Day 1 | 5 June 

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Democracy: Next Generation Governance

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: Dorado

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Contributors: 

Micaela Casalboni, Teatro dell'Argine

Emma Iacovaccio, Politico Poetico

Clara Passarinho, Associação da Minha Rua, A Rafeira

Leon Stille, Collective Nest

Gaia Orondini, Fyonda 

Alda Noca, Young Advisory Board of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo First Edition

 

Democracy: Next Generation Governance focuses on the role of youth in reshaping democratic and cultural governance for a more inclusive and sustainable future. As young people across Europe and beyond demand deeper participation, climate justice, and systemic change, this session explores how institutions can respond - not just by listening, but by sharing power.

 

We will explore how cultural spaces can become platforms for youth-led decision-making and intergenerational collaboration. What structures and mindsets are needed to move beyond symbolic inclusion toward genuine empowerment? This session invites participants to reflect on how to embed youth perspectives at the core of governance and build democratic practices that are future-facing, equitable, and rooted in care.

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Democracy: Memory and Representation

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: La Centrale Nuvola Lavazza

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Contributors: 

Cristina Da Milano, Eccom

Davide Quadrio, MAO

Adeshola Adetunde Adefioye, Contested Desires

 

Democracy: Memory and Representation explores how cultural institutions can engage with the complexities of the past in a more inclusive way. In a time of rising polarisation, this session addresses the urgent need to confront postcolonial legacies, open the space to discuss contested heritage, and give a voice to communities silenced in dominant historical accounts.

 

How can memory practices reflect the diversity of lived experiences and challenge systems of exclusion? What role do cultural actors play in reclaiming space for marginalised voices and building more democratic narratives of belonging? Through an intersectional lens, we will examine how issues of race, gender, class, and geography intersect in shaping both memory and representation and explore pathways toward more just and plural cultural memory work.

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Words for a collective advocacy

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: San Pietro in Vincoli

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Contributors: 

Beatrice Sarosiek, Fertili Terreni Teatro

Luiza Moroz, Culture Action Europe

Francesca D’Ippolito and Chiara Baudino Progetto, C.RE.S.CO.

Kryštof Koláček and Ulrike Kuner EAIPA (Europe)

Tsveta Andreeva, European Cultural Foundation (Europe)

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"I have learned that the problem of others is the same as mine. To get out of it together is politics, to get out of it alone is greed." Don Lorenzo Milani

 

We are in times of big changes and crises: it looks like the traditional approach to advocacy doesn’t work anymore. This session is about sharing and learning, which could be the strategies for an effective advocacy action in the field of cultural and art sector today. 

How can we learn from each other new approaches and trajectories? Which are the necessary words that can lead us? Which language should we speak to find a good communication ground? Which tools?

 

Starting from the experiences of the organisations in the room, we will share questions and examples to help each one to find new possible solutions. Together, we will create a collective glossary of necessary words for advocacy today and a description of useful tools. 

After the session, we would like to have a follow-up in some months, to continue the sharing. The glossary and the tools will be shared with all the participants.

 

The session can be relevant for those who want to learn more about advocacy, for the ones who are experts but need to find new inspirations, for the ones who want to help others, towards a collective advocacy.

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Youth Culture and Mental Health: towards caring and empowering ecosystems

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: Borealis

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Contributors:

RAT 34: Zuzanna Jończyk, Hanna Kuźmitowicz, Julia Perlejewska, Zuzanna Rudziks

Giulia Mezzalama, MIND Torino

Annalisa Cicerchia, CCW – Cultural Welfare Centre

Kornelia Kiss, Culture Action Europe

Luisella Carnelli, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

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How can cultural practices contribute to the mental wellbeing of young people in an era marked by crisis, uncertainty, digital transformation, and climate anxiety? This session will start by moving presentations by youth on the ‘status quo’ and opens a space for critical and generative dialogue on the intersection between youth, culture and mental health.

Bringing together youth advocates, practitioners, and researchers, the session explores how cultural participation can foster a sense of belonging, agency, and emotional resilience among young people and thereby. It also reflects on the systemic changes needed on policy level and the conditions needed to sustain caring, empowering, and non-extractive environments within institutions, communities, countries and policy frameworks.

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Through diverse experiences - from artistic programmes to institutional strategies and youth-led actions - the session will explore both challenges and emerging practices in the growing field of culture and mental health. Building on the wealth of experience in the room, the discussions will be fed into a Culture Action Europe position paper on “Youth, culture and mental health” to be published at the end of 2025.

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It is especially relevant for cultural professionals, policy makers, educators, and youth workers seeking to co-design more responsive, inclusive, and youth-centred cultural ecosystems.

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Democracy: Radical Accessibility

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: Bagni Pubblici di Via Agliè

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Contributors: 

Stefan Gies, Culture Action Europe

Natalie Giorgadze, Culture Action Europe

Beatrice Dema, Club Silencio

Erika Mattarella Bagni Pubblici di Via Agliè

Astrid Begenyeza, Molenbeek 2030

Lorenzo Ricca, Radio Banda Larga

Agata Etmanowicz, Impact Audience

 

This session will explore how to amplify underrepresented voices and reach ‘non-audiences’, addressing the urgent need for more inclusive and accessible democratic practices in the cultural sector. The session will examine how cultural institutions can lead in making spaces for participation and collective action that are truly accessible to all. Through discussions and practical approaches, we will explore how to break down barriers, ensure equitable representation, and engage communities traditionally excluded from cultural conversations. Join us to rethink accessibility as a core pillar of democratic cultural leadership and to shape a future where everyone has a seat at the table.

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Workshop: Foresteen - Roots and Relationships

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: Salotto di Miranda

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Contributors: 

Cristina Cazzola, Assitej Italia

Giorgio Vacchiano, Foresteen Project

 

The workshop invites participants to relate the forest ecosystem to the cultural ecosystem to understand adolescents' growth and development processes. The dialogue between the forest and cultural ecosystems stimulates reflection and new paths without seeking definitive answers. The forest metaphor can inspire innovative strategies in cultural management by considering relational networks to create lasting engagement and moving from an individual to a systemic approach. What does it look like to think, feel and behave like a forest in cultural management practices? The session will be especially interesting for those working for and with teenagers and, more generally, for all those interested in transforming their cultural management practices through a deeper understanding of how natural ecosystems work.

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Female gazes

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-17.00

Location: Off Topic

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Contributors: 

Beatrice Dema, Club Silencio

Chiara Lucchini, Regional Development Manager at Torino Urban Lab

Federica Rocchi, Amigdala / Transfemina

Chiara Lucchini, Torino Urban Lab

 

Public spaces and heritage sites remain battlegrounds where women, non-binary individuals, and marginalised communities are systematically erased, both physically and symbolically. This session confronts the urgent need to transform urban landscapes through intersectional feminist practices that centre lived experience over dominant historical narratives.

 

How do we co-create art and activism that not only occupies public space but redefines who it serves? What tools—from participatory soundwalks to community-led research—can amplify underrepresented voices in urban planning and cultural policymaking? We’ll explore how collaborative artistic interventions challenge exclusionary systems, foster social cohesion, and turn temporary acts of resistance into lasting structural change. Join us to strategise inclusive futures where feminist gazes reshape belonging, access, and collective power in the cities we share.

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Day 2 | 6 June

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Democracy: Plural Governance

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Cecchi Point Casa del Quartiere di Aurora 

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Contributors: 

Celia Grau, Opera Europa

Alessandra Gariboldi, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Johan Nicolas, La Friche Belle de Mai

Martina Beria, Ecosistemica

Helene Monjarret, Cecchi Point

 

The Democracy: Plural Governance session explores how distributed leadership, community co-creation, and shared responsibility can reshape cultural institutions and networks to better reflect the principles of cultural democracy. By moving beyond hierarchical models, the session invites participants to consider how governance can become more inclusive, participatory, and responsive - embracing diversity, intergenerational dialogue, and intersectional perspectives.

Together, we will reflect on how cultural actors can embed democratic values into their structures and practices, shifting power dynamics and making space for a plurality of voices. This session aims to inspire actionable strategies for more just, accountable, and co-created cultural futures.

 

Democracy: Digital Governance

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: Sermig

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Contributors: 

Natalie Giorgadze, Culture Action Europe

Valeriya Urbanovich, Club Silencio

Daniela Calisi, Salotto di Miranda

Federico Bomba, Rigenerativa-Generative Lo Stato dei Luoghi

Fran Pazos García, Nomad Garden

 

Democracy: Digital Governance explores how digital tools and technologies are reshaping democratic processes in the cultural sphere, both as opportunities and challenges. This session invites participants to reflect on how we can build inclusive, transparent, and participatory digital governance models that serve communities rather than control them.

Going beyond human-centred design, the session will also consider how we might incorporate non-human voices - such as those of nature, algorithms, and future generations - into governance frameworks. Can we reimagine democracy to account for interdependence and ecological responsibility in the digital age?​
 

Re-searching culture: Jointly imagining research for culture and the arts

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: Sermig Garden

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Contributors: 

Burak Sayin, Space-time Works

Rocio Nogales, EMES International Research Network

Giuliana Ciancio, Cultural Policy Pathways 

 

We have an outdoor session designed to foster collaborative thinking and meaningful dialogue for you. Set beneath a gazebo, participants will gather in a relaxed, informal setting to explore the role of research in the cultural and artistic fields today. Through flipcharts, post-its, and open discussion, we’ll dive into topics like the state of culture in research, the creation of communities of practice, and how cultural research shape our work. This session invites everyone to contribute their perspectives in a welcoming, horizontal environment. Whether you’re actively involved in research or simply curious, we aim to co-imagine the future of cultural research together.

 

Beyond Care

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: Borealis

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Contributors:

Luisella Carnelli, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Kornelia Kiss, Culture Action Europe

Roberto Casarotto - Co-director Aerowaves | Dance Well 

Fabrizio Panozzo - Ca’ Foscari University

Bianca Kaplan - Associazione Oltre

Anna Formosa - Applied drama practitioner

 

What happens when the arts transform institutions from within? This session explores how artistic practices - especially those rooted in care, co-creation, and embodied participation - can act as catalysts for deep organisational change in cultural organisations. These practices do not simply add value to institutions from the outside. They have a wider impact: they challenge the way cultural organisations think about care, leadership, authorship, and the ecology of their internal processes. They question hierarchies, open up decision-making, and reshape the rhythms of institutional life.

 

Starting from the experience of Dance Well and opening up to other perspectives in the fields of socially engaged art, health, and applied performance, the session invites participants to reflect on how cultural institutions can move differently - becoming more inclusive, relational, and responsive.

 

The session is especially relevant for those working in or with cultural organisations who are interested in understanding how artistic processes can trigger structural transformation and support long-term sustainability and democratic governance.

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Workshop: Female Leadership and Gender Equality in the Cultural Sector

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: Sermig room Unidialogo

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Contributors: 

Carla Delfos, founder ELIA, Art Futures

Dr. Chrissie Tiller, teacher, thinker, activist

Mercedes Giovinazzo, BJCEM – Biennale des jeunes créateurs de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée 

 

The Disorderly Women Alliance was initiated in 2018, promotes and supports women working in leadership roles in the cultural sector in Europe by encouraging solidarity, raising visibility and empowering established and emerging generations. This session will be curated by its three founders and will explore the journey from the personal to the professional, ultimately leading to the political, as we examine the challenges and opportunities women face in leadership roles within the cultural sector. We will engage in discussions around the following key questions: What are the key obstacles and hidden barriers that women encounter on their path to leadership positions? Is the cultural sector unique in this regard? Does a distinct female leadership model exist? How can we foster greater equity in the sector, from addressing wage gaps to overcoming recruitment biases? How can we support the growth of emerging female leaders? 

 

The workshop is run by the Disorderly Women Alliance which promotes and supports women working in leadership roles in the cultural sector in Europe.

 

Workshop: Effective and Equitable Organising: Introduction to Sociocracy

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: ViaBaltea

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Contributors: 

Thomas Kemps and Martina Beria, Ecosistemica 

 

Discover the principles and tools of sociocracy, an organisational system designed to foster collaboration, equity, and effectiveness. In this experiential session, you will learn and practice how to make collaborative decisions within your team.

 

Workshop: Towards Braver Spaces

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 11.00-13.00

Location: Spazio BAC

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Contributors: 

Tundé Adefioye, Towards Braver Spaces Collective

Antonia Silvaggi, Melting Pro

 

This workshop invites participants to rethink what it means to be brave — not through confrontation, but through care, responsibility, and collective support. Together, we will explore how the language we use can include or exclude, how we hold space for others, and how we navigate discomfort and conflict as vital forces for change.

 

Drawing on lived experience, queer theories of failure, and practical strategies, we will learn how to transform moments of friction into opportunities for deeper understanding, innovation, and community care. Participants will reflect on their own responses to tension, reframe failure as a generative force, and cultivate practices of radical hope.

 

Through dialogue, listening, and collaborative reflection, this session offers tools to build braver, more inclusive spaces where new ways of being together — and new futures — can take root.

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Other sessions

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Dance Well Practice

City Sessions Day 2, 6 June, 09.00-10.00

Location: Sermig

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Contributors: 

Roberto Casarotto - co-director Aerowaves and initiator of Dance Well

Greta Pieropan - Comune di Bassano del Grappa

Anna Kushnirenko - Dance Well teacher

Beatrice Bresolin - Dance Well teacher

 

This participatory session offers an embodied encounter with Dance Well, an artistic practice originally developed with and for people living with Parkinson’s, and now expanded to a wider community across Europe. Rooted in the belief that everyone has the right to dance, Dance Well challenges conventional ideas of authorship, inclusion, and cultural participation. It proposes a radical, embodied, and horizontal approach to working together, redefining how we move, care, and create within and beyond cultural institutions. Through guided improvisation and collective movement, participants will experience dance as a space of agency, interdependence, and community-building.

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Beyond its inclusive aesthetics, Dance Well also operates as a vehicle for organisational transformation, shaping new ways of working, redistributing leadership, and expanding the role of cultural institutions. This session will resonate with artists, cultural managers, educators and policy-makers interested in socially engaged artistic practices; rethinking impact and evaluation beyond metrics; fostering embodied, collective and situated leadership; and exploring dance as a space of care and institutional imagination.

 

Guided Tour at Lavazza Museum

City Sessions Day 1, 5 June, 15.00-15.40 and 16.00-16.40

Location: Lavazza Museum

 

The Lavazza Museum in Turin is an immersive experience into coffee culture and its rituals, a multi-sensory journey that traces the history of the company and the coffee supply chain.

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