This year ECHN HUBs Meetup is organised by the European Creative Hubs Network with the support of BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, our hosting hub in Silandro.
In this context, creative hubs must reimagine how they operate. The triple lens of Recovery, Resilience, and Resistance offers a framework for transformative action. Recovery speaks to the urgent need to restore disrupted practices and rebuild cultural ecosystems. Resilience demands the development of long-term strategies and capacities to withstand future shocks. Resistance highlights the importance of advocacy, solidarity, and the assertion of cultural value in the face of marginalisation and displacement.
To move forward, hubs must shift positionalities, form new coalitions, and build capacities for collective action. Through cross-sectoral partnerships, institutional negotiation, and community-rooted advocacy, they can reposition themselves not just as cultural actors, but as vital agents in shaping urban, social, and economic futures.
A central theme of the conference is how cultural and hybrid creative spaces can be developed and secured within speculative or volatile environments. Drawing from the experience of BASIS and other international cases, we will explore how uncertainty and instability, rather than being purely obstructive, can be reimagined as catalysts for innovation, experimentation, and social change.
This gathering also asks: how do we cultivate agility and adaptability as sustainable strategies? What tools and capacities are needed to engage with public authorities and private stakeholders? How can international networks reinforce local voices in policy discussions and ensure access to cultural infrastructure in contested urban environments?
By addressing these questions, Recovery, Resilience, and Resistance aims to generate practical insights, build solidarity, and offer a renewed sense of shared purpose. The event serves as a strong expression of international support for BASIS and similar initiatives, spaces that actively reframe historic spaces, highlighting the importance of securing cultural spaces and recognising their role as engines of creativity, inclusion, and democratic renewal.
MORNING
AFTERNOON
Location: BASIS Vinschgau Venosta Kortscher Straße 97 – ex. Drusus-Kaserne, Via Corzes, 97, 39028 Silandro BZ, Italy | |
| 17:00 | Registration |
| 18:00-18:30 | Welcome WordsHannes Götsch | BASIS Founder & CVO |
| 18:30-19:00 | Kick-off SpeechPlacing Culture at the Heart of Rural DevelopmentHow local authorities can act as facilitators of cultural innovation and resilience. By giving space and voice to artists and cultural professionals, the municipality has turned culture into a driver of revitalization and sustainable rural futures. Miguel Ángel Herrera Gutiérrez | Mayor of Genalguacil and Head of the project Genalguacil Pueblo Museo |
| 19:00-19:30 | Inspirational SpeechA sustainable future for the community – A community for a sustainable future The motivation behind da – cooperative lies in the common endeavour to shape a sustainable future for the Upper Vinschgau region. Peripheral rural areas are at a disadvantage compared to the centres in today’s social development. For this reason, this is why da is taking a different direction. Not to continue developing efficiency, competition and consumption strategies, but to build on resilience, cooperation and diversity. Michael Hofer | CEO da – Citizens’ cooperative of the Upper Vinschgau |
| 19:30-21:00 | Welcome Aperitivo & Speed Networking*Cin-Cin* & Catch Up Ignácio Marquez | Rural Hackers |
Thursday, 16 October 2025
MORNING
Location: BASIS Vinschgau Venosta
Kortscher Straße 97 – ex. Drusus-Kaserne, Via Corzes, 97, 39028 Silandro BZ, Italy
| 09:00-9:30 | Welcome coffee & Registration |
| 9:30-10:30 | Walking TourPermanent Temporary – Touring BASIS10 years ago, the vision of BASIS was born – a former fascist barracks transformed into a hub for creativity, urban development, circularity, and social growth. |
| 10:30-10:45 | Inspirational KeynoteDealing with controversies. A simple model to navigate polarisation.As civic space shrinks and polarisation deepens, creative directors, programme managers, and curators find themselves navigating controversies and public outcry in an increasingly turbulent world. The challenge becomes even sharper when balancing the expectations of private sponsors and public funders. In The Hague, Gerrit Jan, director of a public-private cultural partnership offers a fresh model that strengthens the resilience of cultural institutions. Instead of shying away from controversy, his approach embraces it as an opportunity to build trust, foster dialogue, and sustain partnerships in uncertain times. Gerrit Jan van ‘t Veen | Managing Director Popdistrict Den Haag |
| 10:45-11:15 | Moved by Culture – Presentation of Mobility SchemesLaunch of the Culture Moves Europe ProgramEkaterina Pelevina | Project Assistant at Culture Moves Europe, Goethe-Institut Brussels Ambassadors of Good Practice in Non-Urban AreasA peer-learning programme that brings together host organisations and visiting stakeholders to share exemplary practices in revitalising non-urban and peripheral regions. Together, they explore, co-create, and exchange ideas to harness culture for regeneration, inclusion and sustainable development. Charlotte Jerie | Project Manager of Creative FLIP |
| 11:30-12:15 | Reactivating SpacesFutureDiverCities: 4 years of creative experimentation in urban regenerationFuture DiverCities explores how culture can drive the ecological regeneration of unused urban spaces. Over four years and eight city pilots, the project has tested new forms of cultural and civic engagement. This session shares key methods, challenges, and learnings from this collective experiment in sustainable urban transformation. Elisabeth Bechara | Friche la Belle de Mai The Vienna Club CommissionThe Vienna Club Commission (VCC) and the City of Vienna are launching an innovative project with Free Spaces 2025 on the Danube Island, promoting consumption-free club culture in public space. These spaces are also explicitly of a club-cultural nature, creating room for cultural expression beyond commercial constraints. David Prieth | Project Manager for Free Spaces Vienna Project Stilfs – A Narrative about ResilienceThe project “Stelvio – A Narrative about Resilience” is a development initiative by the Municipality of Stelvio within Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.It aims to strengthen the mountain village- affected by structural change and depopulation – on social, cultural, ecological, and economic levels. It includes around 25 measures across the fields of culture and community, agriculture and landscape, housing, crafts, tourism, mobility, and infrastructure. These combine material investments like building renovations and new mobility with immaterial initiatives such as a dispersed museum, artist residencies, festivals, and craft promotion. Guided by a participatory approach, the project envisions Stelvio as a resilient, creative community rooted in its history and landscape. Daria Habicher | Socio Economist & Co-Founder of LIA Collective |
| 12:15-13:30 | Breakout SessionsAuf gute Nachbarschaft! Is a local expression to signal mutual help to the neighbourhood, to help and support each other. In the scope of this Hubs Meetup topic, we want to highlight the case studies of the ECHN members, using the individual stories to inspire each other and reminding ourselves of the importance of our neighbours and communities. |
| 13:30-14:30 | Lunch |
AFTERNOON
| 14:30-17:30 | Hands on Workshopping – RecoveryActivity #1 Printing Activism Analogue Printing Workshop for Activists How can analogue printing become a tool for political expression? In this workshop, we’ll experiment with hands-on techniques and collaboratively create materials for creative activism. We’ll explore a variety of printing and design methods to make political messages visible. Using manual printing and the RISO MZ770, participants will produce both individual and collective works designed to impact public spaces. Activity #2 Fermenting Recovery Working in creative initiatives can be rewarding yet demanding. Without recovery practices, we risk burnout and disconnection. What supports wellbeing in creative hubs? What can sourdough teach us about sustainable engagement? Together, we’ll explore recovery through the metaphor and practice of sourdough baking. Activity #3 Waterflow- energizing panoramic nature path We flow and recover in nature, along the historic Waalwege. Discover the ancient cultivation terraces of Schlanders Sonnenberg on a guided Waalweg Panorama Tour. Waalwege are historic, traditional irrigation channels that originated in the Vinschgau Valley and are part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Tour guided by Hannes Götsch. |
| 18:00-19:30 | MarendChest-Nuts frying and Snacks at the Garden |
| 22:00-3:00 | ECHN Cosmic Clubbing – at KASINOOpen Deckz 22:00–00:00 |
Friday, 17 October 2025
MORNING
Location: BASIS Vinschgau Venosta Drusus-Kaserne/Caserma Druso | |
| Side Event | |
| 10:00-10:30 | Morning Coffee & Registration |
| 10:30-12:30 | ECHN General Assembly(ECHN members only) & Open Space Networking |
| 12:30 – 14:30 | Lunch |
AFTERNOON
| 20:00 | ConcertGaza Live | Ësenaim // Fundraising Doctors Without BordersËsenaim. is a South Tyrolean–French duo that grew out of many years of humanitarian work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). During missions across the world – from Haiti to South Sudan – Sarah Guefif and Michael Casera began recording sounds, voices, and texts to preserve experiences that words alone could hardly carry.
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photo credit: Lottozero
Timișoara, as the European capital of culture for the year 2023, places the focus on strengthening the sense of community in the city. Boosting the confidence of its citizens to actively participate in the cultural production of their local communities is among the main objectives of the ECC institution this year. In this regard, Timisoara’s vibrant community of creative hubs leads the way into a common creative future.
BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, located in the repurposed Drusus barracks in Silandro, South Tyrol, is a dynamic hub for social innovation and creativity. Founded to transform a historically significant site into a community-centered space, BASIS combines business, education, culture, and social engagement. Its mission is to foster sustainable regional development by empowering individuals and groups to actively shape their local environment. A key feature of BASIS is its focus on inclusivity and collaboration. By fostering cross-generational and cross-sectoral exchanges, the hub builds bridges between diverse perspectives, creating fertile ground for innovation. BASIS revitalizes the region by blending tradition with modernity, offering a platform for education, experimentation, and sustainable development. A constructive climate provides the courage to experiment, strengthens individual responsibility and allows dynamic and resilient growth.
The European Creative Hubs Network is a peer-led network with a mission to enhance the creative, economic and social impact of hubs around Europe and neighbouring countries. As focal points for creative professionals and businesses, hubs offer the most effective way to support the growth and development of cultural and creative industries. The European Creative Hubs Network Project activated a program coordinated by ECHN for the members of its network. This project has been funded since 2021 by Creative Europe, as one of the European networks supporting the cultural and creative sector.
ECHNThe program aims at empowering creative hubs as main focal points for creative professionals and businesses. The central fronts of action include mobility opportunities for hub managers and community members, learning exchanges and workshops, advocacy at local and European level and academic research to highlight the role of creative hubs within the cultural and creative industries.
With the support of
