The conference was the third in a series of events held during 2010, which aimed to interrogate the current relationship, and explore possible synergies, between the arts and education.  The conference also allowed participants the opportunity to respond to the recommendations of Points of Alignment: The Report on the Special Committee on the Arts and Education.  The conference invited some sixty Irish and international delegates from both arts and education environments to continue the debate around the arts-in-education agenda in Ireland. Siobhán Parkinson, Ireland's first Laureate na nÓg/Children’s Laureate gave a keynote address.

Successfully integrated models of practice in operation elsewhere in Europe were presented by guest speakers from the Netherlands and the UK.  An exemplary Irish case study was detailed, and the CEO of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment spoke on the situation of the arts within the formal Irish curriculum. The former Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin attended Animating the Space, which consisted of a number of examples of exemplary youth arts practice areas, she also addressed the meeting.

http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Encountering+the+Arts_Final+ReportMarch2011.pdf