Culture Powers Resilience: Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 Calls for the Cultural Pearls Initiative to Continue

On 25-27 November 2025, Varde, Denmark became a vibrant gathering place for cultural leaders, municipalities, researchers, and practitioners from across the Baltic Sea Region. Over two inspiring days, the Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 explored a central message: culture is a powerful driver of social resilience, especially in small and medium-sized cities.

The programme featured a dynamic lineup of speakers, including Placemaking Europe Director Ramon Marrades, cultural planner Jonas Büchel, Kurtuve art space developer Liene Jakobsone, arts innovation expert Krista Petäjäjärvi, and Danish Cultural Institute regional director Anna Enemark. Their insights sparked engaging discussions on how creativity and community participation can help towns strengthen their social fabric.

Setting the tone for the forum, Inese Suija-Markova, Deputy Mayor of Cēsis in Latvia, shared how investing in culture helped her town overcome economic hardship and become an attractive, thriving community. “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,” she said.

The forum also celebrated the four newly selected BSR Cultural Pearls 2026 — Glücksburg (GER), Kristinestad–Kristiinankaupunki (FIN), Krosno (POL), and Schleswig (GER). Their award ceremony took place during the event, and their title year will formally begin on 20 January 2026.

Although the three-year BSR Cultural Pearls project is drawing to a close, one message resonated strongly throughout the forum: there is a clear and growing demand to continue the Cultural Pearls initiative. Municipalities, partners, and experts across the region are already working to sustain the award, methodology, and peer network. A newly formed executive board and secretariat will launch the next call for applications in March 2026 for the 2027 title.

Reflecting on the initiative’s achievements, Felix Schartner Giertta, BSR Cultural Pearls project coordinator at the Council of the Baltic Sea States, noted: “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.”

The forum was organised by the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Varde Library, and GoToDenmark, in cooperation with the project consortium and Cultural Pearls. Through collaboration with the Resilient Communities Learning Platform (RESCOM) project, the event also benefited from meaningful contributions from stakeholders in Sweden, Ukraine, and Moldova.

The BSR Cultural Pearls project, co-funded by the EU’s Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme, brings together 12 partner organisations to support municipalities in strengthening social resilience through culture and creativity. The initiative is led by the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

• See more images from the Culture for Resilience Forum 2025 here.
• See more images from the BSR Cultural Pearls Title 2026 Award Ceremony here.

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