IFGA26 Categories > Culture

Culture

Working on a project exploring how place is used, expressed or understood today?

This category is likely a good fit.

This category focuses on how children and young people shape the cultural identity and meaning of place in the present.

Projects may vary in scale and stage — from early ideas through to implemented change.

It includes work where their input influences:

  • how spaces are used

  • how identity is expressed

  • how place is understood today

The key is current cultural use and meaning, not heritage.

What this includes

  • Input shaping cultural use of space

  • Contributions influencing identity or expression

  • Work exploring how place is experienced culturally

  • Changes to how spaces are used or understood

What counts

  • Evidence of changed use or meaning

  • Cultural outcomes affecting how place is experienced

  • Contributions shaping identity in the present

This doesn’t include

  • Historical interpretation (→ Heritage)

  • Community participation without cultural lens (→ Community)

  • Creative work without connection to place

If your work spans multiple areas, choose the category that best represents what was shaped. If it fits within two categories, submit each application separately as an original entry

Examples of strong submissions
These illustrate how children and young people have influenced outcomes — not just taken part.

  • Young people shaped how a place is represented, influencing creative outputs that reflect local identity.

  • Young people contributed to how stories of a place are told and experienced.

  • Young people influenced how culture is expressed within a space, shaping its meaning and use.

In this category, we recognise both projects that demonstrate clear influence, and those that show strong emerging practice with the potential to influence future decisions.

Eligibility

You can submit as a client, public body, or project partner — not just a delivery organisation.