The European Festivals Association (EFA) joins forces with the European House for Culture and partners and invites for the Brussels Conversations 2012 on a Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe, taking place in Brussels on 16-17 November 2012. The 2-day conference will discuss the future of the European project and the citizen’s role in making it a reality. As the initiator of the European House for Culture, EFA will take the occasion of the Brussels Conversation to present its 60th anniversary activities in a stimulating environment. Registration deadline: 1 November. Developing citizenship in Europe is one of the essential needs that should be addressed during the European Year of Citizens 2013 and the Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe believes that culture is the key to increasing this spirit of citizenship. The cultural backgrounds of European citizens are an integral part of a cultural process that will mark the change from national to European solutions to the complex issues surrounding contemporary life and their practice will lead to a new balance of power between the citizens and powerful stakeholders. The lectures and workshops in this encounter will move beyond the theoretical-legal-philosophical discussion and show that citizenship and its cultural component is something we should practice in our daily lives. It also aims to emphasise that arts and culture do not only bring “added value” to citizenship and governance, but are the core, the driving force, which allow and push us to re-evaluate these concepts, thus strengthening democracy and human rights. The Brussels Conversations will examine the applicability of general concepts and specific topics within the scope of the cultural component of citizenship. Questions that will be explored include: How can top-down processes be complimentary and interlinked with grassroots efforts? What position does civil society hold within these efforts? How can the public space for such efforts be expanded? These will be supported by examples, theoretical background, expert opinions, and citizens’ experiences. The Brussels Conversations 2012 will demonstrate that policies should inspire citizens to act on their own responsibility and convictions for the benefit of a shared Europe, pursuing their own individual activities to further the common European project. The ultimate aim is to endorse the fundamental right to access culture and to advance the search for creative manners in which to develop a European citizenship based on its cultural component. The organisers and partners invite all to re-think and work on a concrete realisation of Europe’s future: the realisation of a new, but in a certain sense also an old Europe, a Europe where citizens are at its base and in which culture and cultural diversity function as its cores, its binding components. The event is jointly organised with co-producers Marcel Hicter Association, the Access to Culture Platform, “A Soul for Europe” and the Philosophy Festival, as well as its partners EFA, ENCATC, European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and Felix Meritis. Festive moments include the 60th anniversary of the European Festivals Association and ENCATC’s 20th anniversary. The event is hosted by the Palais des Académies, the BOZAR, and the CINEMATEK. Registration is open until 1 November 2012. About the “Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe” The Brussels Conversations will bring A Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe to Brussels. The Brussels Conversations 2012 is the second in a series of three events in the framewokr of the Cultural Coalition for a Citizens’ Europe. Together they form “A Soul for Europe’s” kick-off to the European Year of Citizens 2013. The series includes the Berlin Conference 2012 by “A Soul for Europe” on 10 November, the Brussels Conversations 2012 event by the partners of the European House for Culture on 16-17 November, and the Amsterdam Conversations by the Felix Meritis on 30 November. More on the Cultural Coalition for a Citizens Europe: Join the Coalition!