Creativity conference comes to Salford

Every year BEYOND Conference plays host to a unique and global gathering of current and future innovators, focused on research and development across the creative industries.

Previous events have been held in London and Cardiff, hosting a wealth of leading industry speakers, including actor and activist Michael Sheen and ABBA Voyage producer, Svana Gisla. The conference features the Immersive Futures Lab, giving innovators a platform to put exciting XR prototypes, many featuring the latest VR and AR technologies, into the hands of new audiences and tell the stories behind their work.

This year, the conference comes to Salford, where it will showcase the innovative potential of Creative Cities, giving a platform to the creative brilliance and bold visions within our city regions.

Professor Andy Miah, of the University of Salford, said: “We are very excited to be partnering with the BEYOND 2024 conference and that its delegates will have the chance to witness the remarkable activities that operate around our campus in MediaCity.

“The creative industries are part of our DNA at the University of Salford and is support across our four schools. With our MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub and world-class media production facilities, we have many industry-embedded lecturers who bring crucial knowledge to our students about how innovation is shaping the future of creativity.

“This will be a huge opportunity to foreground how we are working in partnership with the region to ensure that the next decade of digital transformation in Salford is firmly on the national and international map.”

Salford has experienced significant growth in a relatively short space of time. Sustained GVA, productivity and innovation – the hallmarks of a high value, mature and diverse economy – continues to perform well and over the past five years, Salford has recorded the highest GVA growth increase and employment growth across Greater Manchester.

Professor Andrew Chitty, Chair of BEYOND, said: “At BEYOND 2024, we will explore Creative Cities and the part that research and innovation plays in making the theoretical, real. Growing the creative industries more evenly in city regions across the UK will unlock greater and fairer economic growth, and make urban centres better places to live and work.

"There is no shortage of creative brilliance and bold visions out there, ready to unleash the potential. We’re looking forward to welcoming creators, artists, researchers, businesses - from startup to multinationals - and policy makers, to MediaCity, Salford, to discover, see, hear and discuss what this means in practice.”