09:00 - 09:40 

Registration and coffee

09:45 – 10:15

Welcome & Opening speeches

Dejan Ubović, Director Grad
Predrag Marković, Minister of Culture, Republic of Serbia

H.E. Laurent Louis Stokvis MA, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

10:15 – 12:15

Panel 1: 
Culture and Business - New Horizons

Key issues: How should the business and culture sectors cooperate for the socio-economic development of society beyond sponsorship and creative industries? How can effective and sustainable “cross-sector social responsibility” be implemented? How can the public sector be included in this endeavor? What are the “best practices” and models of implementation that can be applied in Serbia and in the region?

Moderator: Volker Hassemer, President of the “A Soul for Europe” E.E.I.G. Board

Key- note: 
Pier Luigi Sacco, Professor of Economics of Culture at the IULM University Milan. Director Siena ECoC 2019.

Discussion among:
Valeria Marcolin, Consultant, ”A Soul for Europe” Strategy Group Member

Milica Pekić, Kiosk NGO, Belgrade
Delta Company, Belgrade, Serbia (name to be confirmed)
Andrea Brbaklić, Erste bank, Belgrade, Serbia

Ljiljana Milanović, Umetnost davanja NGO, Niš

Questions & answers, discussion including the conference participants

12:15 – 12:30

Presentation of the pre-Forum workshop with local civil society: D.I.A. : Dream Imagine Act (to be confirmed)

Giusy Chierchia and Daniela Maffeo, Rekult together with participants of the D.I.A. Workshop

12:30 – 14:00

Lunch

14:00 – 15:45

Panel 2: 
Arm’s length principle / The role of citizens

Key issues: Is it a strong partisan “system of values” deeply embedded into institutions in Serbia, which often results in putting particularistic interests on top and carelessly disregard professional competence and expertise? Certain key positions are allocated without a clear strategy, mostly on the basis of distribution of political power, and rarely on the basis of knowledge and experience. How can civil society sector become a more relevant and important player in the decision making processes and in creation of new strategies? Is culture just a tool for short term political interests to promote their own agendas. These (and other important)  questions have never been publicly raised. The purpose of this panel is to explore the current state, throw a light on a very complex issue, and possibly map potential solutions. Representatives of the civil society sector, together with representatives from EP with local and regional cultural actors, will take active part in dealing with this sensitive issue.  These representatives will make an effort to find the best models from the EU and beyond, which could be suitable for implementationin the SEE region.

Moderator: Dejan Ubović, Director Grad

Key- note:
Stina Oscarson, Swedish radio

Discussion among:
Vesna Marjanović, City of Belgrade, member of the City council (t.b.c.)
Igor Štiks, writer and scholar
Volker Hassemer, President of the “A Soul for Europe” E.E.I.G. Board 
Biljana Srbljanović, playwright
Ljubiša Ristić, theater director 
Teodor Celakoski, Pravo na Grad, Zagreb, Croatia

Darijan Mihajlović, theatre director

Questions & answers, discussion including the conference participants

15:45 – 16: 00

Coffee and Tea Break

16:00 – 18:00

Panel 3: 

European Capital of Culture – 2020 and Beyond

Key issues: How the European Capital of Culture developed from the beginning and what are the prospects from 2020 onwards? Experiences form previous and current ECoC: the best and worst practices and models of ECoC. What is the role of civil society participation in the process of planning, implementing and follow-up the ECoC project? How to make sure that the ECoC is a sustainable long term project, also after the ECoC year? How to ensure that political short term objectives do not undermine the participation of independent cultural scene in the European Capital of Culture process?

Moderator: Nele Hertling, Artistic director of "Berlin - Cultural Capital of Europe, 1988". Vice-President of the Academy of Arts (Berlin). “A Soul for Europe” Strategy Group member

Speakers

Key- note: 
Trevor Davies, Project Manager of Aarhus 2017 and General Manager of Copenhagen 1996

Discussion among:
Gianni Pittella, Member of the European Parliament (t.b.c.)
Aleksandar Peković, Belgrade – Cultural Capital of Europe 2020
Fredrik Lindegren, Umea, European Capital of Culture 2014
Yuriy Vulkovsky, Executive Director of the Foundation for Urban Projects and Research, “A Soul for Europe” Strategy Group Member
Milena Dragićević-Šešić, Professor, University of Arts Belgrade
Sandrina Martins, European Capital of Culture - Marseille Provence 2013

Peter Tomaz Dobrila, Maribor 2012 – European Capital of Culture Public Institute

Questions & answers, discussion including the forum participants

18:00 – 18:15

Conclusions and outlook

Dejan Ubović, Director Grad

19:30 – 21:00

Closure reception

Download all speakers' biographies