We strengthened the capacity of the partner organisations to design and implement participatory governance models within creative hubs. A core objective was to enhance competences related to shared governance, financial sustainability, and urban regeneration, while ensuring that the knowledge generated could be transferred to public stakeholders and policymakers. The project sought to address the lack of accessible, practice-based knowledge and tested models in the field of adaptive reuse and co-governance by fostering structured knowledge exchange between partners, hub coordinators, cultural operators, and public authorities. Another key objective was to nurture a transnational Community of Practice. By embedding an international dimension and cross-pollination of ideas between Bucharest and Marseille, the project aimed to improve the quality of organisational practices and build the capacity of stakeholders to work across borders and sectors. Ultimately, the project contributes to more inclusive and resilient models of urban revitalisation, positioning cultural hubs as drivers of community development, skills building, and civic participation, while supporting long-term institutional learning and policy-relevant innovation
We applied for this project to respond to a shared need to strengthen participatory governance, financial sustainability, and cooperation models for former industrial spaces reused as creative hubs. In both Marseille and Bucharest, such initiatives face similar structural challenges: fragmented governance, limited financial predictability, and a lack of accessible, practice-based knowledge adapted to different local realities. For La Friche la Belle de Mai, the project offered a structured context to share expertise, test a transferable workshop curriculum, and expand its Community of Practice around adaptive reuse, governance, and cooperation models at European level. For Nod Makerspace, the project addressed a strategic need to build capacity for advancing the large-scale Berzei 21 urban regeneration initiative in Bucharest, which aims to transform a major publicly owned industrial site into a multifunctional cultural and community hub. By bringing together grassroots actors, public authorities, and European partners, the project addressed the lack of shared, practice-based models and created a framework for exchanging experiences, co-developing tools, and supporting inclusive, resilient approaches to urban regeneration.