- European conference explores the nature of talent.
In an age seemingly dominated by high profile talent competitions, the very definition of ‘talent’ seems increasingly restricted.
Using findings from their two year Talent 4 Europe programme, Midlands-based creative arts organisation Rideout explore how we define, find and encourage talent as part of a one-day conference.
Entitled Where Does Talent Come From?, and taking place in Birmingham on 23 July 2014, the event invites leading commentators from the worlds of culture, economics, psychology and education to delve deeper into the subject.
Among those leading the discussions are Germaine Greer and Tim Harford.
Professor Germaine Greer’s first book, The Female Eunuch (1969), took the world by storm and remains one of the most influential texts of the feminist movement. She has had a distinguished academic career in Britain and the USA, and makes regular appearances in print and other media as a broadcaster, journalist, columnist and reviewer.
Tim Harford is a world renowned behavioural economist and award-winning Financial Times columnist. He is also presenter of BBC Radio 4’s More Or Less, and Pop Up Economics. Tim’s recent book is ADAPT: Why Success Always Starts With Failure shows how the challenges we face today can’t be solved with simple ready-made solutions; we must learn to improvise rather than plan.
“When we ask ‘what is talent?’, we don’t take the view that talent is just artistic; rather it encompasses all aspects of human endeavour,” says Rideout’s Chris Johnston, who will be chairing the conference. “Do people vary in the talents they possess? If so, why? Is talent a result of nature or nurture? These are just some of the questions we’ll be posing and debating in detail.”
The event is a culmination of a two-year European Commission-funded programme led by Rideout across six European countries: Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Spain. Partners from all these countries will be present at the conference. Based in Stoke-on-Trent, the award-winning Rideout is an arts organisation working across the fields of arts, education and criminal justice.
Where Does Talent Come From … And How Do You Nurture It? takes place at Hyatt Regency, Birmingham, on Wednesday 23 July 2014 from 9.30am. Tickets £160 (inc. lunch). For more details and tickets see: www.talent4.org
LISTINGS
Wednesday 23 July 2014
Where Does Talent Come From & how do you nurture it?
A one-day conference event presented by Rideout. Guest speakers, including author, academic and journalist Germaine Greer, economist and author Tim Harford and Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology University of London, explore the question ‘what is talent?’ Is talent a result of nature or nurture?
Venue: Hyatt Regency, 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham B1 2JZ
Times: 9.30am-4.30pm
Tickets: £160 (inc lunch).
Online Bookings: www.talent4.org/talent_4/where-does-talent-come-from.aspx
Contact: admin@talent4.org or 01782 325555
Join the debate online using the Twitter and Facebook hashtag: #T4Conf
NOTES FOR EDITORS
WHERE DOES TALENT COME FROM … CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
- Germaine Greer, Academic, Author and Journalist
- Tim Harford, Economist and Author – details: timharford.com
- Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology University of London – details: adrianfurnham.com
- John Bergman, Founder of Geese Theatre (USA)
- Daniella Genas, Director Aspire4U – details: aspire4u.co.uk/cic
- Laura Caulfield, School of Society, Enterprise & Environment, Bath Spa University – details: bathspa.academia.edu/LauraCaulfield
- Derek McGill, HMP Barlinnie
- Dean Stalham, Co-Curator, Made Corrections – details: www.madecorrections.com
- Marek Kazmierski, Managing Editor, Not Shut Up – details: www.notshutup.org
- Asi Panditharatna, Director of Apprenticeships and Employability, Catch 22 – details: www.catch-22.org.uk
- Jocelyn Cunningham, Arts And Society – details: www.artsandsociety.co.uk | www.artsandsocietyuk.blogspot.co.uk
- Joe Giordmaina, European Prison Education Association Malta – details: www.epeamalta.org
- Chris Johnston, event chair, Rideout co-founder, author and Fluxx Director
ABOUT RIDEOUT
Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation) was established in 1999 in order to develop innovative, arts-based approaches to working with prisoners and staff within UK prisons.
It is Rideout’s assertion that crime is not always an inevitable consequence of personal difficulties. Nor is it validated as a career option. Other strategies are always available. To access and understand these interventionist strategies however, often requires the offender to use imagination and to envision alternative behaviours. The creative and performing arts have a particular appropriateness therefore in offering a language within which these arguments and speculations can take place
For more information: www.rideout.org.uk
ABOUT THE TALENT 4… PROGRAMME
Created by Rideout, Talent 4… is an innovative programme that uses play and creativity to identify the natural skills and talents of the participants.
Originally developed within the context of the UK criminal justice system, the programme has recently been transferred to partners in Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Spain. This is made possible by a grant from the Leonardo Transfer of Innovation fund which is part of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme.
The Talent 4… programme aims to assist offenders and others who are facing the challenge of finding employment, by identifying their skills and talents. This diagnostic approach proceeds from the premise that often learners are unaware of what they do well. They imagine that skills and talents are all about qualifications or work experience. Rideout argue that skills and talents are accrued during a process of growing up, whether that individual is in work or out of work, whether that individual has spent time in education or has never been to school.
More information: www.talent4.org
- For all media enquires about this event, contact us:
Four Four Eight 