Every year, around November 9 – the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Stiftung Zukunft Berlin together with the initiatives A Soul for Europe, Wir sind Europa and Cities for Europe organizes the Berlin Conference which this year is entitled “Europe Bottom-Up”. This year the conference took place from 7 to 9 November with the participation of actors from politics, culture and civil society from all over Europe, who worked together on the opportunities to strengthen the European project.
Violeta Kachakova – program manager of SKOPJE 2028 was one of the invited participants at the conference.
The conference started on November 7, in the city of Chemnitz- the German European Capital of Culture 2025, with a program dedicated to the European Capitals of Culture, their role, future development, and the experiences gained from their implementation. On November 8 and 9, the program took place in Berlin that gathered members of the European Parliament, European Commission, the Council of Europe, mayors and representatives of the cultural sector and civil society from all over Europe, who discussed the role of culture in strengthening Europe “from the bottom up” and the possibilities and responsibilities in this regard.
The conference part held in Berlin was opened with a speech by Mariya Gabriel, the EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and was closed with a speech by Charles Michel, President of the Council of Europe.
The Berlin Conference enabled the establishment of contacts and pre-agreements for possible cooperation within the candidacy of Skopje 2028, increased visibility of the candidacy of Skopje 2028 in a wider European context and provided information on current policies and guidelines for cultural development in the EU and the experiences of the candidates and selected cities for European Capital of Culture.