The following three 'Summer of Hope' events were selected after an Open Call in early 2021 - all focusing on driving the region, Wales and the world forward as we emerge into a more hopeful future.

Everything Change

Online between June 10th - 19th 2021

Everything Change, was a series of interdisciplinary discussions, talks, and online events looking at the role of creativity, adaptive thinking and storytelling in overcoming arguably the largest challenge facing humanity; that of climate and ecological crises.  

With speakers, practitioners, and artists in conversation from across the arts, the creative industries, the sciences, law, business, public policy, activism and education, Everything Change was a unique forum for debate and exploration driven by some of the most urgent questions of our times. 

‘I think calling it climate change is rather limiting,  
I’d rather call it the everything  change’ - Margaret  Atwood 

Produced by Swansea University’s Cultural Institute and Taliesin Arts Centre, in partnership with Dhaka Lit Fest. 

Watch all of the above talks on the Taliesin Arts Centre youtube channel

"Back In Place" - Assessing how our relationship with place has been altered by Covid and by our experiences of being once again together

September 16th & 17th 2021 (In person)

This event was held to help drive a radical agenda focussed on how the places we live, work and visit shape and are shaped by our experiences and interactions. For the last few years, the “places” where most people have sheltered have been digital – Zoom, Teams and the like – while the once bustling streets of our villages, towns and cities have become still and atrophied. As many in the world have experienced intense digital living whilst craving embodied, physical community, what are the insights and innovations that will lead to truly blended physical-digital places. To address this topic we need the collision of thinking across all disciplines from theology to geography; from computational science, social science to the arts. The University of Swansea’s MASI and the University of Lancaster Future Places Centre gave visibility to attract diverse and inclusive research and innovation excellence well beyond the two geographies these institutes are associated with.

The Swansea Wellbeing Symposium 2021

The Swansea Wellbeing Symposium was a two-day postgraduate student-led event, dedicated to inspiring collaboration across disciplines to further wellbeing science. The aim was to bring together researchers, PGR students, clinicians and the community to demonstrate the advantages of collaboration across academia, healthcare and the third sector. The symposium presented innovative, holistic and applied research on the topic of health and wellbeing, with optional wellbeing workshops for attendees.

Keynote speakers included Associate Professor José Luis Martí from Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, who discussed new ideas relating to ‘planetary wellbeing’, and Ms Vanessa King from the Action for Happiness Group who discussed the role of positive psychology in building a brighter future. Professor Gareth Stratton from Swansea University opened the conference and discussed how the university's wellbeing strategy aligns with sustainability goals.