EUNIC Inter-Cluster Meeting in Leuven

 
On the 7th and 8th of May 2012, EUNIC Cluster representatives from London, the Netherlands and Brussels spent two days in Leuven, discussing the clusters’ organisation and projects, and exploring possibilities of closer cooperation between clusters.
 
After the first meeting organised last year by SICA (Dutch Centre for International Cultural Activities), cluster heads and representatives had another opportunity to get to know each other, the internal organisation, the projects and activities of the other clusters and discuss ways of improving inter-cluster communication as well as share best practice on project organisation. This Inter-Cluster Meeting was organised and chaired by the Austrian Cultural Forum Brussels (President of EUNIC in Brussels 2011/2012.
 
The meeting started on Monday 7 May in the Leuven Townhall, where the group was welcomed by Denise Vandevoort, Echevin for culture, social affairs, equal opportunity and student exchange, who gave an address about the city of Leuven and its cultural richness. The evening then followed with an informal dinner at the Leuven Institute for Ireland, also a EUNIC in Brussels member, where the group had the opportunity to get to know each other in a friendly atmosphere.
The second day, on the 8th of May, was dedicated to discussions and reflection at the Leuven Institute for Ireland. Ms Ann Branch, Head of Unit for the DG EAC Culture Programme and Actions, gave a presentation of Creative Europe, the new initiative of the Commission for 2014-2020. Later on during the morning, Charles-Etienne Lagasse, second Vice President and Treasurer of EUNIC Global, presented his vision of EUNIC Global and its links with the various clusters that are established all around the globe.
 
After the presentations, the meeting moved to more internal discussions and the three clusters successively touched upon organisational issues (membership, charter, contributions, projects and communication) and project-related issues. For this last part, each cluster presented their key-project, followed by a discussion about inter-cluster co-operation.
 
The Brussels Cluster was represented by Robert Adam(Institutul Cultural Român Bruxelles), Klaus Bondam (Danish Cultural Institute), Hélène Berthet-Bondet (Austrian Cultural Forum), Carmen Ducaru (Institutul Cultural Român Bruxelles), Cécile Mabilotte (Alliance Française), Ulla-Alexandra Mattl (EUNIC in Brussels), Béatrice Minh(EUNIC in Brussels), Beata Podgorska (Polish Institute),Lise Traeland (Norwegian Embassy), Manuela Seu-Stokkmo (Norwegian Embassy), Malachy Vallely (Leuven Institute for Ireland), and Mario Vielgrader (Austrian Cultural Forum).
The London Cluster was represented by Dorian Branea(Roumanian Information Centre), Anna Godlewska (Polish Institute) and Peter Mikl (Austrian Cultural Forum).
The Netherlands Cluster was represented by Daria Bouwman (Austrian Cultural Forum), Sigal Weissbein(Israeli Embassy), Csilla Tordai (Hungarian Cultural Forum),Saule Gaizauskaite (Litouws Cultural Centre) and Arthur Sonnen (SICA).