The "Empowering Audiences, Reimagining Culture" summer school was held from 23rd to 27th of September 2019 in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation complex in Lisbon, as the first in a series of summer schools dedicated to the topic of audience development which the partners are organizing within the framework of the ADESTE+ project. Alongside the five-day programme of the summer school, a conference was held, as well as a policy forum, and that together gathered over 300 participants from all parts of Europe. The event programme included issues pertaining to transformation of organizations in their approach to working with the audience and for the audience in the context of looking at participation, inclusion and engagement of the audience in cultural and artistic life. The participants had the opportunity to follow different programme lines, from lectures and panel discussions to masterclasses and workshops. Speakers that participated were from all parts of Europe, including Croatians Darko Lukić and Ana Žuvela. The Summer School and Conference were organized by Mapa des Ideias and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation from Lisbon, in cooperation with other ADESTE+ project partners.

Kultura Nova Foundation, as one of the project partners, designed, prepared and led the first Policy Forum that gathered around 30 representatives of national and local bodies in charge of culture and private foundations. The Policy Forum is thought up as a dynamic platform for policy creators that deals with the topic of cultural participation and improving policy in that field.

More information on the Summer School and Conference programmes and video documentation from the events is available here.