Discover how culture can strengthen social resilience across Europe’s macro-regions. The BSR Cultural Pearls project brought together voices from eight EU strategies for an inspiring roundtable on culture, security and cross-regional collaboration.
On 25 September 2025, the BSR Cultural Pearls project had the honour of hosting a strategic roundtable during the Macro-Regional & Sea Basin Strategies Days in Brussels — an event uniting stakeholders from all eight EU macro-regional and sea-basin strategies: Alpine, Danube, Adriatic-Ionian, Baltic Sea, Atlantic, Western Mediterranean, Black Sea and Greater North Sea. Political representatives, cultural actors and experts gathered to explore how culture can help build stronger, more cohesive and resilient communities across Europe.
The session opened with remarks by Felix Schartner Giertta, Project Manager at the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), who presented the achievements of the BSR Cultural Pearls initiative. He highlighted how the project empowers smaller municipalitiesto use culture strategically to strengthen social resilience, deepen community engagement and support local well-being.
Following this, Marina Martinez from KEA European Affairs shared key insights from the project’s evaluation, carried out in close cooperation with the Cultural Pearls partner consortium. The findings underscored the programme’s growing impact and its potential to serve as a model across other regions of Europe.
A shared question — and shared inspiration - These introductions set the stage for an engaging discussion centred on one essential question:
How can culture strengthen social resilience and security in Europe’s macro-regions?
Participants contributed a rich spectrum of experiences and ideas, touching on:
- the power of cross-regional cooperation,
- opportunities for project clustering,
- and the role of culture as a driver of inclusion, cohesion and resilience.
One key takeaway resonated strongly:
Sustained collaboration between Europe’s macro-regions is crucial, and the BSR Cultural Pearls model offers a valuable, transferable example of how culture can support long-term social resilience.
Looking ahead: next steps in Brussels
Building on this momentum, the Cultural Pearls team announced a follow-up eventscheduled for 3 December 2025, titled “Culture and Social Resilience on the European Agenda,” to be held at the Hanse Office in Brussels. The event will continue the dialogue and explore concrete opportunities for joint initiatives across macro-regions.
A shared commitment
The BSR Cultural Pearls consortium extends warm thanks to the organisers of the Macro-Regional & Sea Basin Strategies Days for the opportunity to connect platforms, and to all participants for their contributions and enthusiasm.
Together, this growing community continues to show that culture is a powerful force for building resilient, inclusive and future-ready societies across Europe.
