The participatory process for the #Jerez2031 European Capital of Culture bid enters a key moment tomorrow with the launch of the schedule of sessions for the social, educational, and cultural Agoras. These forums, with the participation of one hundred registered cultural stakeholders from across the province, aim to contribute ideas and projects that will contribute to shaping the candidacy’s cultural program through dialogue, encounter, and debate.
Following the holding of the Jerez 2031 Forum on July 2, the forums constitute a second level of work, as they are conceived as specialized spaces for meeting, exchange, and dialogue. These will allow, in two phases, to work consecutively in two laboratories: Ideas Lab (first) and Projects Lab (next). In this way, once the most consensual, relevant, and innovative ideas, aligned with the candidacy’s purpose and the spirit of the EU European Capital of Culture initiative, have been selected, it will be time to study, within the Projects Lab, their implementation, viability, and inclusion in the #Jerez2031 cultural program.
Following this work plan, the Jerez Chamber of Commerce’s coworking space will host, starting tomorrow, the Ideas Lab Agoras: Social (July 17), Educational (July 18), and Cultural (July 21) in different sessions. Following the volume of registrations received, the #Jerez2031 Technical Office is considering the possibility of doubling these forums to reduce the number of participants and ensure full participation and the exchange of ideas.
Once the first part of the process is complete with the Ideas Lab, the Social, Educational, and Cultural Project Lab Agoras will take place between July 28 and 30. The goal is to define content, activities, and projects and align them with the different programming lines that will be included in the bid book for submission at the end of next December.
Thus, the #Jerez2031 participation forums are conceived as spaces for active listening, information about the bid, and the identification of cultural, creative, and artistic initiatives proposed by stakeholders in the cultural ecosystem of Jerez and the province of Cádiz that, if properly targeted, could be included in the cultural program.
The outcome of this entire participatory process is geared toward a cultural program for all audiences (the general public, vulnerable and marginalized groups, the elderly, and young people) of high artistic quality, relevance, and innovation, bringing together artists from across Europe, nationally, and locally, encompassing all artistic disciplines, and serving as a platform for the participation and involvement of all individuals and citizens.
In short, a transformative process that allows, from the cultural sphere, the south, and Jerez, to place culture at the center of social cohesion, urban regeneration, and international outreach, in line with the values that enabled the construction of the common European project.