From October 17–19, 2024, the research team participated in the World Alliance for Arts Education (WAAE) conference, hosted by the University of Athens, Greece. This international event brought together educators, researchers, and practitioners to advance arts education across disciplines and cultural contexts. The team presented two innovative projects that reflected their commitment to redefining educational practices.

The first presentation, Artful Encounters: Rethinking Higher Education as an Art-Sci-Tech Common, delivered by Anita Sinner, Samia El Sheikh, Patricia Osler, Susana Vargas, Congmao Li, Elly Yazdanpanah, examined shifting orientations in teaching and learning through a tripartite ecosystem of transnational, transdisciplinary, and transmedia approaches. The panel explored art teacher training in Egypt, Japan, and Canada, emphasising the development of teamwork, communication, and affective responses to address accessibility and global citizenship. It also discussed the convergence of art and science as a means to foster inclusive creativity and reduce structural learning barriers, alongside the potential of public pedagogies informed by creative commons principles to shape liveable futures.

The second presentation, Echoes Across Continents: Innovating Art Education through Collaborative Podcast Creation, presented by Elly Yazdanpanah, Susana Vargas, Samia El Sheikh, Anita Sinner, highlighted the transformative potential of podcasting as a tool for global collaboration and multimodal storytelling. By fostering connections across continents, the project illustrated how digital media can expand educational possibilities and cultivate meaningful, creative exchanges among students and educators.

The team’s contributions to the WAAE conference demonstrated their dedication to advancing inclusive and interdisciplinary practices that push the boundaries of traditional arts education.