Road to Resilience: Rethinking Europe’s Cultural Future
(Authors: Alion Çaçi & Alexander Diesenreiter)
Participants from across Europe’s cultural and creative sectors came together in Vienna for the first of this two-day event, engaging in discussions on transformation, resilience, and the future of cross-sector collaboration.
VIENNA, 15 May 2025 — Hosted at Vienna’s Künstlerhaus, the European Cultural and Creative Dialogues format explored how cultural resilience and creativity can help reshape Europe. Throughout the day, Miriam Kathrein—Innovation Manager at EIT Culture & Creativity —guided participants through the programme as host, setting the tone for dialogue grounded in both criticality and care.
Innovation, Sustainability, and Cross-Sector Collaboration
The day opened with Gerin Trautenberger, Director of the EIT Culture & Creativity Co-Location Centre South-East & Alps, who offered a pointed reminder of culture’s economic weight and transformative power.
“We support approximately nine million creative talents across Europe“, Trautenberger stated, “positioning our sectors as crucial agents in Europe’s ecological, digital, and social transitions.”
He also drew attention to the environmental footprint of creative sectors such as architecture and fashion, emphasizing the urgency of tackling climate challenges through cultural innovation. Education and business support, he noted, are essential to the EIT Culture & Creativity‘s broader strategy of cultivating scalable and socially impactful creative enterprises.
“EIT Culture & Creativity exists to foster innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness within Europe’s creative industries,” Trautenberger explained the core mission and activities.
Gerin Trautenberger, Director of CLC South East & Alps (c) Elif Gündüz
A New Approach to Cultural Resilience
In the keynote that followed, Jenny Grettve, Head of Transformation at EIT Culture & Creativity, offered a compelling case for resilience as a foundational value.
“Culture and creativity are fundamental. They give meaning, joy, and richness to our lives,” Grettve told the audience. “However, in an era defined by uncertainty, conflict, and environmental pressures, culture faces significant risks if we don’t rethink our strategies and embed resilience deeply into our institutions.”
She stressed that Europe is already reframing the issue. “Resilience is becoming a key theme in the future-making agenda of Europe,” she noted. “The European Commission’s political guidelines for 2024 to 2029 elevate resilience as the central pillar, positioning it as a driver of innovation, disaster preparedness, and community care.”
Yet policy, she warned, has not translated into practice. “Very few institutions have taken the next step in developing concrete plans or mechanisms to build resilience,” Grettve cautioned, before offering a blunt reminder of what happens when budgets tighten:
“With national budgets moving towards military costs, culture is often the first post to remove.” She concluded her remarks by reminding everyone that resilience must be cultivated daily through acts of care, creativity, and shared responsibility in the face of mounting uncertainties. Learn more about Grettve’s take on transformation.
Miriam Kathrein, Innovation Manager, EIT Culture & Creativity (c) Elif Gündüz
Spotting What Comes Next: Weak Signals Workshop
A key part of the event was a hands-on workshop hosted by Miriam Kathrein where participants worked together to identify and explore “weak signals,” or early signs of possible changes in society. In small interdisciplinary groups, they shared ideas and started conversations about how these signals could reshape everything from work to governance, digital life, and leadership values.
- A group called for the legal recognition of nature’s rights, arguing for a shift from symbolic gestures to binding policies that embed ecological health into infrastructure, culture, and technology.
- Another explored the impact of political instability and polarization, proposing new models of governance that transcend national borders and promote social cohesion. Shifting attitudes toward work also surfaced. Participants noted that younger Europeans increasingly value mental well-being, shorter workweeks, and jobs aligned with personal values.
- A group reflecting on recent blackouts raised concerns about digital dependency, urging investment in community resilience and analog safeguards. Others explored bioregionalism as an alternative to current economic and political models, advocating for governance defined by ecological rather than national boundaries.
- Lastly, a group of mostly women emphasized care, empathy, and emotional depth as central values for leadership and innovation, urging developers to design technologies that foster real connection over isolation.
From Sustainability to Regeneration
The morning concluded with a compelling reflection by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Artistic Director of the future-oriented platform ReGenerativa and former Director-General for International Cultural Relations at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, offered a compelling reflection on the cultural sector’s responsibility in Europe’s broader transformation.
Christoph Thun-Hohenstein introducing “Imagine Climate Dignity”-Exhibition (c) Elif Gündüz
He urged a decisive shift away from growth defined solely by economic metrics and called for an emphasis on regeneration. “Our challenge is moving beyond sustainability towards regeneration, actively healing environmental and social damages,” he said. “We must see ourselves as integral parts of nature rather than separate from it.”
Thun-Hohenstein also addressed the rise of AI, proposing that ecological and technological transitions must not be treated as isolated developments. “Rather than viewing climate neutrality and AI as separate goals, we should integrate these transitions,” he noted. “A regenerative mindset can redefine our relationships to each other and the natural world.”
The first day of the Dialogues concluded with exploring the exhibition Imagine Climate Dignity at Künstlerhaus, where the event was held, and an informal networking session.
Learn about Day Two – where the spotlight is on investment, scaling, and the practical steps to bring creative and cultural ideas to life. Read more
The Open Days of EIT Culture & Creativity were part of ViennaUP.
