From 26 to 28 november 2009
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Creativity and innovation in European towns nr 2
Cultural Alternatives, New Social Solidarity
Bruxelles et Liège - Belgique

Following the meeting in Prague in June, 2009 : Creativity and Innovation in European towns / 20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Banlieues d’Europe is pursuing its work of identification of projects and reflection on cultural, social, and economic alternatives. At this time of crisis, it is urgent to put into perspective alternative projects in town neighbourhoods, with the wide-ranging help of artists, inhabitants, researchers, local councillors, town developers, and economists from different backgrounds in France, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Great Britain and Italy...

Since the eighties, we have been living in a period of transition and restructurization. The industrial societies with their Social States become urban post-industrial markets. At the core of society, cultural and creative knowledge plays an essential role in the search for a new development model. At the same time, spaces and gaps are reated, enabling communities who have difficulty in expressing themselves, to find the keys to understanding, reconstructing themselves, and reinvesting in their citizenship.

Where are these alternatives constructed? What are these adapted, innovative educational projects? Does an economy really exist, able to offer at the same time a potential for socioprofessional insertion and perspectives of social change?

This meeting is being organized in the framework of the European Year for Creativity and Innovation.

Email : banlieues.deurope@wanadoo.fr