The Central BEYOND edition is CAE’s biennial flagship gathering. It brings together members, civil society organisations, policymakers, artists, researchers, and cultural workers to collectively identify key challenges, policy opportunities, and future directions for culture in Europe.
As the central moment in the BEYOND cycle, it allows CAE to:
- Take the pulse of the sector
- Surface emerging trends and structural concerns
- Shape strategic policy messages and advocacy objectives
- Create cross-sectoral alliances and mobilise political attention
- Engage with members and partners in person
Central BEYOND is where culture meets policy at scale, and where the sector articulates its vision for a more inclusive, democratic, and sustainable Europe through culture.
Central BEYOND 2027
Central BEYOND 2027, “Europe BEYOND: Culture Holds the Future,” will take place in Katowice, Poland, between 1 – 5 June 2027. Stay tuned for more information in the future, including on the event, its programme, and registration.
The international gathering brings together artists, creators, thinkers, policymakers, and cultural institutions from across the continent around the question: what social, geopolitical, and technological challenges will define the Europe ahead? What role should culture play in shaping it?
Europe BEYOND is built on a simple conviction: culture is one of Europe’s greatest strengths. It fuels our imagination that lets us picture a different future, builds resilience that helps our societies withstand and grow through crisis, and strengthens the community and democratic trust that hold Europe together through change. Imagination, Resilience and Agency are the red threads running through the conference, unpacked across the range of formats.
Europe BEYOND is co-organised by Culture Action Europe (CAE) – the major European network representing cultural organisations, institutions, artists, researchers, and activists in EU policy debates – and the National Centre for Culture Poland (NCC), a major Polish public institution dedicated to the development of the cultural sector through grant management, cultural education, research, capacity building, and the promotion of cultural heritage. Europe BEYOND is supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland and the European Union.
This event builds on a series of Culture Action Europe’s BEYOND gatherings that have been growing for years, bringing new voices and perspectives together to imagine, question, and shape the role of culture in Europe.