin Legacy Fellowship.
  • Exclusive Student Engagements: Students in the BA in Creative & Cultural Industries had the unique opportunity to participate in a Q&A with Dan Lambert, manager of the acclaimed Irish-language hip-hop group Kneecap, in conversation with Professor Emily Mark-Fitzgerald. Lambert shared insights into managing Kneecap’s meteoric rise, their creative ventures, and his roles as COO of Bohemian Football Club and co-owner of Dublin’s Bang Bang Cafe.

2024 saw the successful continuation of module exchanges with our partners NCAD, UCD and IADT, enriching learning opportunities for students. We also continued to develop and deliver a broad range of accessible and flexible programmes for professionals:

• CFA@IADT: This year also saw CFA@IADT offer an impressive range of programmes, including Radio and Podcast Production, Production Management (TV & Non-fiction), Digital Sculpting, Data Visualisation, Generative Arts, Fundamentals of UX Design, Speculative Design Futures, Critical Design Philosophies, Design Thinking, Games Design and more. Additionally, we welcomed new students to our BA (Hons) in 3D Animation and MA in Design for Change programmes, expanding our learning community.
• CFA@UCD: The BA Humanities in Creative & Cultural Industries at CFA@UCD has entered its third year. This programme prepares students for work in a diverse range of creative fields. Third year students have the opportunity to take an internship and study abroad. Students have undertaken internships with companies such as THISISPOPBABY and Disney+.
• CFA@NCAD: In 2024, CFA@NCAD took another step towards embedding diversity, inclusivity and sustainability into the core of their existing and pilot programmes including: Art and Design Research Ethics, Sustainable Exhibition Making, Writing for / as Research, Creative Approaches to Archives, Typographic Futures. Creative Diversity, Art and Health, Fashion Communication and Circular by Design.

All three CFA partner institutions have invested in cutting-edge facilities in each campus, giving learners access to industry-standard equipment and software to gain experience using the same tools and technologies used by professionals in the creative industries.

• Trapdoor: Trapdoor has been a dynamic hub for Creativity at UCD since its launch in February 2024. The cutting-edge black box space in UCD’s Newman Building, has established itself as a centre for teaching, creativity and collaboration. Throughout the year, Trapdoor has hosted a diverse range of activities across CFA and the UCD College of Arts & Humanities. CFA was honoured to welcome Academy Award-winning filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen for the official launch of Trapdoor, reinforcing Trapdoor’s role as a space for transformative teaching, learning and artistic exploration.
• Carnegie Hub: 2024 also saw the official opening of the Carnegie Hub at IADT, a cutting-edge creative space designed to foster innovation and collaboration. This new facility provides a dynamic environment for students, faculty and industry professionals to engage in creative projects, research and development. With state-of-the-art resources and flexible workspaces, the Carnegie Hub will play a key role in advancing interdisciplinary creativity and supporting the growth of emerging talent. We look forward to seeing the incredible work that will emerge from this exciting new space.
• William Walsh Studio: NCAD has installed the research, development and prototyping facility ‘William Walsh’ that combines 3D fabrication technology with the skills of students and industry. It offers students and later-career creatives access to digital machinery for specific prototyping needs, with opportunities for those who are struggling to find appropriate routes to build more ambitious work.

We are funded by the Human Capital Initiative, part of the Higher Education Authority’s Future Jobs Ireland programme within the Programme for Government.

In April 2024, CFA hosted a national forum Exploring Creative Pedagogy which shared teaching and learning pedagogy with colleagues in Higher Education across the Island.

In November, CFA was invited to contribute to a session hosted by DFHERIS  – “Towards a Skills Intelligence Strategy for Higher Education” with representatives from the Ministry of Education in Spain.

On 20 November, CFA participated in the HEA’s HCI networking event to share updates and plans for the future with our HCI Pillar 3 colleagues

2024 has been a year of growth, collaboration and creative exploration. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making it a success. We look forward to continuing this journey together in 2025!