Cultural support platforms in times of crisis

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.

Today, cultural and creative structures, especially creative hubs, are navigating a rapidly shifting and increasingly fragile landscape. These spaces, long marked by precarity, are now confronting a convergence of internal pressures and external disruptions: rising real estate costs, tenuous relationships with public authorities, policy ambiguity, and the broader consequences of global crises such as the pandemic, war, and sociopolitical instability. These challenges not only threaten the operational continuity of hubs but also undermine their role as essential infrastructures for civic life, artistic experimentation, and local resilience.

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.