NSCD Conference 2026 - Call for Contributions

Call for contributions

NSCD Conference 2026
Better Together: Rethinking Practice Through Partnership

Better Together invites educators, artists, practitioners, and researchers from across schools, higher education, and the performing arts to come together in a shared exploration of collaboration as a catalyst for change in teaching, learning, artistic practice and well-being.

This year’s theme recognises that the most powerful learning environments and the most impactful artistic practices, emerge when we work in partnership. Whether between students and teachers, artists and participants, schools and communities, or across disciplines and sectors, collaboration offers us ways to rethink how we teach, assess, support and create. It also offers space to prioritise well-being, inclusion and innovation in increasingly complex educational, artistic and cultural landscapes.

This cross-sector conference will explore:

• Co-created approaches to teaching, learning and assessment that centre voice, equity and engagement
• How artistic and creative practices enable shared inquiry, critical reflection and transformation
• Structures of support and belonging that promote the well-being of learners and educators alike
• Case studies of partnership across schools, universities, arts organisations and communities
• The value of listening, shared authorship, and collective leadership in responding to sector challenges

Better Together is a call to celebrate the knowledge that emerges in relationship with each other, with our students, and with our wider communities. It is a space to imagine new futures where collaboration is not just a method, but a mindset.

7th January 2026 (onsite) (HE conference)

Venue: Northern School of Contemporary Dance

NSCD would like to thank everyone for their interest in the conference. We have received a large number of proposals and call for contributions has now closed. We will be opening registration for the conference during the week beginning 25^th November.

Coming up...

You might also be interested in our other upcoming conference…

The Art of Recovery: A Dance, Movement and Creative Health Symposium
Vincent Dance Theatre, Sidney De Haan Centre for Arts and Wellbeing at Canterbury Christ Church University and Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Venue: Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Dates: 8th January 2026