THE CITY AS A CLASSROOM: Volunteering Programs as Non-Formal Education

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Every European Capital of Culture runs on thousands of volunteers — but what if that workforce is also the most underrated classroom in the cultural sector? Drawing on past, present, and future Capitals of Culture, this session reframes volunteering not as free labor but as non-formal education: a structured way to build the skills, networks, and confidence that train the cultural leaders of tomorrow. It asks what volunteers actually take away from the experience, and whether programs are designed to develop people or simply to staff events.

The conversation turns to the harder questions beneath the goodwill. Where is the line between meaningful engagement and unpaid work dressed up as opportunity? How do you sustain a volunteer community after the festival ends and the funding moves on, so that a city keeps the capacity it built? What transfers across very different contexts — from Oulu to Bourges, Sofia to Sibiu to Japan — and what has to be reinvented locally? And as cities compete for the Capital of Culture title, can volunteer programs become a real engine of civic identity and long-term cultural capacity, rather than a one-year burst of enthusiasm that fades once the spotlight moves on?

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SPEAKERS

Volunteer Coordinator, Oulu Culture Foundation (Finland)

Participation and Civic Engagement Manager, Bourges 2028 – European Capital of Culture (France)

President and Project Manager, EDU Center NGO (Bulgaria)

Director, Volunteer Bridge Project (Japan / Romania)

Head of FITS Volunteer Program, Sibiu; European Capitals of Culture 2007–2028 (Romania)

Moderated by Cosmin Chivu, Director of Industry Programme, SIPAM (Romania).

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Event in English , with translation into Romanian
Duration: 30min

FREE ACCESS,  WITHIN AVAILABLE PLACES