“The question is not “what kind of world will our children inherit?”, but rather: “what kind of children will the world inherit? ”” Jaime Semprun (L’abîme se repeuple, published by l’encyclopédie des nuisances)

The eighth IDEA “Drama / Theatre and Education” world congress will take place from July 8th to 13th 2013 in Paris.

What is at stake? Where do our challenges stand?

The world conferences on arts education organized by UNESCO in 2006 in Lisbon and in 2010 in Seoul showed that all educational policies throughout the world granted arts and culture some kind of status. However, we still see quite a considerable gap between these declarations of intent and their implementation in schools and various educational structures.
What the eighth IDEA world congress on Drama / Theatre and Education proposes is to reflect and to act, so that words and actions may converge and find their meeting point.

Although many countries may differ in their views on arts education, either because they work towards distinct ends, or because of the diversity of systems in each country, they all share identical and essential questions we intend to tackle.

Four main questions will shape the body of our exchanges, debates, research and actions in this congress:

1. Has drama / theatre and education become a global challenge, currently shared by all as we enter the XXIst century?
2. What does it take for drama / theatre and education to encourage transforming processes?
3. Will scientific discoveries on the anchoring of knowledge within the body generate a revolution in education?
4. How can theatre sensitize learners to the diversity of cultures, languages and so-called “foreign” productions?

The answers the 80 participating countries will bring to these questions will strengthen our ability to share the ambition of our project for education, which is to give all children access to drama, so that they may open their minds and learn how to listen to each other, learn how to develop their curiosity and their aesthetic pleasure, and grow eager to turn into full-fledged citizens of the world they will inherit.

This context of global crisis and considerable evolution forces us to invent new educational methods and new shared stories, through which values such as solidarity, creativity, a culture of community rather than domination, and empathy will become the resources and the treasures of the women and men of tomorrow.
An art of presence and speech, a hybrid art which invites all other forms of art, a collective art, an art of rituals and symbolization: drama offers one of the most powerful ways to achieve these goals and to improve both our knowledge of the world and self-knowledge.

So our vibrant task is to build a successful congress together and create an international momentum that will celebrate the increased stature of children and young people through drama.