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AbstractWhilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels.

The Civic University is a pedagogical experiment that tests alternative modes of knowledge transfer at work in civic city making, challenging traditional urban teaching and disciplinary restriction. The Civic University manoeuvres across disciplines that complement one another, implementing new ways of knowing and acting. Teaching and learning at the Civic University is symbiotic; by situating its curriculum within live projects in the city, it can mutually provide a support structure back to the local communities, the sites they occupy and for the individuals enrolled. The Civic University draws together a network of local and international 'civic classrooms' – physical rooms situated within specific areas in a city – where knowledge about hands on city making is produced and disseminated on various topics such as social housing estates, high streets, community gardens, parks and other. 'Civic classrooms' are already set up across London with potential to grow to other sites, forming new partnerships and supporting existing neighbourhood initiatives. The emerging curriculum is driven by the needs and desires of local citizens as its base, which is being developed and now brought to the Tate Modern in the course of a three-day program. During this residency, the Civic University continues to develop and grow outside the walls of Tate Exchange. The Civic University builds on a rich tradition of artist lead initiatives of re-imagining educational models. It will reflect on such traditions, recognising itself as part of a larger movement towards more democratic forms of knowledge production. To map out this history, a growing 'Archive of Alternative Schools and Academies' will be launched during our stay at Tate Exchange. The Civic University is facilitated by public works in collaboration with the initiatives, R-Urban, The Old Tidemill Gardens, Interact Roman Road, Loughborough Farm and their associated local groups and networks. It is an ongoing collaboration with Professor Robert Mull and his initiative Global Practice Programme. In its current form the Civic University draws from the students work produced as part of Architecture and Activism, the Civic University Live Project at the Sheffield School of Architecture (SSOA), as well as the ECODA research project on co-designing resilience. The Civic University is currently supported by UMA School of Architecture in Umeå, Sweden, as part of their ongoing research into alternative models for community engaged city making.

What are the limits of design in addressing the political and/or when has design not been enough? A collection of thought pieces written by Theatrum Mundi's Designing Politics Working Group following a workshop at the Villa Vassilieff in Paris on 25th May 2016. This working group is supported by the Global Cities Chair at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris.