Please find herewith a message from Volker Hassemer, spokesperson of the Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference aims at increasing visibility and effectiveness of Europe’s main characteristic – culture. Europe, and that is the starting point of the conference, still does not make enough use of its culture as one of its major resources. Europe and European culture are characterized by their diversity. European culture can be found in many different places and in many different forms in Europe. Too often, however, its visibility is limited to a local, a regional or a nation level. Among other aims, the Berlin Conference intends to stimulate the participants to make arrangements for a more carefully directed identification and communication of the European dimension in their cultural practices. Festivals belong to the most important events in terms of crossing-border cultural collaboration and perception in Europe. The Berlin Conference questions whether festivals have the wish – more than in the past – to be perceived as European projects rather than only projects in Europe. In this regard, some of the starting points could be a. the overall character of the festival b. the character of single elements of the festival c. supplementary elements such as a special European dimension d. the specific location of the festival e. the specific history of the festival The festivals could contribute to increase the importance of culture within the European integration process by identifying their festivals in such a manner. Europe can be experienced and discovered also through festivals, that would be the message.