Cultural Democracy in Contact Zones
An international gathering on cultural democracy, participation, and the role of culture in shaping more inclusive futures
📅 2–3 July 2026
📍 Pianofabriek, Brussels, Rue du Fort 35, 1060 Saint-Gilles
What kinds of spaces make it possible for different identities and perspectives to coexist and shape a common future through dialogue?
This is the question at the heart of our final conference for Training for the Contact Zone. Over the last year and a half, this project has developed and tested a training curriculum to help cultural and heritage staff create new forms of activities that strengthen cultural belonging. The project’s overarching goal has been to strengthen European cohesion by encouraging dialogue and fostering shared cultural understanding.
This conference will explore how institutions and practitioners across the cultural, educational and civic sectors can facilitate spaces where people with different perspectives can engage in open dialogue, developing an approach that is both comprehensive yet adaptable to different local settings.
At a time of growing polarisation and social fragmentation, spaces where differences can interact are increasingly under pressure. In this context, ensuring cultural democracy, cultural rights, and democratic participation becomes challenging. We require culture and heritage spaces where difference is not only acknowledged but actively held and negotiated. We need forms of participation that allow people to access culture, as well as shape it, question it, and see themselves reflected in it. This conference will explore the structural conditions needed to sustain this work. We will look at how participatory cultural practices can be more consistently recognised, supported, and funded, with a specific focus on how the insights and methods developed through Training for the Contact Zone can inform European cultural policy and better integrate culture’s democratic role across sectors.
We invite cultural practitioners, artists, teachers, social workers, and policymakers to join us in July to connect the experiences of Training for the Contact Zone with broader advocacy for a more participatory cultural ecosystem. Through conversations, participatory sessions, and networking moments, we will discuss and contribute to the shaping of the future of cultural democracy in Europe.
