The conference, disguised as this edition’s Cultural Camp, offers an exciting and packed agenda featuring keynote speeches, presentations, and workshops centered around Cultural Participation with a special focus on youth at a European level. Participants, alongside their chosen youth representatives, will collaborate and exchange insights, working towards shaping effective strategies for successful international cooperation and fostering meaningful cultural dialogues across borders.

The agenda also includes dedicated matchmaking and networking opportunities for all attendees, between both international and local stakeholders. In parallel with the conference, Arcadia, Leeuwarden’s ECoC legacy program, is in full swing with 100 days of artistic and cultural programming. At the heart of both the program and Leeuwarden is Bouwurk, a vibrant community-built oasis, which will be this edition’s hub. The participants are invited to drop in during their free time for a new experience. 

The general conference programme is as follows:
8th of July is the pre-meetings day, and the agenda includes management meetings and a further step în the development of the Culture Next initiative to evaluate the impact of culture on the SDGs. In the evening we have the Official Reception.
The conference officially starts on 9th of July, a day open to the general public.
The official program ends on 10th of July, with a schedule centred around network-related sessions, therapy sessions and conversations.

Registration Form until the 6th of June 2025 here.

Culture Next
Established in 2017, Culture Next is dedicated to European Capital of Culture candidates, current or former, awarded or not.mTheir mission is to contribute to having more European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programmes implemented in European cities and regions and to define a long-term European vision on local development through culture and creativity.

Building on the experiences, processes and collaborations established during the ECoC bid, they support all cities, being them awarded or not, to implement culture-led local development programmes and policies. They are committed to deliver a sustainable impact and meaningful legacy of the ECoC programme.

Whether being ECoC labelled or not, all cities need support and inspiration în order to carry on with the implementation of their programmes. The partnerships, talents and resources mobilised through ECoC bidding make a strong base for culture-led sustainable development in these cities. They can all contribute to the success and legacy of the ECoC project.

Cities are where democracy, inclusiveness and innovation are produced, and culture is a facilitator of this entire ecosystem. More cities with cultural programmes mean more power to address European challenges and opportunities.

EcocNews is mediapartner of Culture Next.

More informations here.

Arcadia
In 2018, Leeuwarden and Fryslân were named European Capital of Culture. For a full year, they used art and culture to build a province they could proudly pass on to future generations. After the successful Capital of Culture year, they set their sights on 2028. They changed their name from Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2028 to Arcadia. And now, every three years, they take bold steps to bring the vision they set in 2018 to life.

Arcadia was a 100-day cultural program that took place in the province of Fryslân from May 6th to August 14th, 2022. The event, created by Dutch and international artists, stimulated the senses with theater, dance, singing, photography, lectures, discussions, walks, visual arts, literature, and poetry. They are now actively working on creating a new 100-day program for 2025!

Fryslân’s regional anthem describes it as it bêste lân fan d’ierde, the best land on Earth, and this was the inspiration for Arcadia. They have the courage to add an exclamation mark and a question mark to this sentence.

The world has changed, and so have the climate and the ways in which people interact with one another. Here in their beautiful province, they use art and culture to ask questions about ancestry, what kind of world they want to live in, and what they want to leave their children and grandchildren. They believe that together they can create a more beautiful world. Art can help to do this.

In the summer of 2022, they’ve offered a 100-day podium for makers and doers who want to change the world. This included a forest wandering through the streets, dramas on the cliffs of Fryslân, artworks in the park, dancers in abandoned hangars, and music on the mudflats. Sometimes grand and thrilling, sometimes small and intimate. Many of the events were free.

More informations here. 

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