In the first theme (T1) the following working groups were held:

When we are the ones who make the city’s cultural strategy

What does it mean for each city to develop its

own cultural strategy, a sustainable city devel- opment plan that places culture at the center

and includes cultural rights, education in the

knowledge and information society, urban plan- ning and the environment? Why is it important

for such planning to be done by the people of the city, that are, residents, workers and creative professionals? How important is the role of participatory planning in this process? How important is it for citizens to know the secrets of their city, its weaknesses and the strengths that unfold the design process? Pilot Cities is an international program by the UCLG-United Cities and Local Governments organization and

Culture Action Europe, which provides guid- ance to city residents so they can shape the

cultural strategy of their city. Eleusis, through Eleusis 2021 is the only Greek city participating in this program, which connects and networks 16 European cities. The group of citizens of Eleusis, the cultural mediators group that has undertaken this project share their experience so far.

Coordination: Angeliki Lampiri, Director of Cultural Strategy, Eleusis 2021 European Capital of Culture

Food for Thought by:

• Members of the cultural mediators group of the Pilot Cities program in Eleusis: Voula Androni, Irini Yovanou, Panagiotis Giokas, Thanasis Lakrintis, Sofia Laskou, Panagiotis Karpodinis, Katerina Marinaki, Antonis Marougas, Mary Mitropoulou, Thanasis Balaskas, Stavroula Baloka, Vicky Passiopoulou, Giannis Syleounis, Aspasia Stavropoulou, Yiorgos Triantafyllidis and Yiannis Tsiatsianis.
• Gokce Suvari, Project Manager, Izmir Mediter- ranean Academy, Turkey

How to become a European Capital of Culture forever

Coordination: Stefan Teisanu, Director of the Cluj Cultural Centre, Romania

Food for Thought by:

• Ana Čižauskienė, Head of International Relations and Programming, Kaunas 2022, Lithuania
• Immie Jonkman, Member of the Artistic Team Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018 and Member of the Artistic Team LF2028 (legacy organization), The Netherlands
• Bojan Milosavljević, program coordinator and EU projects manager, Novi Sad 2021, Serbia
• Tracy Geraghty, EU Lab Project Manager, Dub- lin City Council Culture Company, Ireland
• Leena Palli, Senior Advisor, Oulu 2026, Finland

Networking stories: Artistic creation through cities’ networks

Coordination: Stelios Voulgaris, Co-founder of COMM’ON

Food for Thought by:

• Monika Tsiliberdi, Head of the Directorate for the Development of Modern Creation, General Directorate of Contemporary Culture, Ministry of Culture and Sports
• Laura Cuenca, Project Manager of Consorci Transversal Xarxa d’Activitats Culturals, Spain
• Jennifer Tharr, Project Manager of START-Cre- ate CUltural Change, Germany

Stories of cultural managers: their role in the cultural production chain

Food for Thought by:

• Olga Daskali, Lawyer, President of the Messolonghi Community Council
• Alexandros Mistriotis, Artist
• Dimitris Babilis, Cultural co-manager at Aparamillon
• Dio Kaggelari, Theatrologist, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• Andromache Gazi, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences together with the group of graduates of the postgraduate program “Cultural Management”
• Eleni Koukou, Doctor of Art History, Curator
• Maria Psarrou, Co-founder of Plegma