LeCAKE Kick Off Meeting
On November 4, 2022, the LeCAKE kick-off meeting took place online.
On this occasion, a new format inspired by Reverse Pedagogy was tested: the partners had access during the previous week to several explanatory videos on the budget, communication and young ambassadors aspects of LeCAKE before meeting online to discuss the content of these videos. This allowed the launch to be a moment of exchange rather than information.
The Transplanisphere team, coordinator of the project, included Bruno Freyssinet, Noémie Besace, Marion Pollet, Coline Lechat, Nicola Loré and Elia Chevrier. The other partners were represented by Xavier Maitre and Béatrice Albert for Le sas, by Jean-Noël Geist for The Shift Project, Vicente de Sa and Hugo Miguel Coelho for Ex-Quorum, Barna Petranyi and Mate Tenke for Pro Progressione, Georg Kentrup for Consol Theatre and Alessandro Cavoli for Teatro Rigodon. The Greek partners of the company Ohi Pezoume who could not participate will be able to access the minutes of the meeting, in addition to viewing the explanatory videos.
Presentation of the partners
The first part of the meeting was dedicated to the presentation of each partner.
Indeed, if some of them, like Ex-Quorum, Theatro Rigodon, Consol Theater and the Transplanisphere know each other well and are used to work together, for others, like Le sas and the Shift project, it is the first European project of this scale. Moreover, several of the teams have recently hired new members: Mate Tenke will work on the issue of sustainable development for Pro Progressione and Nicola Loré and Elia Chevrier will be dedicated to LeCAKE for the Transplanisphere and Le sas.
These cross-presentations were also an opportunity to exchange on the reasons for the commitment of the partners, who each have a contribution and a complementary approach to the project. The Shift Project think tank is already an expert on the issue of sustainable development in culture after the publication of the two “Decarbonizing Culture” reports, as is Le sas, which works on the relationship between art and science. But this is an opportunity for these two structures to give their commitment a European dimension. The other partners, who have been working for a long time on cultural action and social issues through numerous international projects, have seen their practices change since the pandemic and wish to be part of the global decarbonization process.
Hugo Miguel Coehlo summarized it well: “LeCAKE comes at a key moment to change our working methods”.
The main points of the meeting
The second part of the meeting was intended to exchange on the content of the explanatory videos.
The central topic of the young ambassadors occupied a large part of the discussions. There are indeed many points to be settled in regard to these young Europeans who will be responsible for implementing the project within each structure. The question arose as to whether some members of the partner structures could already fulfil this function, or whether and how new people should be recruited. It was also stressed by the partners that it was important to designate these young ambassadors in the most inclusive way possible, taking into account gender equality and equal opportunities. Age limits were also questioned, and it was agreed to adopt a case-by-case approach. Finally, the modalities for the exchange of youth ambassadors between the different partners were discussed.
The rest of the exchanges focused on the work procedures. The Transplanisphere, coordinator of the project, is also in charge of developing the first of the reference tools in Chapter 1, which is devoted to international instruments. It was agreed that their work would provide a model that the other partners in charge of the following modules could use. If they can now start their research on the Green Deal, the SDGs and the IPCC reports, they will wait for the implementation of the New European Bahaus sequence by the Transplanishere to be aligned with it. Two meetings will therefore be held in December and January to test and evaluate this first model. Finally, the question of meeting formats and mobility was also raised.
These last points show that we will have to rethink many of the practices of our structures in order to reconcile cultural action and sustainability: this is the challenge of the LeCAKE, which seems more necessary than ever!