Incubator+ 2023
Our Incubator training programme was back this year in a brand new format. The usual consultancy retreat was completed by a project fair designed to give participants the chance to find partners on the spot. We called this new, improved format Incubator+.
Among the candidates, a jury selected the 23 projects that were most suitable to take part in the competition for European funds. The selected project coordinators were invited to attend a 4-day project fair and intensive retreat in October 2023 in Novi Sad, Serbia, to get the chance to refine their projects with the guidance of a very experienced team of experts. The event was also an opportunity to network, exchange experiences and project ideas, and develop joint proposals with professionals representing socio-cultural organisations from all over Europe. An important element of Incubator+ was also the opportunity to establish contacts with organisations from the Vojvodina region in Serbia and learn from their experience in European cooperation.
This year’s host, ENCC member Kulturanova, provided a space for discussion, reflection, and exchange on the most burning topics in European cultural cooperation. The programme foresaw a variety of different activities, including presentations, consulting sessions with experts on EU projects, as well as many informal moments of networking, sharing, and leisure, including study visits to local socio-cultural projects Šok Zadruga and SKCNS Fabrika.
Discover more about the Incubator programme here
Andrej Nosov is a theatre director, cultural manager and human rights activist. In 2009, he founded Heartefact with the aim of fostering critical awareness and artistic engagement on current socio-political issues. He has managed several projects supported by Creative Europe, UNDP and other international funding schemes. He has large experience in teaching storytelling, strategic development, conflict management and community engagement.
Giles Agis is a cultural manager based in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Since 2022 he is the Executive Director of Brouhaha International. In the past, he has worked as a European development manager and a youth theatre professional. He has been a board member of the Roots & Routes International Association since 2016.
Marija Popović has worked as a project manager, trainer, external evaluator and consultant since 2000. She is currently a producer and international cooperation manager at the Institution Student Cultural Centre in Novi Sad, and an EU projects coordinator at the EXIT Foundation. She has managed EU projects in the field of human rights, social inclusion, youth and culture, and has extensive experience with Erasmus+. member of the Team Europe of the DEU in Serbia.
Nicolas Combes is the deputy director general of the world heritage site Saline Royale d'Arc-et-Senans, in France. In the past, he has been interim director of the Saline Royale, general administrator of the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, and co-coordinator of Jordi Savall's triennial residency and of the ORPHEUS XXI project. He is specialised in EU projects and funding.
Goran Tomka is a researcher and lecturer in the field of audience studies, new media, cultural diversity and cultural policy and management. He is an associate professor at the TIMS Faculty from Novi Sad, and UNESCO Chair in cultural policy and management. Also active as a consultant, trainer, critic and advocate, he coordinated a long-term cultural plan for the application of Novi Sad for the title of 2021 European Capital of Culture.
Ivo Peeters is one of the founders of the European Network of Cultural Centres and has served as the organisation's chairman since 2015. He was previously the director of the De Zeyp cultural centre in Brussels. With 30+ years of experience working at the local and international level, he has been involved in conceiving and facilitating many European cooperation projects, with a special focus on arts and disabilities.
Daniel Azzopardi is the artistic director of Spazju Kreattiv, Malta’s National Centre for Creativity. He has been senior programme manager at Fondazzjoni Kreattività and director of the ŻiguŻajg International Arts Festival for Children and Young People. Since 2010, he is active as a cultural and creative entrepreneur, lending his expertise to policy-making, strategy planning and project coordination. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology and the University of Malta.
Lucy Perineau is the communications and publications manager of the ENCC. She pilots the network's project on digital ethics and the ENCC switch to free, libre and open source software. She is the co-author of On Digital Ethics for Cultural Organisations and reports for the ENCC on the working conditions and mental health of culture professionals. She is also a PhD candidate carrying out practice-based research on comics.
Vittorio Bianco is the co-coordinator of Hub Multiculturale Cecchi Point – Casa del Quartiere Aurora in Turin, and the responsible for European projects at Rete delle Case del Quartiere. He started his career in environmental organisations with a focus on urban ecology and sustainable development. He then moved to other aspects of sustainability in the urban context such as social inclusion, culture and health. He is also the co-founder of Bici-t, a start-up offering sustainable mobility services.
Ksenija Đurović is a Belgrade-based cultural worker focusing on organisation and production models in the independent art scene. She is the producer of Bitef, the Belgrade International Theatre Festival, one of the oldest in the region, and the coordinator of Gender Equality for Cultural Diversity, a two-year project working towards developing a Network for gender equality in arts and culture. In 2018, she co-founded BRINA with curator Mirjana Dragosavljević, in hopes to develop their own feminist, inclusive, critical work in visual/performing arts.
Name Daniela Ribeiro; Project Celestial Bodies Encounters 2025/2026; Country Portugal; Organisation Má-Criação Associação Cultural
Name Uxio Novo Rey; Project Litcenters.eu; Country Spain; Organisation Fundación Uxío Novoneyra
Name Marijana Jukić; Project Museum of Ilok (Muzej grada Iloka); Country Croatia
Name Erica Romero Pender; Project SociAll – Empowering LGBT Social Entrepreneurship in the Cultural and Creative Sectors; Country Spain; Organisation Rocknrolla Producciones y Eventos Culturales
Name Heather O'Donnell; Project Full Circle – Support Systems for at-risk Artists and Communities; Country Germany; Organisation TGR The Green Room
Name Candy Glas; Project Culture Hub - Place Holder; Country Germany; Organisation Name upcoming
Name Mariia Kotvitska; Project RENAISSANCE - Intersectoral festival of art, nature and mental health; Country Spain; Organisation CultUcrania.org Spain/ Ukraine project (created by Ukrainian Foundation KOLO Fund)
Name Michael Klütgens; Project Europe Speaks - the first European queer feministic Slam festival; Country Belgium; Organisation Zungenrächer n.e.V.
Name Gleb Likhobabin; Project Collab EdChallenge — A real-life game to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals; Country Georgia/Serbia; Organisation Collab
Name Tom Van de Velde; Project Our venue as the living room of the village; Country Belgium; Organisation Dijk92
Name Ioana Diaconu; Project F-SIDES Distribution; Country Romania; Organisation Room 2046 Association
Name Sabina Sabic; Project Balkan Art Science Heritage / Activism Hubs in Nature; Country Bosnia and Herzegovina; Organisation Art Lab
Name Zsófia Jozifek; Project Positive Approach; Country Hungary; Organisation Jobb Veled a Világ Alapítvány
Name Jelena Krstanovic; Project Youth power in culture; Country Serbia; Organisation Institution Student Cultural Center in Novi Sad (SKCNS)
Name Henna Kojo; Project Mind The GAP; Country Finland; Organisation Association of Finnish Children's Cultural Centers
Name Külli Hansen; Project Green design; Country Estonia; Organisation Tartu Centre for Creative Industries
Name Helga Thies; Project ArtCrawl; Country Romania; Organisation ArtCrawl
Name Zaneta Vavrova; Project MLýN (Mill residency and creative centre); Country Czech Republic; Organisation Educational and Cultural Centre Broumov
Name Marta Szadowiak; Project Sustainability Officers' network in the field of culture; Country Poland; Organisation Goyki 3 Art Inkubator
Name Antoni Roviras Padrós; Project SÓC. Empowering youth towards Europe and Culture activeness: The urban and fusion dance Festival (from now on, SÓC); Country Spain; Organisation Auditori Teatre Espai Ter
Name Daniel Poulet; Project Cafés of Europe; Country Hungary; Organisation Pro Progressione
Name Tanja Gavrilovic; Project Structuring regional circus scene; Country Serbia; Organisation Teatroskop - South-Eastern European Network for Performing Arts
Name Beata Kwiatkowska; Project Nature Based Solutions in European artistic practises - continuation of idea; Country Poland; Organisation Ośrodek Kultury Ochoty OKO