In Ljubljana, a famous 70s hit song has helped transform locals’ recycling behaviour; in Eindhoven, an art installation has invited shoppers to engage critically with smart city technology; and in Austria, cultural centres have proven to be the perfect spaces for integration between migrants and their new communities. Investment in culture is important for its own sake, but culture is also key to any progress in sustainable and resilient cities.

Culture is an engine for urban economic development and contributes directly to enhancing the quality of life of citizens. It is increasingly at the heart of local development agendas, and its connection to other areas is becoming ever more evident. This is also a clear trend at EU level, which is reflected in more and more transversal European policies and programmes where culture is connected to other policies.

We promote culture as a means of social change; using culture to improve relationships between people; promoting links between creative industries and culture; and exchanging best practice for improving quality of life through cultural experiences and development.

Our European projects in this area include Cultural Heritage in Action, ROCK, CONNECTION, VALUES and Trans-Urban-EU-China.