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Welcome to our second newsletter of the year. We like introducing you to a new long term project and ask your attention for the closing of another one. However different, they both underline the need for public places. With a continent in various modes of lockdown and multiple occasions where internet bubbles manifested themselves off-line, we are more convinced than ever we, Europeans, need spaces to meet, to discuss, to get to know one another.
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The Europe Challenge 2021
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With public libraries across Europe – both big and small, avant-garde and traditional, capital-based and rural – there is already a wealth of safe public spaces serving as centers for knowledge, social interaction and support for their communities. The Europe Challenge seeks to strengthen the position of the public libraries as relevant, safe and open public spaces in Europe and a place to solve local challenges by involving the knowledge of their communities.
This is why together with the Amsterdam Public Libraries (OBA), in collaboration with Public Libraries 2030 and Democratic Society, we have kicked-off the development of the Europe Challenge 2021: How do different communities around Europe contribute to the building of public spaces? What Is the role of public libraries in this? The Europe Challenge aims to address some of Europe's pressing challenges in a networked way, by working with libraries - small and big across Europe.
The Europe Challenge is engaging and enabling libraries and their local communities to redesign the current and future meaning of public space, with diverse communities from across Europe together. Participating libraries are DOKK1 Aarhus Public Library (DK), Valmiera Public Library (LV), Kranj City Library (SLO), De Krook Ghent (B), Berlin Public Library (DE) & Saint Boi Public Library (ES).
The participating public libraries will together design and implement a Europe-wide programme of activities that engage communities in shaping and imagining a European public space, working on concrete challenges that are relevant for their local context.
Read more about the Europe Challenge here.
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Co-designing Our Cities Conference
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The digital conference 'Co-designing Our Cities' by Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities (CCSC) marked the culmination of a 2.5-year experimental project. The project developed new ways for cities and regions to bring together the public administration and the cultural sector to co-create public policies.
During the two-day digital event keynote speakers shared inspiring case studies of commoning and thoughts on the future of co-creating public policy from both grassroots, local, regional, and European levels. Policy conclusions and outputs of the entire project were also presented, including the publications' Commons' launch. Between Dreams and Reality' and 'Policy Analysis and Recommendations'. Read about how the book' Commons. Between Dreams and Reality' addresses how cooperation and collective actions might influence political and economic realities and the policy analysis that has laid the ground for a new vision on decision-making here.
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Culture of Solidarity updates
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Illustration: Alex Tait for Fine Acts
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Our Culture of Solidarity grantee Fine Acts Foundation launched a creative challenge that invites you to produce emotional, compelling visuals that bring to life a shared vision for a better future. Read more about their open call and the submission deadline here.
They are just one of our fantastic #CultureofSolidarity Fund grantees. Over last year we launched three open calls. In the first grants round - running from April 6 till April 27 - we looked to support imaginative cultural initiatives that, in the midst of the global pandemic crisis reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space. We received nearly 2500 proposals of which 29 initiatives were selected. Meet the grantees here.
In the second grants round - running from June 22 till July 14 - we looked to re-unite Europe and its people in solidarity through supporting local cultural players in building alliances across nations, borders and differences with a broader European idea in mind. Get to know the 35 selected grantees [out of 2300 proposals] via this link.
For the third round, we collaborated with Fondazione CRC and Fondazione CRT. We invited organisations from the Piedmont (Cuneo province in particular) and the Aosta Valley to apply during October and November 2020. We looked for initiatives that reinforce pan-European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space from a regional and cross-border perspective. We received more than 100 proposals of which 9 initiatives were selected. Here’s some more information on them.
We are actively discussing with partners on developing new rounds of open calls. Keep posted!
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European Pavilion Podcast
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How to imagine our future and the future of Europe? With the idea of The European Pavilion, we want to challenge prevailing national perspectives by launching a thought-provoking arts initiative and a cultural statement: one that imagines cross-border European perspectives and addresses the way people, institutions and media feel and view Europe. Of course we don't do this alone. we'll be doing so with dedicated arts and culture spaces, foundations, curators and artists. First partners in this programme are Kulturanova and Camargo Foundation.
We started exploring the future of Europe and the role that the initiative for The European Pavilion can play in stimulating imaginaries beyond the national in a podcast series.
With the series, we wish to open up urgent questions that hover in any conversation about the future of Europe. Public space and ecology, post-national imaginaries and representation are some of the subjects that we discuss. Listen to the first two episodes of the European Pavilion podcast here.
We are happy to tell you the series has become part of the EuroPod family, a platform which brings together journalistic, cultural and institutional views on political and societal trends in Europe.
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Imagine Philanthropy for Europe
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Over the last weeks, various European high-level meetings on European philanthropy took place. The current challenges and the sense of urgency force foundations to reinvent themselves, get ready to take greater responsibility, and enable greater European solidarity. However, philanthropy with a European purpose remains unchartered territory.
With the study Imagine Philanthropy for Europe, the European Cultural Foundation and the Allianz Kulturstiftung for Europe invite you to a discussion to imagine European philanthropy for our common future. Download the study here.
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Community Conversation: In Europe Schools
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In Europe Schools is a one of a kind European exchange project in which secondary school students film their recent history, and research and compare themes like difficult histories, climate change and migration. The project aims to approach the teaching and learning of modern European history from a transnational perspective, encouraging multiperspectivity with participating schools and their students. In Europe Schools also stimulates international cooperation and networking between teachers and pupils. Schools coming from more than 30 different countries have already joined the project.
During this community conversation, we will discuss the project, the upsides, the tough parts, the role of Corona-lockdowns and why there are no pan European history books yet with project lead Odette Toeset (VPRO) and project manager Eugenie Khatschatrian (EuroClio).
The conversation will be hosted in zoom. In order to access the zoom link, we ask you to register by filling out the form via this link. Read more about the session here.
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The campaign #CulturalDealforEurope bundles together both short and long term objectives, towards a more balanced, more comprehensive, and more inclusive European development model. We believe there is no recovery or future for Europe without culture. Culture Action Europe offers you a landing page with all information. Click here to enter.
With many partners we work on the Initiative for a European Public Space. This initiative promotes a European public space, including online spaces, inclusive media spaces and cultural safe spaces. Ahead of a Public Spaces-conference 'Towards a common internet' [tbc] in March we like sharing some food for thought on the matter. In this opinion piece for Dutch daily NRC former MEP Marietje Schaake makes a plea for more cooperation between democratic states in regulating technology. Our project partner De Waag followed up with this article calling to safeguard civilised conversations between people. In Germany it was Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner asking President von der Leyen to grasp this opportunity for Europe. "Here the subjects do not serve the powerful. Here the state serves the people."
Our friends and partners of Are We Europe, The Europeans podcast and Allianz Kulturstiftung for Europe are launching a new audio series called ‘This Is What A Generation Sounds Like’. They are looking for young Europeans (aged 18-34) to tell intimate stories from their living place. More information here.
Do you want to contribute to our work and help us build a common European future? We are happy with all donations.
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