Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 shows strong demand to continue the Cultural Pearls initiative
From 26–27 November the Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 took place in Varde, Denmark, bringing together municipalities, cultural leaders, researchers, and practitioners from across the Baltic Sea Region to exchange knowledge on how culture strengthens social resilience in smaller and medium-sized cities.
The forum symbolically concluded the three-year BSR Cultural Pearls project. The Danish Cultural Institute has been actively involved in the project from the very first brainstorming sessions to the organisation of this year’s forum, with the planning led by DCI’s CCI Research & Development Advisor, Žanete Eglīte, together with colleagues from Varde, led by Anette Posselt.
DCI Regional director, Anna Enemark, contributed to the forum’s content by leading practical workshops that explored the role of culture in times of crisis, inviting participants to reflect through the tactile and symbolic practice of embroidery.
The forum featured a remarkable group of speakers and facilitators, including the Director of Placemaking Europe Ramon Marrades, social and cultural planner Jonas Büchel, art project manager and the developer of the contemporary art space Kurtuve in Valmiera Liene Jakobsone, expert in arts-based innovations Krista Petäjäjärvi as well as the regional director of the Danish Cultural Institute Anna Enemark and more.
Inese Suija-Markova, the deputy mayor of the Cēsis municipality in Latvia, set the scene by sharing a compelling example of how investing in culture helped Cēsis overcome an economic crisis and become an attractive place to live:
“Small towns can shine if they invest in culture. Culture is as essential as roads. We must redefine what counts as infrastructure. A festival must be seen as an investment in resilience,” stated Inese Suija-Markova.
Felix Schartner Giertta, the BSR Cultural Pearls project coordinator from the project lead partner, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, reflected on the project’s achievements in his keynote:
“Over the past two and a half years, we have developed a shared narrative, built a strong network, received 40 applications from towns and cities across the Baltic Sea Region, and awarded the Cultural Pearls title to 14 of them. This is only the beginning,” he said.
The way forward for BSR Cultural Pearls
Although the three-year project formally concludes this autumn, forum participants emphasised that the BSR Cultural Pearls Award will continue. Municipalities, partners, and experts across the region are already shaping plans to ensure the methodology, tools and peer network continue to support towns and cities that recognise culture as key to their future resilience. A newly formed executive board and secretariat will launch the next call for applications in March 2026 for the 2027 title.
The initiative will certainly remain strong through 2026, as four towns and cities—Glücksburg (GER), Kristinestad–Kristiinankaupunki (FIN), Krosno (POL) and Schleswig (GER)—will carry on their path toward strengthening social resilience through culture as BSR Cultural Pearls 2026. Their award ceremony was celebrated within the framing of the Culture for Resilience Forum and their title year will officially be inaugurated on 20 January 2026.
The forum was organised by the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Varde Library and GoTo Denmark in cooperation with the project consortium and Cultural Pearls.
In collaboration with the Resilient Communities Learning Platform (RESCOM), the forum also welcomed stakeholders from Sweden, Ukraine, and Moldova to enrich the dialogue.
The BSR Cultural Pearls project is co-funded by the EU’s Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme. The project, implemented by a consortium of 12 partner organisations, aims to strengthen social resilience in Baltic Sea Region municipalities by harnessing the potential of local assets of culture and creativity. The project is led by the Council of the Baltic Sea States.