SIG 28 Conference 2026

The theme of the 2026 conference is Playful Worlds: Play, Creativity, and Learning Across Analogue and Digital Spaces The conference will take place from Wednesday, 8th July to Friday, 10th July 2026, at the Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The conference will be in English.

Play is the foundation of creativity, learning, and innovation. This conference explores the many ways in which play and creativity intersect in education and society. We will consider the multiple forms of play and creativity, from hands-on games to immersive digital experiences, and how they shape education, collaboration, and imagination in a connected world.

We live in a time when boundaries between the physical and the digital, the individual and the collective, are increasingly fluid. These shifts offer new possibilities and challenges for understanding and supporting playful, creative learning and development. We welcome researchers, educators, professionals, and policymakers to exchange findings, experiences, and reflections on these issues.

We especially invite relevant contributions that explore, among other things:

• the role of play and/or creativity across different contexts, media, and disciplines, including (but not limited to) formal and informal learning, creative processes in art and design, creative problem-solving and digital culture;
• how creativity and/or play drive innovation in education, entrepreneurship, and workplace learning;
• creative/playful approaches to education and skills development;
• game-based learning, digital or analogue

While the conference theme focuses on the intersection of play, creativity, and learning across analogue and digital spaces, we warmly welcome submissions that address other aspects of play and/or creativity, even if they are not explicitly captured in the title.

By bringing together a wide spectrum of research and practice, this conference aims to inspire new ideas and collaborations. We look forward to meeting with you in Reggio Emilia to share ideas, research, and inspiration on the many forms and meanings of play and creativity in contemporary life.

Finally, given that the conference will be at Reggio Emilia, we will learn and explore research on play and creativity together with the Centre Loris Malaguzzi of the Reggio Children Foundation. The Reggio Emilia Approach® is an educational philosophy that views children as capable, rights-bearing individuals who learn through many forms of expression and through relationships with others. This internationally influential approach is continuously developed in Reggio Emilia’s early childhood centres. It is grounded in collaborative work among staff, the presence of multiple educators in the classroom, the role of the atelier and the atelierista, the environment as an educator, documentation of learning processes, a coordinating pedagogical team, and active family participation. Loris Malaguzzi was a key figure in the creation and growth of Reggio Emilia’s municipal infant–toddler centres and preschools, working alongside the local government and many citizens, particularly women.