Based at the iconic, inclusive Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Beyond Imagination will unite athletes, administrators, allies, activists, artists and academics together in examining sport as a site of profound transformation. It can, and must be, reclaimed as a space for all.
Sport has always held the power to inspire, unite, and spark joy. At its best, it creates spaces where people move freely, connect deeply, and celebrate both individuality and community. Yet, for many, especially those within LGBTQIA+ communities, access to this joy has long been shaped by exclusion, erasure, and inequality.
In these conditions, imagination becomes a lifeline: a way to picture something better, to feel what is possible before it exists.
To be marginalised is to be isolated, to live life on the fringes of a world that does not accept you. To survive this world, imagination becomes a solace, an alternative reality. These dreams provide a means to live a life you have always wanted, free from prejudicial gaze. Imagination is a survival tool of the oppressed; to generate change requires interrogating reality and dismantling local, national, and global structures that have long excluded those who do not fit privileged norms.
This conference invites scholars, activists, practitioners, artists, athletes, and policymakers to co-create a manifesto for inclusive transformation that moves us beyond imagination.
Across two days of conversation, collaboration, and connection, we will move beyond the imagined and toward the possible.
The conference is shaped by four cross-cutting streams:
Research-led consultancy from two of the UK's leading organisational and qualitative research experts.
