Dr Naomi Lott to speak at National Play Conference 2026
Dr Naomi Lott, one of the UK’s leading academic voices on children’s right to play, will speak at the inaugural National Play Conference at the University of Warwick on Friday 9 October 2026.
A Lecturer in Law at the University of Reading and Associate Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford, Dr Lott specialises in international children’s rights law and the implementation of the right to play. Her work has helped bring greater legal and policy clarity to Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and what is required to make that right real in children’s everyday lives.
Her 2023 book, The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation, was the first legal monograph dedicated to the right to play, and her subsequent research has focused on how that right can be translated from principle into practice.
From a right on paper to a right realised
At the Conference, Dr Lott will explore her STAR framework, developed through her research as a practical framework for implementing children’s right to play.
STAR identifies children’s needs must be met across four essential areas:
Space: physical and mental freedom to play, imagine, explore, and belong
Time: protected, unstructured time for spontaneous, self-directed play
Acceptance: culture that recognises and celebrates play as a right; and
Rights: Legal, policy, and planning systems that secure and uphold children’s rights.
The framework provides a powerful way of moving beyond simply recognising that children have a right to play and asking the more practical question: what conditions must society create for that right to be realised? That question sits at the heart of the National Play Conference.
Creating the conditions for play
The Conference theme, Creating the Conditions for Play, is grounded in Play England’s ten-year strategy - It All Starts with Play!
Dr Lott’s contribution will provide an important rights-based foundation for the wider programme, connecting directly to the four strategic areas of Spaces, Skills, Sector and Society. Her work also reinforces a central principle of Play England’s approach: the right to play cannot be delivered by the play sector alone. It depends on decisions made across planning, transport, education, health, housing, local government, communities and national policy.
This is why STAR will also provide the common rights-based lens across the inaugural National Play Awards, taking place the evening before the Conference.
A pivotal moment for play
Dr Lott’s announcement follows confirmation that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will also speak at the Conference, discussing the Government’s £18 million Playground Fund and the strengthened recognition of play within the new National Planning Policy Framework.
Together, these contributions reflect the wider purpose of the Conference: connecting rights, policy, evidence and practice so that children have the time, space, opportunity and freedom to play.
Dr Lott was also an expert commissioner on the national Play Commission, whose final report was presented at the House of Lords in June 2025 and set out recommendations to improve children’s opportunities to play across England.
Join us in Warwick
The National Play Conference takes place on Friday 9 October 2026 at the University of Warwick.
If you work in play, planning, local government, design, construction, education, health, policy, research or community development, this is an opportunity to be part of the national conversation about what comes next.
Come to Warwick and help us create the conditions for every child to play.
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