A Soul for Europe initiative is organising a series of Forums aiming at discussing the cultural dimension of the European project and finding new ways for cooperation between civil society and policy makers.

Most recently, its office in Porto, run by Sete Pés, has organised the Forum Guimarães, 16-17 October, focusing on the role of culture in the development of European cities and regions. In fact, the timing was ideal as Guimarães is intensively preparing to be the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) in 2012, along with Maribor.

In line with A Soul for Europe mission, this event joined together a much diversified group of speakers and participants coming from the whole of Europe, including policy makers, experts, scholars, artists as well as operators from the cultural sector and beyond. Divided into four different discussion panels, the Forum debated the role and potential of the city as a place for culture and development in view of current society’s multidimensional challenges (see programme here).

Several ECOC´s from the last twenty years were evaluated and discussed in terms of bids and application procedures, targets, actions, results, impact and sustainability. Yet, regardless of difficulties and less achieved experiences, the debate showed that this process is a great opportunity to renew a city’s development strategy in the European arena, having culture as a main engine.

Nowadays, cities face the need to combine a myriad of different levels on their quest to place themselves in the European map, whether bearing the ECOC label or not. Cities´ authorities are expected to conjugate culture with other sectors, investing in the arts, yet exploring its economic potential and also promoting social cohesion at the same time. They aim at relating the city with its surrounding region, but also with the rest of the country and with Europe. There is a need to find the right balance between investing in infra-structures and urban renovation and putting forward a daring events programme that stimulates local but also international artistic creation.

Paul Scheffer, a scholar from the University of Amsterdam, has summed up these dichotomies by referring to the need of current European cities to connect “collective memory and innovation” or “continuity and openness”.

Consequently the Forum discussed the contribution of civil society to these development processes, at both, the city and the European level. The re-invention of cities compromises also the renewal of citizenship, at a moment where citizens, as well as cities, are confronted with cumulative identities and belongings and have to learn how to deal with all these apparent contradictions and challenges.

Culture and the arts, as advocated by A Soul for Europe, might offer new views into this complex reality, smoothing and enriching our perception and experience of nowadays European cities.

After Guimarães, this chain of debates moves on. The Forum Cluj already took place this week (27-28 Oct), Ravello will follow tomorrow (31^st Oct) and Praha will come next: 11-12 Dec.

Keep on following A Soul for Europe here.