The fourth edition of the European Lab forum will begin in Lyon on Tuesday 27 May 2014, just a few hours after the end of the European elections and the announcement of the results. Whatever the outcome, the election is likely to be marked by growing distrust among citizens towards the European project. The circumstances and the coincidence of the dates will therefore naturally call for debate, discussion and deeper reflection on the role of culture, innovation and young people in reclaiming the European dream.

This is partly why we chose our theme for the 2014 forum: Europe Culture Refresh! Three words that sound like a call to action, developed through four themes and four days, and addressed to national and local authorities: it is urgent to reinvent European cultural policies and models in order to restore to culture — and, through it, to younger generations — the role it should play in building the European project and in overcoming territorial, social and generational divides.

A rallying cry that clearly expresses one conviction: in a world undergoing profound change, we must move beyond institutional conservatism. In a Europe in crisis, we must protect the considerable resources available to culture. But we urgently need to rethink how these resources are used and how they are distributed.

In the cultural sector, more than anywhere else, the temptation of institutional conservatism reigns supreme. Cultural policies in Europe, particularly at national level, are inherited from the 1960s and 1970s. For the most part, they have yet to take into account the profound transformations brought about by the digital revolution and globalisation. They manage what already exists, preserving the privileges of the dominant institutional establishment while keeping emerging initiatives, innovative and contemporary cultures, and — for lack of funding — new players and projects at the margins.

Vincent Carry