Bio / presentation

The European Network of Cultural Centres is the brainchild of a group of cultural operators from Flanders, Finland and Poland, who on June 4th, 1994, gathered together with 30 other future members in a cultural centre in northern Belgium to celebrate the organisation's official launch. The informal slogan was "The network for those who never dreamed they could go European". Creative Europe and its funding programmes did not yet exist. Communication happened mainly through postcards and typewritten newsletters, though the ENCC office was an early adopter of email - this focus on tech is still present in the network, though today it takes a more critical approach. Nowadays, the ENCC office is run by a small group of women from the top floor of a former school in Brussels. Their daily efforts go towards organising trainings on EU cooperation, consulting with members, circulating calls and opportunities, writing project applications, and encouraging discussion and experimentation around transversal issues such as inclusion, gender equality, non-urban culture, digital ethics, working conditions in culture and the arts, and of course the ecological transition. The ENCC has been co-funded by the Creative Europe networks strand since 2014.