We are delighted to announce an Open Call for ASSITEJ National Centres and
ASSITEJ International Professional Networks to participate in two projects being
co-ordinated in collaboration with leading university academics:
STAGE WORTHY
The Value of Theatre & Performing Arts
for Children & Young People
This project invites ASSITEJ National Centres & International Professional Networks to collaborate with researchers to collect, curate, and signpost to pre-existing, published, and unpublished evidence that qualifies and quantifies claims about the value and impact of theatre and the performing arts for children and young people. This research aims to provide members with easily accessible materials to support advocacy and funding, and to build a comprehensive global evidence base for Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People.
YOUNG AUDIENCES COUNT
Supporting Data Gathering
& Evidence-Based Advocacy in TYA
This project invites ASSITEJ National Centres to participate in a new international training and research collaboration, focused on strengthening our understanding of young audiences through data. The project is designed to fulfil an advocacy role and champion practical outcomes of data collection, exploring how to find existing data sources and how to generate new data that tells the story of how many (and which) children and young people access and engage in theatre and performing arts.
Project Coordinators:
- Professor Selina Busby of The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama
- Professor Kelly Freebody, Professor Michael Anderson, Dr Eliza Oliver, Dr Katy Alexander, and Dr Thomas De Angelis of The University of Sydney
Project Coordinators:
- Dr Kai Roland Green of Aarhus University
- Dr Lanora Callahan, of the New York City Department of Social Services and Marist University
The Project team brings complementary expertise across applied and social theatre, participatory and emancipatory research, qualitative case-based inquiry, drama and theatre education, social justice, creativity, and arts education, with substantial experience in research ethics, work with young people, and engagement with marginalised communities.
Collectively, their backgrounds span both practice and scholarship, including extensive work on how children and young people engage with theatre and the arts, as well as experience with literature review and evidence-mapping methodologies.
Dr Kai Roland Green is a postdoctoral researcher whose work spans gender, social enterprise, the creative industries, and theatre dramaturgy, bringing qualitative and contextual expertise that helps connect data collection to cultural practice and interpretation.
Dr Lanora Callahan is a Research Scientist specialising in quantitative and mixed-methods research, evaluation, and performance management in public administration and the arts, with substantial experience designing, implementing, and managing studies involving young people and socioeconomically vulnerable populations.
Learn More About This Evidence Mapping Opportunity:
Why Is ASSITEJ International Launching The 'Stage Worthy' Project?
ASSITEJ International is launching this project because, although Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young Audiences is widely understood to have artistic, cultural, social, educational, developmental, and other forms of value, the evidence for these claims is often scattered, anecdotal, undocumented, or difficult to access. As part of its Creating Cultural Equity project, ASSITEJ wants a more systematic, globally relevant body of evidence that can qualify and quantify the sector’s impact, strengthen recognition of its value, and support advocacy with funders, policymakers, and partner sectors.
What Is The Aim Of The 'Stage Worthy' Project?
The aim of the project is to collect, curate, synthesise, and signpost to existing published and unpublished evidence that demonstrates the value and impact of Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People. In doing so, the project seeks to produce collated, annotated, and segmented evidence across different Performance art-forms, geographies, languages, and impact types, so that ASSITEJ members and other stakeholders can more clearly understand and use this evidence in advocacy, policy, and practice.
What Will The 'Stage Worthy' Project Involve?
The project involves a multi-phase research process, including planning and preparation; an initial systematic review of multilingual texts; stakeholder engagement through National Centres and International Professional Networks; a final systematic review and evidence gap map; knowledge translation; and reflection. In practice, this means conducting literature searches across academic, other published, and unpublished sources; coding and categorising evidence; collecting submissions from National Centres and International Professional Networks; producing qualitative case studies of impact in practice; and developing accessible advocacy tools such as visual outputs, webinars, and an evidence map.
How Will ASSITEJ National Centres & International Professional Networks Participate In The 'Stage Worthy' Project?
ASSITEJ National Centres and International Professional Networks will participate by responding to an open call and, if selected, contributing evidence from their own national contexts. They will participate in webinar briefing sessions that explore how to identify, submit, and use impact evidence; can choose to meet with researchers for optional follow-ups about how to collect evidence; will be able to feedback to researchers on their cultural, linguistic, and geographic contexts; will collect both published and grey literature; and may act as critical friends to the researchers in order to strengthen the inclusivity and relevance of the research.
What Do We Hope The 'Stage Worthy' Project Will Achieve?
ASSITEJ hopes the project will achieve a stronger, more accessible global evidence base on the value of Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People, while also showing where research gaps remain. More broadly, it aims to strengthen the sector’s advocacy, funding applications, professional learning, and policy influence; help non-academic stakeholders point to credible literature on impact; and provide a proof of concept for expanded future research and collaboration.
Who Can Apply?
This open call is for ASSITEJ National Centres that:
- Have a strong interest in strengthening evidence for TYA in their country
- Have the capacity to actively participate across the project timeline
Selection will aim to ensure a strong geographical, linguistic, and contextual balance, including representation from different regions and a mixture of larger and smaller National Centres.
The project activities will be conducted in English.
What Is The Timeline For The Involvement Of ASSITEJ National Centres & International Professional Networks?
ASSITEJ National Centres and International Professional Networks are invited to reply to the Open Call.
Selected National Centres and International Professional Networks will be informed by the end of June 2026.
Webinar briefings, optional follow ups with researchers, and other project activities for participating ASSITEJ members are expected to take place from July to December 2026 (taking into account seasonal breaks in July / August).
Learn More About This Data Gathering Opportunity:
Why Is ASSITEJ International Launching The 'Young Audiences Count' Project?
ASSITEJ International is launching this collaborative project to respond to a long-standing challenge in the Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) field: while the impact, reach, and social values of our work are widely felt, we sometimes lack the ‘language game’ to make our impact known in wider circles. There remains a lack of data (and the stories that the data tells) about the children and young people who engage with TYA – and how we might encourage more diverse participation.
What Is The Aim Of The 'Young Audiences Count' Project?
This project is an opportunity for ASSITEJ National Centres to collaborate closely with a small team of specialist data researchers to develop and implement their own knowledge, tools, and methods for collecting, analysing, and presenting meaningful data on young people’s engagement with theatre and the performing arts in their national contexts.
Through this project, we aim to support National Centres in building a clearer, more reliable evidence base for their future advocacy, funding applications, policy engagement, and strategic development.
What Will The 'Young Audiences Count' Project Involve?
By being part of the project, National Centres will receive bespoke training to develop and implement their own methods for capturing data, and for using this data to support their advocacy initiatives, whilst also contributing to a growing global evidence base for TYA.
Participating National Centres will be supported to:
- Learn about different types of data collection – enabling you to deepen your understanding of your audiences;
- Identify existing data sources relevant to TYA audiences in your country;
- Collaborate in the creation of national data frameworks;
- Participate in data analysis alongside the research team;
- Assist in producing charts, graphs, and visualisations to present your findings clearly and accessibly.
How Will ASSITEJ National Centres Participate In The 'Young Audiences Count' Project?
The project is designed as both a research collaboration and a capacity-building programme. Participating National Centres will be supported through a structured international learning framework.
The training programme will run from July to December 2026 (taking into account seasonal breaks in July / August), and will include the following:
1. Regular Interactive Training Webinars
(4-6 In Total)
Live ZOOM sessions focusing on key themes in data collection, analysis, and interpretation, with practical guidance tailored to the TYA sector.
2. A Library of Tools & Templates
Including data collection tools, reporting formats, and analysis methods that National Centres can continue to use beyond the project.
3. A Basic Data Entry Framework & Data Dashboard
Instructions and tools to support consistent national data entry and comparison.
4. Regular Drop-In Mentoring Sessions
Optional drop-in ZOOM sessions for troubleshooting, advice, and peer exchange with the research team.
The webinars will be action-oriented: after each session, participants will be given a practical task to complete before the next meeting, helping to ensure steady progress toward national data collection and analysis.
The project activities will be conducted in English.
What Do We Hope The 'Young Audiences Count' Project Will Achieve?
ASSITEJ hopes the project will achieve a stronger evidence base for the TYA sector worldwide by showing both who is currently being reached and where geographic or demographic gaps remain.
By taking part, your National Centre will:
- Gain practical skills in data management and analysis;
- Strengthen national advocacy and arguments for funding;
- Be able to use data to support marketing and long-term audience development;
- Contribute to a global evidence base for TYA;
- Build new relationships with international peers and researchers;
- Help the TYA sector become more visible and better represented in policy circles.
Who Can Apply?
ASSITEJ National Centres and International Professional Networks are invited to reply to the Open Call before the deadline on 29th May 2026.
Selected National Centres and International Professional Networks will be informed by the end of June 2026.
Webinars, one-to-one follow-up mentoring, and other project activities for participating ASSITEJ members are expected to take place from July to December 2026.
What Is The Timeline For The Involvement Of ASSITEJ National Centres & International Professional Networks?
ASSITEJ National Centres and International Professional Networks are invited to reply to the Open Call.
Selected National Centres and International Professional Networks will be informed by the end of June 2026.
Webinars, one-to-one follow-up mentoring, and other project activities for participating ASSITEJ members are expected to take place from July to December 2026 (taking into account seasonal breaks in July / August).
How This Builds On Our Existing Evidence Mapping Work:
In collaboration with ASSITEJ International, the researchers from the University of Sydney have already completed a pilot evidence-mapping project. Additionally, Dr Selina Busby from The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama has already completed first-phase pilot multinational case studies on structures of access and dissemination within the TYA sector.
To learn more about this work, click on the multimedia links below:
How This Builds On Our Existing Data Gathering Work:
In collaboration with ASSITEJ International, Dr Kai Roland Green and Dr Lanora Callahan have already completed a first-phase pilot study on this topic.
To learn more about this work, click on the multimedia links below:
