BBC Children’s is to host 2017’s 8th World Summit on Media for Children in Manchester

The summit, which has been held in a different location every three years since it started in Melbourne, Australia in 1995, is expected to attract more than 1,500 delegates. The event will be held from 5 – 7 December 2017 in BBC Children’s home city after plans to base it in Davos, Switzerland were scrapped.  

BBC Children’s director Alice Webb led the bid, alongside Marketing Manchester and Conference Partners, after it was retendered following her appointment in February. Webb said the vision for the summit was to explore the universal, modern media needs which apply to children internationally.

The conference will centre around five key themes: empowerment, learning, entertainment, connection and protection. Webb said that alongside the industry speakers and sessions, a children’s programme will be attended by at least 50 children from around the world. “It’s a real opportunity for people attending the summit to get international feedback on their new interactive media, from programmes to games to interactive devices,” she added.

Founder of the summit and World Summit on Media for Children Foundation president Dr Patricia Edgar said members of the foundation were unanimous in their decision that the event should be hosted in Salford.