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The Right to participate in cultural life is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 27). However, participating in cultural life is still a challenge, especially when it comes to inclusion, and access to all adults to culture.

In Belgium (FR), a decree on Cultural Centers aims to develop and support the work of cultural centers in order to help people exercise their right to culture, with a focus on equality and empowerment.

This decree specifies that cultural centers activities have to :

• increase people’s ability to analyze, discuss, imagine, and take action, especially through participatory methods,
• seek to involve cultural actors from their local environment in designing and carrying out medium- and long-term cultural projects,
• be part of local or sector-based cooperation networks.

The decree also clearly links the missions of cultural centers to education and lifelong learning. The decree defines lifelong learning as “an approach that aims to encourage critical thinking about society, support democratic and collective initiatives, develop active citizenship, and promote social, cultural, environmental, and economic rights. It seeks both individual and collective empowerment, with a focus on active participation and cultural expression”.

Cultural centers exist all across Europe but the way they are called, or their scope and their role can vary depending on the country. They can be called cultural centers or houses, sociocultural centers, community art centers, …

 Depending of the countries:

• Culturals centers focus on community participation and social projects whereas in other countries they are more focused on heritage and local identity.
• Cultural centers have more structured policies linked to cultural rights and public funding whereas in other countries they are more dependent on project funding and partnerships.

However, despite differences, most European cultural centers share common values: access to culture for all, participation and inclusion, support for creativity, democracy and citizenship.

In link with these common values, these centers play an important role in the adult education landscape as places for formal, informal and non formal adult education.

European collaboration can play an essential role with regard to these missions and challenges. Indeed, Erasmus+ program and Epale platform can help in improving knowledge, motivation and inspiration for the staff working in cultural centers, acquiring new experience abroad, testing new materials and developing cooperation with European partners.

Participants at this TCA will have the opportunity to:

• Network with pairs working in cultural centers all around Europe.
• Discuss common challenges faced nowadays by cultural centers, as places for adult education.
• Discover what Epale and Erasmus+ can offer in terms of European cooperation and continuous training.
• Get inspired by good practices examples implemented by cultural centers from different countries.
• Discover the role of cultural centers in Belgium and Europe and visit local projects.
• Make links between their work/missions and two main priorities of the Erasmus+ program: Inclusion & Diversity - Participation

Any participant working in a cultural center or any stakeholder involved in a cultural center, interested in the role of cultural centers as places for adult education, and willing to initiate Epale and/or Erasmus+ projects in his/her center.