Deventer Op Stelten PRO-Days 2026

Evolving Cities: from cultural subsidy to urban strategy
Urban Policy & Cultural Infrastructure Lab

As cities face growing social, spatial, and economic pressures, questions around public space, participation, well-being, and local identity are becoming increasingly urgent.

In this context, culture is no longer only understood as artistic programming or shared experience, but as part of how cities function, connect, and evolve.

DOS PRO 2026 is a new platform for exchange and reflection within the context of Deventer Op Stelten. It brings together cultural practitioners, policymakers, researchers, local businesses, and European cultural networks to explore how cultural practices already shape urban life — socially, spatially, and institutionally.

The 2026 edition focuses on one central question:
How can culture move from being supported – to being structurally embedded within urban development?

Through the Urban Policy & Cultural Infrastructure Lab, participants will examine how the social, civic, and economic contributions of culture can be translated into long-term urban strategy, governance, and decision-making.

Programme

Through keynote contributions, panel discussions, audience mapping, and collective working sessions, participants will examine:

  • when cultural practice already functions as infrastructure rather than programming;
  • why cultural value often fails to translate into policy and investment decisions;
  • how cities can integrate culture into long-term development strategies;
  • what institutional and political conditions make structural change possible.

Bringing together Dutch and European perspectives, the programme is designed as an open working environment where cultural practitioners, policymakers, researchers, funders, and urban stakeholders can exchange experiences and test new approaches.

Programme Highlights

Session 1

Culture Beyond Programming: When cultural practice functions as infrastructure

Session 2

From Funding to Decisions: How culture becomes strategy

Collective Response Session

Where Does Change Become Possible?

Evening Programme

PAN.OPTIKUM

Speakers & Contributors

  • Marleen van Dalen Moderator; Policy-maker for Economy, Media & Culture
  • Adrie van Essen Artistic Director, Deventer Op Stelten
  • Martijn Westerbrink Director, Events dEVENTer
  • Sjoerd Bootsma Former Co-Artistic Director, Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018; Former Artistic Director, Arcadia
  • Viktorien van Hulst Director, Performing Arts Fund NL
  • Ása Richardsdóttir Secretary General, IETM; Chair, Perform Europe
  • Josine Gilissen Director, Theaterfestival Boulevard
  • Bart Ellenbroek Stichting Deventer, binnenstadsmanager
  • Martijn Holtslag Artist and Producer
  • Johanneke ter Stege Artist and Reflective Observer
  • Representatives from the Deventer business and city marketing sector
  • Municipal and regional policy representatives will be announced shortly

Additional contributors to be announced

Registration

Who is it for?

The lab is designed for professionals working across culture, public policy, urban development, civic participation, research, city marketing, and related fields.

Why participate?

  • Connect with professionals working across culture, governance, and urban development.
  • Explore practical examples of how cultural practice contributes to civic participation, public space, and local economies.
  • Exchange perspectives with Dutch and European practitioners, funders, and decision-makers.
  • Contribute to a collective conversation on the future role of culture in city development.

Participation

Participation is free of charge. To help us prepare the working sessions and evening programme, we kindly ask participants to register in advance.

Register here


Info

3 July 2026
13:00 – 18:00

Location: MIMIK film Theater en Cafe Deventer, Achter de Muren Vispoort 8-10

Free with registration

A soft opening format structured around thematic tables and guiding questions connected to the central themes of the day.

Participants are invited to move freely, observe, reflect, and engage in informal conversations before the programme begins.

Welcome and framing by Deventer Op Stelten and Events dEVENTer.

Introducing the central question of the day:

How can culture move from being supported to being structurally embedded within urban development?

No Content

A live participatory mapping exploring:

-Which sectors are represented

-Where decision-making power sits

-How participants relate to urban governance processes

The live poll creates a shared understanding of the perspectives and positions present in the room before moving into discussion.

Culture Beyond Programming: When cultural practice functions as infrastructure

How do cultural practices shape urban life beyond cultural programming?

 

This session explores how festivals, artistic initiatives, and long-term cultural projects contribute to economic activity, public space, civic participation, and city identity — often functioning as forms of civic, social, and economic infrastructure without being recognised as such.

 

Contributors from:

-Cultural festivals and event organisations

-Long-term cultural legacy initiatives

-Local business and city marketing sectors

-Artistic and cultural production practices

 

Key themes:

-Culture as civic infrastructure

-Long-term impact versus project logic

-Public space and urban belonging

-Cultural ecosystems and city identity

No Content

A live audience poll exploring:

-Where cultural value gets lost in decision-making

-What factors determine decisions in practice

-Which investments are most difficult to defend today

The results are visualised in real time.

From Funding to Decisions: How culture becomes strategy

If the value of culture is widely recognised, why does it still struggle to influence structural decision-making?

 

This session focuses on the gap between evidence and implementation, examining how cities and institutions can integrate culture into long-term governance, planning, and investment frameworks.

 

Contributors from:

-Municipal and regional government

-National cultural funding institutions

-European cultural policy and cooperation networks

 

Key questions:

-Where are decisions actually made?

-Why does cultural value fail to translate into policy?

-What institutional conditions enable structural integration?

-What needs to change beyond individual projects?

Where does change become possible?

Participants work in mixed groups around one central question:

What would need to change structurally for culture to function as infrastructure in practice rather than rhetoric?

The outcomes are shared with the room and become part of the lab’s collective conclusions.

 

A synthesis of the key insights, tensions, and unresolved questions emerging throughout the day.

The session concludes with a poetic reflection by Johanneke ter Stege and a collective moment of individual commitment, inviting participants to reflect on one decision, action, or question they will take forward.

For registered participants and contributors.

Backstage visit and conversation with PAN.OPTIKUM.

The company is internationally recognised for large-scale participatory productions in public space that connect artistic creation, community engagement, and urban participation.

 

PAN.OPTIKUM live performance in public space