Bright young minds to participate in Future Innovators Summit

The Future Innovators Summit (FIS) will be held in Australia for the first time in December 2021, following City of Newcastle’s investment in the art/science event.

The FIS is part of an international series presented by Ars Electronica with collaborating cities around the world and will be held in conjunction with related activities delivered through the University of Newcastle’s FASTlab and local art technology studio Art Thinking.

The FIS is a program which provides innovative young people the opportunity to connect with likeminded changemakers with the objective of questioning, reflecting and activating issues to create a better future.

The Newcastle-based summit will focus on four key themes including 'Future Digital', 'Future Education', 'Future Society' and 'Future City'.

During the four-day summit, participants will get together with facilitators, mentors and City of Newcastle representatives to consider and discuss topics based around the key themes, and audiences will be able to participate in conversations which will take place in an open environment.

The FIS seeks to activate a generation of changemakers and learn from the imagination and voices of our youth. Participants will share, exchange and be inspired in an environment that will allow future innovators to experiment and try new things.

An Expression of Interest process will be conducted with selected schools to invite students to participate in the FIS in December.

The FIS was first held by Ars Electronica in 2014 with the aim of promoting new visions of the future and has since become a unique program which has reached all corners of the globe.

City of Newcastle’s $25,000 investment, which has made it possible for Newcastle to host the summit, is part of the City’s commitment to deliver on the ‘Innovative People’ theme from the Economic Development Strategy, adopted by Council in May 2021.