2026 Emerging Creatives Student Summit: “Rewilding: New Stories of Collective Wellbeing”
About the Summit
a2ru is thrilled to announce that Michigan State University will host the 2026 Emerging Creatives Student Summit, taking place March 5-8 in East Lansing. This year’s theme is “Rewilding: New Stories of Collective Wellbeing.”
Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration that asks us to reimagine–or, in some sense, rewind–the relationship between natural processes and human interventions into those processes, a relationship that has been fraught with conflict for centuries. “Rewilding” may suggest a nostalgic return to the past, but it can also help us reconsider how we understand the present.Taking it further, how might we leverage the ideas of interconnectedness, dynamic change, and sustainability, found at the core of rewilding, to develop new visions for the future—across many domains? How might this allow us to consider human and natural forces as working in tandem, rather than operating in conflict? How might models of balanced ecosystems transform our ideas of human community and collaboration? How might these concepts support increased wellbeing at the individual, group, and global level?
Emerging Creatives is a three-day collaborative experience in which students form small cross-disciplinary teams to explore a specific area of the Summit’s theme. Over the course of the event, teams make something that represents their exploration: a syllabus, cookbook, podcast, app, opera, pair of shoes, urban blueprint, pop-up store, musical score, website…the list of possible outcomes is endless.
At Emerging Creatives, students not only envision and create their project; they also take field trips, meet extraordinary interdisciplinary thinkers, practice presenting their work, and exchange ideas about their project with peers and experts. Students also build collaboration skills in micro-workshops with a2ru staff.
Banner image credit: Ethan Seelig, MSU ’24
Information Session
Join us Tuesday, September 9 at 12pm ET for an open Q and A session about Emerging Creatives. Registration is required. We will provide a brief overview of the event, and an outline of how some schools select and send their students. Then we’ll field any questions you may have about student experience, funding, timing, etc. This is a great opportunity for schools who have never sent a student to Emerging Creatives to learn more about it.
Nominating Students
a2ru member institutions are eligible to nominate up to 4 students to attend the 2026 Emerging Creatives Student Summit. Graduate students and undergraduate students in their junior year or above are eligible. One representative from each institution should submit the names of the nominated students via the form below no later than November 3, 2025.
In order to maintain the interdisciplinary nature of Emerging Creatives, a2ru asks that the students nominated by each institution represent a broad range of disciplines both within and outside the arts. The contributions of students from disciplines in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, business and other fields are essential to the success of the Summit.
Funding
Students who are accepted into Emerging Creatives will be eligible to apply for a limited number of $250 Travel Grants and $1000 Scholar Awards. Application information for these awards will be available on this page in September. These awards are intended to support students whose participation in Emerging Creatives is not fully funded by their home institutions.
Travel & Lodging
Students should make travel arrangements so they are available to participate in Emerging Creatives activities starting at 4pm on Thursday, March 5 (registration will open at 3pm) and ending on Sunday, March 8 at 1:30pm. Travel and hotel arrangements are the responsibility of the participating students and/or their home institutions.
Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) serves East Lansing. The Michigan Flyer shuttle bus is an easy, affordable way to between East Lansing and the airport; the ride takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes
Additional information about hotels in East Lansing will be available on this page in September.
Sponsors
