Europe BEYOND will address core questions regarding the future of the European community and the role of culture in a rapidly changing social, political, and technological landscape - organised around three tracks: Agency, Imagination and Resilience.

Agency turns the lens onto cultural power itself. Following the recognition of culture's role in Europe's future through strategic policy documents such as the EU Culture Compass and the Joint Declaration on Culture, the moment has come to turn that recognition into action - giving the sector the agency to take the leading role. This means improving the social status of cultural workers, ensuring fair working conditions, and building the support systems needed to protect the freedom of creation and the autonomy of the cultural sector - while ensuring that cultural actors have a seat at the table where the decisions shaping our common futures are made.

Imagination looks at the futures culture is already shaping. Rather than simply responding to change, culture imagines Europe's future, drawing on histories, often contested, as material to build from. This means asking what AI development and governance could serve, what a green transition rooted in social justice should look like, and how demographic shifts could open new civic possibilities rather than be managed as a problem.

Resilience confronts what threatens that future: ongoing wars and conflicts, the fragile state of democracy and societal health, disinformation, and social polarisation. It asks what it takes for culture to keep societies critical, connected, and able to withstand crisis rather than fracture under it.