Save the date: European meeting 'Art as a meeting space' and 'Communal Route'.

The two days (25 and 26 May) seek to delve into the role of art as a generator of meeting spaces and to analyse the role of society in the self-management of the territory.

**** REGISTER HERE ON BOTH ACTIVITIES****

The European project 'Art Living Lab for Sustainabilitypromoted by Concomitentes, De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers, La Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires and the University of Santiago de Compostela, is holding the first of its public conferences in Santiago de Compostela and Couso (Gondormar, Pontevedra). 

On the first day of the conference, that of the thursday 25 mayThe will reflect on the role of art as a producer of "objects", but also as a generator of meeting places.. Throughout this session, the aim is to debate the role of art and its commitment to the environment, underlining the need to re-weave a society-territory encounter. In addition to this objective, which is one of the general objectives of the European project, this session seeks to reflect on how to art strengthens mechanisms for communities to self-manage their territory. Already the next day, the friday 26th mayThe visit will include a visit to the Monte Vecinal de Couso, self-managed by the neighbours and owners of the territory, where the participative artistic process linked to the European project '....Common Land'.

The project 'Art Living Lab for Sustainability', - financed by the European Commission and led by Concomitentes-, has the challenge of addressing three community management mechanisms: that of the bush with '...' and '...'.Common Land' (Monte Vecinal de Couso, Galicia, Spain); the clay with '.Clay Commons(Boom, Flanders, Belgium); and that of water with '.Water Commons(Haute-Jura Regional Nature Park, France).

In these three territories, participatory processes will be developed through a methodology based on mediation (Living Labs), which is used in the network of Nouveaux Commanditaires projects. These three participatory processes will culminate in the definition of a citizen artistic commission that will inspire the work of an artist to respond, through an artistic proposal based on nature, to the environmental challenges identified in these three environments.

The agenda of the two days

The 25 May will start with a public meeting entitled Art as a meeting place in Santiago de Compostela, in the Zone C, Rúa Preguntorio 1 at 17.00 hrsThe event will be an open conversation with the artist of the Concomitentes project, Legado Cuidado, Carme Nogueira; Amanda Crabtree, expert in mediation training and coordinator of La Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires; Thérèse Legierse, art curator and coordinator of De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers; and Fran Quiroga, transdisciplinary researcher and coordinator of Concomitentes. The speakers will explore the power of art to generate meeting places that facilitate citizen agency, underlining the impact beyond the production of an artistic work. 

**The talks will combine Galician and English.**

The 26th May at 17.00hrswill take place on Communal Route' through the Couso Neighbourhood MountThe European project 'Tierra Común' in Spain, mediated by Natalia Balseiro. During the tour, different experts will share details about the history and community management of the neighbourhood forest in Galicia, (approximately 25% of the Galician territory is self-managed by its communities). Xosé Antón Araujo, president of the community of Montes de Couso; Natalia Balseiro and David Soto, professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela will participate. 

At the end of the route, at 7 p.m., in the bathing area of the mountain, there will be a conversation with Benito Burgos, Deputy Director General for Cultural Cooperation with the Autonomous Communities of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport and coordinator of the Culture and Ruralities programme, on the need to diversify the cultural offer in rural areas. After a community picnic, the meeting will end with a performance by the perfomer Petra Porter and then culminate the intense day with the Charanga Vai de Baile.

**Both the talk and the walk will be in English and Galician and consecutive translation will be provided**.

Common methodology, shared processes

After years of putting into practice the methodology of New Commanders in different European countries, through a mediation process that incorporates civil society in processes of contemporary art creation, which respond to social problems, three of its main driving forces -Concomitentes, De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers, La Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires- joined forces to develop a joint project that incorporates this knowledge acquired in the practice of participatory cultural projects, but applied to the field of sustainability. Art brings us together and helps civil society to highlight the problems that impact their territory, reflecting on them but, above all, connecting with possible ways of tackling them through the resources that culture and art provide us with.

Art Living Lab for Sustainability is a project funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, coordinated by Concomitentes and developed together with De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers, La Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires and the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Monte Vecinal en Mano Común de Couso (Galicia, Spain), Flemish Land Society (Belgium) and the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation (Spain, France) and has a duration of two years.

More information on the European project website: www.artlivinglab.eu.