Lunchtime Session | Outta Climate Festival – Reclaiming Public Space Through Art, Mobility & Collective Action
How can a festival become a tool for climate action, safer cities, and community-driven transformation?
This Lunchtime Session, presented by Jazz Solidarity Network (Greece), introduces the Outta Climate Festival, a participatory cultural initiative developed in collaboration with CIVINET Greece-Cyprus. The festival operates at the intersection of art, music, and sustainable urban mobility, transforming public space into a platform for collective expression and civic engagement.
Inspired by the principles of the New European Bauhaus, the initiative reclaims streets—particularly around schools—through co-created artistic interventions and cultural activities, empowering citizens, and especially young people, to actively shape their environment.
Drawing on concrete examples from different cities across Greece, the session will explore:
- how participatory practices such as asphalt art and street-based cultural actions can improve road safety and activate public space
- how artistic networks can mobilise communities and contribute to climate awareness and behavioural change
- how festivals can function as tools for co-design, bringing together municipalities, schools, and local communities
- how cross-sector collaboration between culture, mobility, and public policy actors can create scalable and lasting impact
The session will include a short presentation followed by an open discussion, inviting participants to exchange perspectives, share practices, and reflect on how similar approaches can be adapted and developed across different European contexts.