The Cultural Futures Forum: Whose Creative Labor Counts?

The forces transforming work are reshaping a cultural and creative sector in which livelihoods have long been precarious.

Artificial intelligence, automation and digital platforms are transforming how culture is created, distributed and valued. New generations are entering the workforce, particularly in regions with rapidly growing young populations. Expectations around work, mobility, wellbeing and professional purpose are shifting, while creative production is becoming faster, more accessible and more abundant. These changes bring enormous possibility—but their benefits will not be shared equally.

Cultural and creative work still depends heavily on freelance, informal, project-based and underpaid labor. Artists and cultural workers navigate irregular incomes, limited protections and uncertain career pathways, with women, early-career practitioners and marginalized communities often carrying the greatest precarity. At the same time, greater creative output and visibility do not necessarily create greater economic security: a culture, art form or artist can achieve extraordinary recognition while the wider workforce sustaining that success remains poorly paid or invisible. As the world of work is transformed, the central question is not only what will happen to creative work, but who will have the power, security and opportunity to build a creative life.

What will Happen as a Result?

Each annual Forum will extend its impact beyond the residential convening, turning the ideas, insights and relationships developed in Salzburg into resources, connections and opportunities for action.

• Cultural Futures Outlook an annual collection of articles, digital content and open-access resources capturing emerging trends, strategic insights and perspectives from each cohort.

• An active international network connecting participants across annual cohorts and creating opportunities for continued exchange, collaboration and partnership.

• Online convenings and peer exchange keeping the conversation moving between Forums, sharing emerging practice and bringing new questions and learning back into the wider network.

• Ideas put into practice supporting participants to take insights, approaches and relationships from Salzburg into their organizations, sectors and communities.

Together, these create a cumulative platform for learning and action, with each Forum building on the knowledge, relationships and practical experience developed by those before it.

Timeline:

Programs at Salzburg Global are co-designed with participants who work together to determine the program agenda. Participants should be available for the following dates:

·       Co-Creation Meeting 1 (Online) February 4, 2027

·       Co-Creation Meeting 2 (Online) February 18, 2027

·       In-Person Program (Salzburg, Austria) March 14th (from 15:00) to 19th (departure), 2027

The program will start around 15:00 Central European Time on March 14th and it will end on March 19th (this day being departure day only)

Application Information:

Applications must be submitted through our online application form. Alongside some basic information about you and your work, you will be asked to respond to the following questions:

1.      Please describe who you are and the work you currently do within or connected to the cultural and creative sector. What are your main responsibilities, who or what does your work seek to influence, and what impact have you contributed to? (250 words)

2.      Describe a change, initiative, project or new approach that you are currently leading or contributing to. What role are you playing, what barriers are you encountering, and how could participation in this program help move this work forward? (250 words)

3.      What perspectives, lived experiences, knowledge or practices would you bring to this international and intergenerational group? Is there a particular example, model or lesson from your context that you would like to share with others? (250 words)

4.      What question about the future of creative work do you most want to explore in Salzburg? Why does it matter in your context, and how could the relationships, ideas or learning developed through the program strengthen your work after the program? (2min video response)

Note on use of AI: We are interested in the substance of your ideas and experiences, not in perfect written or English or highly polished prose. We recognize that AI tools can support accessibility, translation and the application process in valuable ways. You are welcome to use them if helpful, but we encourage you to review and adapt any AI-assisted text carefully. Your application should reflect your own voice, experiences and ideas—we want to get to know you, not a generic version of what an ideal applicant might say.

Please apply here before 17:00 CEST on 19th October 2026.

If you have exceptional circumstances which prevent you from applying through this application portal, please contact Iman Albertini, ialbertini@salzburgglobal.org.

How will participants be selected?

Applications will be assessed based on the relevance of the applicant’s work to the program, the insight and experience they would bring, their capacity to contribute to peer learning, and their potential to apply the program’s ideas and relationships within their wider work, institution, network or community. We welcome applications from people exercising leadership in many forms: through creative practice, community organizing, worker representation, policymaking, education, research, funding, technology, entrepreneurship or institutional change.

How will the group be curated?

Selection will consider not only the strength of each application, but also the composition of the group as a whole. We will curate an international, interdisciplinary and intergenerational cohort spanning different geographies, creative fields, sectors, career stages and relationships to cultural work. We will seek a balance between people with direct experience of the challenges facing creative workers and those positioned to influence the policies, institutions, technologies and resources that shape their livelihoods.

Particular attention will be given to perspectives that have historically been less visible in cultural leadership and decision-making, including participants from the Majority World, people of color, disabled and LGBTQ+ people, and individuals from low-income, Indigenous, ethnically diverse or migrant backgrounds.

*Majority World: We use this term to recognize that most of the world’s population lives outside the wealthiest, traditionally Western countries. It primarily refers to countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of the Middle East. The term seeks to recognize the diversity, innovation and critical perspectives emerging from these regions without reinforcing outdated hierarchies.

**LGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+. This term is widely recognized in human rights discussions concerning sexual orientation and gender identity. We use it inclusively to encompass other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, that express diverse sexualities, genders, intersex variations and gender-nonconforming identities.

Application Deadline:

October 19, 2026 (17:00 Central European Time)

If you have any exceptional circumstances that inhibit your application through this online portal, please get in touch with us at

ialbertini@salzburgglobal.org.