An image of a white female performer suspended in the air. She has light brown hair in a ponytail with white shirt and pink trousers. She is horizontal facing upwards with a harness on her waist. She has her right hand extended, which is being held by a wheelchair performer with dark skin in black clothing, who is also upside down suspended by his waist. The image includes the logo of Outdoor Arts UK with the title National Conference

Equity in Action:
The Power of Diverse Narratives

6 February 2025

10am – 6pm (networking till 7pm)
Stoke-On-Trent

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National Conference

Outdoor Arts has long been the best channel of arts engagement for a diverse range of people, but how can we continue to be the beacon of accessibility in the face of all the challenges we face? OutdoorArtsUK’s National Conference is coming to Stoke-On-Trent on Thursday 6 February 2025 to hear from pioneering organisations, artists, and producers from the local area and beyond.

To engage individuals from underserved groups, we need to pay attention to care, equity, and how we do outreach. Only then can we create a truly level playing field for all. This can be hard work but getting it right can boost impact, innovation, and resources through diversification of partnerships.

The OAUK Conference will give you plenty of time and space for reflection, discussion, care for each other, and of course, networking. We hope that you will leave Stoke with renewed motivation for carrying on your brilliant work.

Read more about the some of the key issues and learning outcomes in Director Sho’s blog post about the conference here.

Read Sho’s Blog Here

Pre-Conference Day Events

Induction Event

Wednesday 5 February 2025
3pm – 6pm, B-Arts
Stoke-On-Trent

This session is designed to be a soft landing before the main day of the Conference. It’s intended for those who may be attending our Conference for the first time, on their own, or find meeting new people challenging. We’ll give you the chance to spend time with like-minded individuals before the main event, receive an introduction to the sector, and some tips on how best to navigate what can be a busy and full-on experience.

You’ll also meet the OAUK team and board members who can look out for you throughout your time in Stoke. This event is free for OAUK members, and there is a small charge for non-members. There is a total of 50 places available.

Networking Evening

Wednesday 5 February 2025
7.30pm – 10.30pm
B-Arts, Stoke-On-Trent

Join us the night before for a networking opportunity. It’s a good chance to make new connections and catch up with sector colleagues. This event is free for OAUK members, but we welcome a contribution. There is a small charge for non-members.

Breakout Sessions

The day will begin with a series of short presentations by local representatives, followed by a series of breakout sessions where the bulk of learning and relationship building activities will happen. Each session will have two speakers and a chair, who will give insight and perspective. They will invite delegates to engage in a conversation, giving you the opportunity for some shared learning, as well as guiding you to come up with promises and pledges that are personal and bespoke to each delegate.

Each breakout session will happen twice, so delegates can choose to participate in two breakout groups.

Breakout Topics

Outdoor Arts was hugely affected by this summer’s Islamophobic and racially motivated riots. Is there a role Outdoor Arts can play in giving voice to marginalised communities and help heal divisions in our society?

At a time when our main touring circuits and sources of income are under pressure, can inclusivity and relevance lead to resilience? Tuning into diverse narratives can make your work resonate with non-arts bodies, which can open new income streams and performance opportunities.

Understanding the needs of diverse individuals are the first steps of addressing equity. We listen to artists with lived experience of disability and racism to understand the complex dynamics of presenting work in outdoor spaces.

What are the current thoughts on Disability Access and Outdoor Arts? Appetite Stoke and FrontlineDance speak about their collaboration in programming disabled-led work and providing disability access for audiences.

This is a free and open space for colleagues to raise other specific issues about diversity and inclusion that is not covered by the breakout groups. We ask delegates who chose this option to suggest topics for discussion.

How to Book

You can book your breakout sessions on the checkout page when purchasing your ticket.

If you’ve already got your conference ticket, please book your breakout sessions here.

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A silhouette of a performer in a wheel chair suspended against a blue sky background. The performer gracefully dances in the air as part of the aerial performance 'The Air Between Us' by Chloe Loftus and Rodney Bell.

Fund a Freelancer Scheme

This year, we are launching the Fund a Freelancer Scheme. This is a pay-it-forward scheme, where you can choose to contribute towards increasing the number of bursaries available when you purchase your ticket. Help us make more bursary places available!

Fund a Freelancer

Digital Brochure

Introducing our digital brochure of tour-ready work and video pitches

We have designed the 2025 Conference as a day for delegates to meet, listen, and speak with each other to go on a journey of shared learning. Our hope is that you will leave Stoke with new ideas, connections, and commitments for a more inclusive Outdoor Arts sector. There will be a mix of talks, breakout sessions, networking, and discussion opportunities throughout the conference to facilitate this. We have prioritised giving delegates ample time for collective reflection, which meant it is not possible to include an artist marketplace or pitching sessions. We have, however, created an alternative opportunity.

We invite artists to submit information on their tour-ready work and pitches for existing shows or new ideas, which will be collated into a digital brochure. We will circulate this to all the delegates before the conference, and it will continue to live on our website.

Some of the most fruitful programmer-artist partnerships develop when key individuals get to know each other, and we aim to deliver breakout and discussion sessions to give room for relationship building. There is also ample time for networking throughout the day, and we hope to circulate a delegate list beforehand for people to pre-arrange meetings during allocated networking times.

If you would like to submit information to go into our digital brochure, please submit to the brochure here. The deadline for submission is Sunday 19 January 2025, end of day.

Deadline: Sunday 19 January 2025

Submit to the Brochure

Access

Click below to find out more about access at the Conference. OutdoorArtsUK is committed to providing access to our 2025 conference. You can let us know your access requirements at ticket checkout. Please give us good notice so that we can make the appropriate arrangements.

Accessibility of the venue 

Victoria Hall is managed by ATG Theatres, who have a wide range of accessibility measures. For full details, click here. 

Quiet Space 

We have designated Dressing Room 6 as the quiet space for the Conference. There will be venue and OAUK staff who can help you access it throughout the day. Please notify a member of staff at registration so that we can direct you to the space. 

Access Contact 

If you’d like to speak with the OAUK team about access support, please contact General Manager David by email: David@outdoorartsuk.org. 

Sustainability

The climate crisis greatly impacts the outdoor sector and threatens the livelihood of its existence.

We understand our responsibility in minimising the negative environmental impact of the organisation’s activities, alongside the requirement to help create and communicate the resources, guidance, and best practice required to upskill our members, and the wider outdoor arts sector, to reduce the impact of their events.

We are delivering the conference in line with our environmental policy and our green code of conduct. You can find our policy here and our code of conduct here. Below is a list of things we’d like to make you aware of so that you can help us minimise the environmental impact of the conference.

We’ve also used our conference as a case study on how to use the OAUK donut toolkit, you can find out more here. The OAUK donut toolkit was developed by Andrew Lansley to provide businesses and organisations with a quick and effective way to profile their accessibility and sustainability practices against nationally recognised standards frameworks. Find out more here.

Print

As part of our sustainability measures taken for Conference 2025, there won’t be any physical print for delegates attending unless specifically requested for access purposes. If you do need physical print copies of any of the conference information, please contact General Manager David at david@outdoorartsuk.org

Water

Please bring your reusable water bottles as there will be refill points at Victoria Hall for you to use.

Carry Cups

Please bring your reusable hot drink cups, as we will not be supplying them or supplying one use hot drinks cups.

Lanyards

OAUK will provide name badges and lanyards at the conference, and we will ask you to return them at the end of the event so that we can reuse them. Delegates are welcome to bring their own lanyards to the conference from previous events.

Measuring Impact and Carbon Offsetting

To get a better understanding of the carbon impact our conference creates, we will be circulating a travel survey after the event, asking how delegates have traveled to the conference.

We encourage everyone to use Onboard.Earths travel calculator to understand how much carbon their journey to the Conference has generated. For those who have the means can then choose to offset through schemes on the website. When filling out the submission form, use the venue’s postcode, ST1 3AD, as your destination. If you do offset your carbon attending the Conference, we’d like to know!

Click here to email General Manager David at David@outdoorartsuk.org

Click here to access the carbon calculator.

Meals

All our lunches at the Conference will be vegetarian or vegan. You’ll be able to tell us any dietary requirements when purchasing a ticket. Lunches are included in the price of your ticket.

Lunches will only be provided for the number of tickets sold. We will work with catering suppliers to use packaging that is recycled and recyclable. Any leftover lunches will be distributed afterwards to local charities.

FAQs

You can purchase tickets above or via our ticket tailor booking platform. Click here to book tickets. 

If you’d like to pay by invoice, please contact David@outdoorartsuk.org about paying for tickets by BACS transfer. In your email to him, please could you say: 

  • Which tickets you’d like 
  • How many tickets you’d like 
  • The name the invoice should be made out to 
  • The address the invoice should be made out to 

For full conference T&Cs, please go to: Conference T&Cs.docx 

There are 3 hotels within a 30-minute walking distance of the Conference venue.

These are:

Beyond this, there are number of hotels in the surrounding area that are a short drive away from the venue.

Train 

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a 10-minute bus ride or taxi drive away, or a 1.2 mile walk (google estimates this taking 25 minutes). 

Bus  

There are several buses from the train station to Victoria Hall, the 9 (yellow), 23, 24, 25, and 100 all can leave you within a short walk of the venue.  

Car 

If you are driving to the conference, to reduce the number of cars on the road heading towards Stoke-on-Trent, please consider listing your journey on our car share spreadsheet, which can be found here.

We’d also strongly encourage, where affordable, that you consider offsetting the carbon of your journey using Onboard.Earths travel calculator.

There is daylong parking available at: 

  • Cultural Quarter Multi Storey, ST1 3BP 
  • Brakes Parking, ST1 4EU 
  • Lower Huntbach Street, ST1 1NZ 
  • Charles Street, ST1 3AN 
  • Smithfield MSCP, ST1 4JH 

Our host venue, Victoria Hall, has a cloakroom. Please note this will not be attended by a staff member and any items left are left at your digression. 

Image Credit: The Air Between Us by Chloe Loftus Dance