Following the opening presentations on Monday and some additional rounds of discussion, we will transition into three round table discussions: to kick things off, we will reflect upon jury processes and selection processes. How do curators and members of juries deal with their responsibility, according to which criteria do they make decisions and how do they determine who receives invitations? Parallel to this, we will enter into discussion with civic society initiatives against right-wing extremism that support a plural society, learn more about opportunities for participation and, in addition to this, take a look at (post-)digital spaces and their communities. Who do which digital spaces belong to?

What is more, there will also be a subsequent panel discussion about communities with a keynote presentation: we will receive insights into the study of the Institut für Kulturelle Teilhabeforschung | IKTf, the Institute for Research on Cultural Participation about visits to cultural events by Berlin’s civic society and discuss the urgency of audience engagement and successful community work at and with cultural institutions.

We will bring the first day to a close at 6:30 pm over the course of a shared dinner – so that we can be inspired and well rested for the second intensive day of the conference!

On Tuesday, we will dive into current developments together with the Kulturpolitischen Gesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg, the Cultural Policy Assocation of Berlin-Brandenburg: over the course of compact presentations, we will learn more about important cultural policy developments in the metropolitan region of Berlin-Brandenburg and associations and interest groups will share their most challenging tasks with us. How do things look after the German state elections and what is the current state of the planned budget cuts? Over the course of an interactive workshop on real estate policy issues and demands, we will develop a shared strategy for the expansion and preservation of our cultural spaces in Berlin. A subsequent panel discussion will shed some light on the current challenges of our neighbors on an international level: how do things look in terms of cultural policy in the EU and in Europe? Which strategies have already been able to be identified in terms of, for example, dealing with the termination of jobs but also in terms of funding cuts? Following this, we will speak in a fishbowl format about the artistic practices of transnational members of the community and about the working and production conditions in “exile”.

In addition, we will also dedicate ourselves to the young generation: over the course of a two-part format, we will discuss and reflect upon barriers in our educational institutions in order to be able to discuss the fact that it has become more difficult to get started in working as a professional afterward. How many opening night parties and conferences do I have to go to in order to finally make my big breakthrough? Even if we cannot provide an ultimate answer to this question, we still want to give you an opportunity to shine as well as some shared approaches: the day will end with an open format for all of your contributions as well as the conference party!

On Wednesday, things will continue early in the day with the topic of the looming budget cuts as well as the ways in which culture campaigns can be effective – with perspectives from the Berlin Independent Performing Arts Community Days, Jazzwoche Berlin and Ballhaus Prinzenallee. In addition, we will revisit the topic of curators from Monday once again by dealing with the “why” and the “who” from the schedule of events for visiting industry professionals. A special highlight are the table conversations: Hands On Audience (Research) and Audience Engagement. Here, the impulses and ideas from the previous days regarding cultural participation, audience research and community work will be bundled and examined in a more in-depth manner. Through brief overview statements, visitors will once again receive the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge and, in addition to this, are warmly invited to become acquainted with specific methods for conducting their own audience surveys and project work as well as to pass on their own strategies to the other participants.

Over the course of an interactive closing event format, we will once again summarize all of the results and sketch out the next steps for the future. We are already looking thinking all of these topics over (and further) with all of you!