Recovery, Resilience, and Resistance
How uncertainty and instability, rather than being purely obstructive, can be reimagined as catalysts for innovation, experimentation, and social change? How cultural and hybrid creative spaces can be developed and secured within speculative or volatile environments?
These were the core questions of this year’s Bautopia 6 ECHN Hubs Meetup that took place on 15-17 October 2025. Our inspiration? Our hosting hub, BASIS Vinschgau Venosta, in the picturesque area of Silandro, Italy.
As Hannes Götsch, Founder & CVO of BASIS stated in his welcoming words, BASIS “was conceived as a social activation creative hub in a region that had often been overlooked economically and politically, a region shaped by agriculture and craftsmanship. It was a bold and forward-thinking initiative.”
This year’s schedule was filled with inspiring speeches and keynotes, hands-on workshops, tours around BASIS and Silandro and plenty of networking opportunities, and after the warm welcoming speeches of ECHN’s founder Vassilis Charalampidis and Christine Kaaserer, Mayor of Silandro it was time to officially kickstart Bautopia 6!
Our three-day event started the best way possible with the Kick-off Speech of Miguel Angel Herrera, mayor of Genalguancil and head of the project Genalguacil Pueblo Museo. In his speech he guided us through the story of how a small rural community of 500 citizens in Spain managed to stand out in art and culture and began to serve as a development model to combat depopulation and repopulate the village of Genalguancil, against all odds. As Miguel Angel Herrera inspiringly stated: “Everything in my village has been built on the “no” from the biggest institutions.”
Next, we had the opportunity to meet Michael Hofer, CEO of da – the Upper Vinschgau citizens' cooperative. He shared with us how, through his cooperative, managed to focus both on sustainability and community legacy. He presented us how the revival of traditional practices like local dairies and pear cultivation and the launch of new initiatives such as tree-planting and regional product sales ensured that economic and environmental benefits stay within the local community.
The first day wrapped-up with a networking session that took us back to our school days. Who would have thought that throwing crumbled paper balls at each other (followed by an aperitivo, of course!) could lead to new collaborations and meetings? Thanks to Ignácio Marquez from Rural Hackers we had the chance to have fun and get to know each other better.
DAY 2
The main day of Bautopia 6 started with a tour of BASIS. Our hosts, Hannes, Anna and Katrin showed us around and shared with us their story of how they managed to transform a former fascist barracks into a hub for creativity, urban development, circularity, and social growth.
Back to the main plenary space, the first inspirational speaker of the day, Gerrit Jan van 't Veen, showed us an inspiring case deeply focused on the theme of Recovery, Resilience, and Resistance. As Managing Director of Popdistrict Den Haag Gerrit he brought to us the example of the city of Hague in the Netherlands. The Hague’s deep social divides, note severe inequality and segregation within a city known internationally for peace and justice, and through the initiative, Popdistrict was positioned as a space to merge all this through music and art.
Ekaterina Pelevina, was next and explained everything that we needed to know about Culture Moves Europe, one of the most well-known mobility schemes currently open for applications. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut Brussels. Also representing Goethe-Institut Brussels, Charlotte Jerie & Christina Kamperi spoke to us about the Ambassadors of Good Practice in Non-Urban Areas, a programme implemented inside the scope of the Creative FLIP project where the participants of the exchanges (host organisations and visitors) will focus on the project’s main question: “Ηow can we support arts and culture and local communities to bring regeneration into non-urban areas?”
The core of our programme was a round-up of speeches full of inspiring examples on how to Reactivate Spaces. Elisabeth Bechara, representing the Future DiverCities presented us not one, but eight pilot sites of creative spaces in all over Europe that push us “reimagine culture-led regeneration of empty urban space through artistic practices, participatory approach and ecological way”.
Next we met with David Prieth from The Vienna Club Commission who presented Free Spaces, a project in Vienna that represents a model of civic cooperation and cultural inclusion, giving marginalized groups access to public cultural expression and demonstrating how urban governments and self-organized communities can work together to create safe, sustainable, and vibrant nightlife.
Finally, Daria Habicher concluded the discussion by presenting Stelvio – A Narrative about Resilience, a development initiative by the rural Municipality of StelvioThese in Italy that combines material investments like building renovations and new mobility with immaterial initiatives such as a dispersed museum, artist residencies, festivals, and craft promotion.
But what about the examples of our ECHN community?
There is no better way to reinforce this year’s theme than inspiring each other by sharing our own stories. The ECHN Community is filled with examples of Recovery, Resilience, and Resistance, so next in our packed schedule was the activity Auf gute Nachbarschaft! On Good-Neighbourliness! Coming from a local expression that means “to signal mutual help to the neighbourhood, to help and support each other” we did exactly that! We shared our individual hub stories and experiences to inspire and help each other. The main outcomes can be found on the shared document.
The first half of the day was for sure full of new information and ideas but no one could deny that, after a good lunch, it was time to get into the more hands-on and practical part of our gathering with three simultaneous activities all around the narrative of Recovery. Participants discovered how analogue printing can become a tool for political expression in a RISO printing workshop, what sourdough can teach us about sustainable engagement in a (very tasty!) sourdough baking workshop and lastly saw how nature serves as a recovery mechanism in a guided tour of the cultivation terraces of Schlanders Sonnenberg.
The rest of our evening was all about networking in a very Silandro way, with snacks in BASIS’ cozy garden accompanied with the smell of chestnuts frying and of course a bit of clubbing!
DAY 3
The Hubs Meetup closed on the third day with the yearly General Assembly, an event exclusive to the ECHN members. After an overview of this year’s projects and news, the election moment arrived and in the end a new Board of Directors was elected for the next 3 years:
Vassilis Charalampidis (BIOS) stays as President,
Esra Gönen (Originn) is the new Vice President,
Tom Macpherson-Pope (The Making Rooms) the General Secretary,
Tessa Moroder (Lottozero) the Treasurer,
and Agustin Jamardo (Anceu Coliving) a Board member.
The 2 alternates are Raine Heikkinen (Kaapeli) and Alejandro Papadopoulos (PAU Barcelona).
We can’t wait to see what this new structure will bring for the future and next steps of ECHN!
Our Hubs Meetup events might be brief but it is always a very fulfilling experience for all of us in the ECHN team and we were more than happy to meet in person with all of you that managed to attend this year’s event. Special thanks to our hosts from the very welcoming space of BASIS Vinschgau Venosta - it was a pleasure to work with you and experience your vision to pioneer regional and social development of arts, culture, education and rural economy.
SEE THE PICTURES FROM DAY 1 AND DAY 2
