28 events this week

Festival in portrait

Quote of the Week

“Sharing is key!”

Karen Jeynes, PANSA

Berlin for Europe: Kathrin Deventer moderates discussion with Martin Schulz and Hans-Gert Pöttering

Gent, Tuesday, 12-06-2012

Berlin for Europe – that was the motto of the 5th anniversary celebration of the Foundation Zukunft Berlin on 4 June 2012. Kathrin Deventer, Secretary General of the European Festivals Association (EFA) and member of the A Soul for Europe Strategy Group, moderated a panel discussion with Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, and Hans-Gert Pöttering, Member of the European Parliament and Advisory Board “A Soul for Europe“.

Foundation Zukunft Berlin actually started its work ten years ago with the launch of the initiative A Soul for Europe. Therefore, the foundation focused the discussions of the anniversary around the tasks of a city: how can Berlin develop into a ‘Berlin for Europe’?

Martin Schulz and Hans-Gert Pöttering discussed with Markus Schächter, Head of Foundation Board Stiftung Zukunft Berlin, Hella Dunger-Löper, responsible for European Affairs in Berlin as well as for Civic Engagement, and Volker Hassemer, Chairman of the Board Stiftung Zukunft Berlin and President of the Board A Soul for Europe.

Questions elaborated included: what is an active citizen in Europe? How can the EU benefit more from actions carried out by responsible citizens? And how can ‘Berliners’ act even more as ‘Europeans’? It is key to adopt a bottom-up approach: overcome a ‘top-down’ Europe and listen to the locals.

Panellists agreed: Europe can only advance if its citizens commit to take it into their hands.

The event was the start of a series of debates on the issue of the role of citizens in Europe. In the framework of the European Year of Citizens 2013, the European Festivals Association – together with its partners such as A Soul for Europe and the European House for Culture – will further engage in this discussion.

Panellists discussed the trends in civic engagement, not only at city level but also at European level: how to create a Europe of citizens? A topic that is also of interest for the European Festivals Association. EFA and its partners suggest that culture can make an important contribution to reaching a Europe of citizens.

A series of three events is organised in a pan-European partnership in November 2012. The Berlin Conference 2012 on 10 November 2012 is the first of these events dedicated to a Europe from the bottom-up under the title "A Cultural Coalition for a Citizens' Europe". Together they form the kick-off of the European Year of Citizens 2013. EFA will especially contribute to the event from 16-18 November in Brussels, organised by the European House for Culture; the third event takes place on 29 November in Amsterdam, organised by the Felix Meritis Foundation.