2025
The Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 will take place in Varde, Denmark, from 25 to 27 November. The international event will explore how culture enhances resilience in municipalities and regions. Over three days, the programme will feature keynote speeches, hands-on workshops, a study trip, and the festive Cultural Pearls 2026 Award Ceremony — highlighting how resilience can be built from the ground up when culture is placed at the centre of community life.
The Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 will build on the change on the ground achieved by the strong network of residents, creative minds and dedicated partners around the Baltic Sea, and look at the future of the Baltic Pearls initiative.
Registration for the forum has closed.
Activities & Events
Registration for BSR Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 is OPEN
Registration is now open for the final conference of the BSR Cultural Pearls project – Culture for Resilience Forum 2025, taking place from 25 to 27 November in Varde, Denmark. Over three years, the project has empowered towns and cities across the Baltic Sea Region to use culture as a tool for building stronger, more inclusive communities. During the project a network of proud residents, creative minds and dedicated partners has been built who have turned ideas into real change. The forum will celebrate these achievements and look ahead. The event will feature inspiring keynotes, hands-on workshops, expert meetings, the 2026…
Culture for Resilience Forum 2025: Building stronger communities through culture
The Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 will take place in Varde, Denmark, from 25 to 27 November. The international event will explore how culture enhances resilience in municipalities and regions. Over three days, the programme will feature keynote speeches, hands-on workshops, a study trip, and the festive Cultural Pearls 2026 Award Ceremony — highlighting how resilience can be built from the ground up when culture is placed at the centre of community life. The forum is designed for municipal representatives from the Baltic Sea Region — including cities awarded the title BSR Cultural Pearls 2024 and 2025, non-selected candidate municipalities, as…
The Soft Core of Hard Security: PA Culture and PA Secure Joint Session at the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2025 related to Social Resilience
At the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2025 in Sopot, the Policy Areas Culture and Secure joined forces to highlight how community cohesion, trust and civic engagement form the “soft core” of “hard security” in building resilient societies. On October 30, 2025, the session “The Soft Core of Hard Security: Community Cohesion and Agency in Times of Insecurity” took place and particularly explored how social trust, community cohesion and civic engagement form the foundation of resilient societies. By highlighting initiatives that strengthen togetherness, mental wellbeing and democratic participation, the session underscored that societal security begins with empowered and connected communities. Moderated by…
Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 shows strong demand to continue the Cultural Pearls initiative
From 26–27 November the Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 took place in Varde, Denmark, bringing together municipalities, cultural leaders, researchers, and practitioners from across the Baltic Sea Region to exchange knowledge on how culture strengthens social resilience in smaller and medium-sized cities. The forum featured a remarkable group of speakers and facilitators, including the Director of Placemaking Europe Ramon Marrades, social and cultural planner Jonas Büchel, art project manager and the developer of the contemporary art space Kurtuve in Valmiera Liene Jakobsone, expert in arts-based innovations Krista Petäjäjärvi as well as the regional director of the Danish Cultural Institute Anna…
