cS Newsletter No. 21 > September 2025

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culture Solutions Newsletter

No. 21 > September 2025

Dear cS friend,

Welcome to our Autumn 2025 culture Solutions newsletter! As Europe goes back to school and work, we're excited to share fresh perspectives on cultural relations with you, including an exclusive webinar on EU ICR Reality Check on 22 September.

Whether you're an EU official, an artist, a cultural sector professional or simply passionate about culture, we're here to keep you informed about the latest developments in EU cultural relations, along with updates on our projects, events and publications.

Our newsletter features cS Explains, which highlights our team's work and analysis, and cS Explores, which curates external content and opportunities. In addition, this edition of cS Enjoys celebrates the vibrant energy of spring through visual arts, sound, literature, theatre and performance.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement with our work.

Here's to a season of growth, creativity, and meaningful cultural exchange!

Best wishes, culture Solutions team

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cS Explains

Events

EU’s International Cultural Relations Reality Check

Space for dialogue

Cultural relations

On 22 September at 5 p.m. CET, culture Solutions’ webinar EU’s International Cultural Relations Reality Check presents the handbook “The EU as a Global Cultural Power”. The event will feature editor Mafalda Dâmaso alongside three contributing authors: Avril Joffe, Andrew Murray, and Alessandro Lamonica.

> REGISTER NOW

culture Solutions Pre-Summer catch up meeting

Space for dialogue

Before the summer period, culture Solutions team members from across the globe came together for a Pre-Summer Catch-Up Meeting — an opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and exchange updates. The meeting featured shared insights from Europe Day celebrations, reflections on our work in international cultural relations, and discussions about upcoming projects and future directions.

Publications

Equitable Digital Transformation and International Cultural Relations: Which priorities?

Policy analysis Digital

cS policy brief #13 explores how AI is transforming the cultural and creative industries worldwide. With the EU AI Act now in force, global approaches to AI governance are diverging—raising concerns about equity, access, and cultural impact. This brief compares frameworks in the EU, US, and China, highlights challenges for CCIs, and calls for stronger involvement of cultural professionals in shaping digital policy.

> READ MORE

Recentering the human and cultural dimension in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership: the Pact for the Mediterranean, a not-to-be-missed opportunity

Policy analysis Cultural relations

Thirty years after the Barcelona Declaration, cooperation with civil society and cultural actors in the Euro-Mediterranean region faces growing challenges. cS policy brief #14 —based on the first dialogue for the new Pact for the Mediterranean, organised by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the European Commission—highlights the need to address shrinking civic space and structural barriers such as limited mobility and access to EU programmes.

> READ MORE

Podcasts

Composing peace #1: Building Lebanese cultural memory

Space for dialogue

Cultural relations

The first episode of Composing Peace, culture Solutions’ new podcast series, explores how art supports peacebuilding and resilience. From Beirut, baritone Fady Jeanbart shares how he preserves Lebanon’s cultural memory amid ongoing crisis, in conversation with Lilian Richieri Hanania.

> LISTEN NOW

cS Explores

EU policy and politics

Team Europe for Cultural Heritage in Ukraine: supporting identity, resilience and recovery

Cultural heritage News from European Commission

A Mediterranean University for a shared future

Cultural relations News from European Commission

Spaces of Culture 2025 - Selection Results

Cultural relations News from EUNIC

OMC Expert Group on the Governance of the EU Strategic Approach to International Cultural Relations and Framework

Cultural relations Report by Cultural Affairs Committee

Publications

The New Nationalisms and the Future of Cultural Relations

Cultural relations Report by Helmut K. Anheier, Edward L. Knudsen and Sofia Todd-Tombini

Beyond Restitution: Exploring the Stories of Cultural Objects After their Return

Cultural heritage Book by Kristin Hausler and Elke Selter

Ni pétrole. Ni armes. Ni or. La culture

Cultural relations Article by Lucy Ilado

10th World Summit Report

Cultural relations Report by the IFACCA

Rethinking Digital Practices and Spaces

Digital Open Letter by ENCC

Movements of Translation and Return: Art, Mobility and the Diaspora

Cultural relations Publication by On the Move

Events

Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2025

Cultural relations June-October 2025 by ASEF

ARCHE final event "Bridging Towards Resilient Cultural Heritage"

Cultural heritage 10-11.09.2025 by ARCHE

European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025

Cultural heritage 12-15.10.2025 by Europa Nostra

European Public Diplomacy Week 2025

Cultural relations Recordings by EEAS

International Circulation of Indigenous Creatives

Inclusion and decolonialism Recording by On the Move

Opportunities

Culture Moves Europe evaluators pool

Cultural relations 08.09.2025 Call for applications by European Commission

Framework contract for consulting services in the field of proposal development for EU-funded projects

Cultural relations 07.10.2025 Call for experts and agencies by Goethe-Institut

EUNIC Cluster Fund Call for Proposals 2026

Cultural relations 31.10.2025 Call for proposals by EUNIC

Connect & Create Component of the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture Programme

Cultural relations Rolling call for mobility grants

Multimedia

Protecting Heritage in Times of Conflict with Isber Sabrine

Cultural heritage Podcast by Peopling the Past

Diplomatie culturelle : quand la France réinvente sa présence aux États-Unis

Cultural relations Podcast by Radio France

Returning Germany's Stolen Skulls

Cultural heritage Podcast by The Documentary Podcast

The views expressed in cS Explores do not represent the official position of culture Solutions.

cS Enjoys

Target
This documentary photo series by Sasha Kurmaz captures everyday moments of Ukrainians moving through the streets. However, the focused perspective of the sniper scope introduces an element of tension and threat, inviting viewers to question the safety of the lives of the people in the images.

European Pavilion 2024: Liquid Becomings festival

Between August and November 2024, crews of artists sailed on boats along the rivers Danube, Vistula, Rhine, and Tagus. Each crew followed its own itinerary to imagine alternative modes of togetherness, and exploring ways of creating a future for Europe that is better, fairer, regenerative: just and abundant for all.

Ils dansent - Chicos y Mendez feat. Farah El Hour

Chicos y Mendez's «Latin alternative» style spurs from lead-singer's Peruvian origins meeting with Brussels dynamics, with lyrics in Spanish and in French that translate a desire to meet the poetry of the other and to re-enchant our daily lives. Migration and values emerge as two central topics.

Collaborate

Become a partner

Our network of partners includes both the EU institutions and the cultural sector. Contact us now to establish a partnership with cS.

> SEE PARTNERS

Join us

We are currently looking for new collaborators. Apply now! Erasmus+ interns welcome.

> SEE VACANCIES

> SEE COLLABORATORS

Speak up

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Donate

cS is a non-profit organisation and our collaborators work pro bono. Help us continue creating commons in the sphere of EU international cultural relations.

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Photo credits (top-left to bottom-right): 1. Summer Landscape by Venny Soldan-Brofeldt, Finnish National Gallery. CC0. 2. Estate nelle Prealpi by Marco Calderini. Turin Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art. CC BY. 3. Peking: Summer Palace. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain. 4. The Beach at Scheveningen by Johannes Bosboom. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

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