"Sostenuto -thinking culture as a factor of economic and social innovation" is a three-year transnational project  focused on Mediterranean and carried out in the framework of the European Union's  Med Programme (INTERREG IV B) with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).  The initiative aims at reinforcing the cultural sector's innovation capacity in the Mediterranean as a way to generate new social and economic models and boost competitiveness and sustainability in the Med zone. Sostenuto is pilot experience that draws its strength from the innovative practices carried out in four cultural labs in France, Italy, Slovenia and Montenegro. [For further information, please download the full presentation in PDF (EN/SP)
The Sostenuto Final Conference (Valencia) will be the last of the events hosted by a partner organisation/institution in the last three years. Here's a brief description of some of the meetings and forums organized in the framework of the Sostenuto project:
L'artigianato d'arte come fattore d'innovazione sociale ed economica
Hosted by CITEMA in Florence (Italy), 6 & 7 October 2011. The aim of this event was presenting the local dynamics initiated by CITEMA to promote the arts & crafts, evaluate the prospects for the sector and open up a debate around topics like the relationship between artisans and art, the sustainability of the "savoir-faire", the intergenerational transmission, young people's access to arts & crafts and the related training, the socioeconomic revaluation of the sector and the access to new and traditional markets. [Programme (ITA)]
Université d'été : L'Europe et la Culture en débat
Hosted by Relais Culture Europe in Paris, 31 August-2 September 2011. These sessions were organized to exchange points of view and generate debate around the role of culture in Europe in a moment when the European Union and its member states are participating in a negotiation process to determine the political, strategic and budgetary priorities for the next ten years against the backdrop of deep global transformations. [Programme (FR)]
Potlatch 2011 - Professional meeting : "Artists and the development of local areas" (5th edition)
Hosted by A.M.I. in Marseille (France), 23-25 March 2011. This meeting focused on the role that artists have to play in their territories according to the local authorities, the local population and themselves, in a moment where the words "attractiveness" and "creativity" are increasingly related due to the idea of competitive, dynamic and interconnected population basins reflected in the Lisbon Treaty.  [Dossier (FR)]
Ready to change: an experimental forum on culture and social innovation in Europe and in the Med area
Hosted by Bunker in Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2-4 december 2010. In this forum invited artistic and cultural actors to share their experiences and analyze their abilities to initiate and monitor economic and social transformations, think about new ways of more solidarity-oriented social relationships, and creating new ways of distributing knowledge and wealth in society. One of the outcomes of the event was a manifesto that highlighted the artistic and cultural actors' need to engage with other social actors and establish relationships based on fairness, interaction, dignity, humanis, emancipation and empowerment. [Catalogue (EN)]
Meeting of independent cultural organizations and initiatives in Podgorica (Montenegro)
Hosted by Expeditio, Pro Story and the Committee for Civic Initiative from Niš in Podgorica, 3 July 2010. Expeditio participated in the organization of this meeting in the framework of the project "Non-institutional Partakers of Cultural Policy in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia", funded by the European Cultural Foundation and implemented in partnership with the Committee for Civic Initiatives from Niš (Serbia, lead partner), the independent artistic association "Remont" from Belgrade (Serbia), and the Contemporary Art Centre from Skoplje (Macedonia). The activities carried out in Montenegro for this project are also part of Sostenuto.