Now available — the Creative Youth Development double issue of Extensions magazine, guest edited by Denise Montgomery → Extensions magazine — guest edited by Denise Montgomery →

Global Centre for Creative Youth Development™

Strengthening the global field of creative youth development.

The Global Centre for Creative Youth Development™ (GCCYD) is a global field-building organization that connects people, generates and mobilizes knowledge, and catalyses collective action so more young people thrive through creativity.

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From the Field

The Creative Youth Development double issue of Extensions magazine — guest edited by Denise Montgomery.

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What We Do

Local roots, global reach.

GCCYD creates the conditions for mutual learning, organic exchange, and locally-appropriate innovation across the global creative youth development ecosystem.

01

Connect

Bridging practitioners across geographic and cultural boundaries through peer networks and convenings.

02

Exchange

Translating research into practice and moving knowledge between scholars and the people doing the work.

03

Advance

Documenting effective practices and building the case for greater investment in creative youth development.

Roadmap

From Field-Building to a Global Centre

Two decades of field-building and global policy have converged to make a centre for creative youth development both possible and necessary.

Field building Global policy
  1. 2025–2026
    Incubation of the Global Centre for Creative Youth Development
  2. 2026
    UNESCO-UNEVOC releases Integrating AI in TVET, establishing an institution-wide framework that directs vocational institutions to balance responsible AI adoption with non-automatable human capabilities like creative problem-solving, design thinking, and critical analysis.
  3. 2023–2025
    The World Economic Forum consistently ranks creative thinking among the top workforce skills for the AI era, aligning with a global policy shift that sees over 100 countries codify creative capacities directly into national education frameworks.
  4. 2024
    Launch of Burberry Inspire, a global creative youth development initiative in extended learning settings
  5. 2022
    3C Data Alliance engages in discovery and concept work, leading to 2023 funding and initiative launch
  6. 2022
    The OECD administers its first-ever assessment of creative thinking across 64 countries, signaling recognition of creativity as a foundational capacity essential for global innovation, problem-solving, and economic resilience.
  7. 2021–2022
    UNESCO-UNEVOC formally updates its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) guidelines to classify creativity and innovation as essential, non-automatable workforce skills required to keep technical education resilient against rapid automation.
  8. 2020
    Formation of the National CYD Funders Forum
  9. 2018
    Publication of the National Blueprint to Advance Creative Youth Development
  10. 2017
    Creative Youth Development National Stakeholder Meeting
  11. 2016
    Publication of “The Rise of Creative Youth Development” in Arts Education Policy Review
  12. 2016
    Formation of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership
  13. 2014
    Creative Youth Development National Summit
  14. 2013
    Publication of Something to Say: Success Principles for Afterschool Arts Programs from Urban Youth and Other Experts by the Wallace Foundation; national speaking tour and regional creative youth development summits
  15. 2005
    UNESCO adopts the landmark Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, formally linking creativity to economic development and establishing the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) as vital drivers of job creation and youth empowerment worldwide.

Documenting the Field

Landmark publications, including early peer-reviewed journal articles on creative youth development, have helped codify the field, establish foundational frameworks, and document its history and emergence.