Cultivator – a cultural ecosystem for collective change

CULTIVATOR is a European project involving three cultural centers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia that is changing the way cultural institutions operate. It is not about new buildings or technologies, but about a change in approach – greater openness, care, and cooperation.

Image: Bunker

The project has two strands that reflect the need to cultivate the cultural environment both inside and outside.

We care for cultural workers themselves – artists, employees, and collaborators of organizations. We share experiences, learn from each other, and build new formats for cooperation between institutions.

At the same time, we focus on people who are often overlooked – seniors, parents with young children, people with disabilities, and caregivers. We look for ways to involve them in cultural events, listen to them, and create with them.

CULTIVATOR is a small project with a big impact. We believe that real change starts from within and continues outward—and that culture can be a place where people not only consume but also enjoy all the ingredients – meeting, sharing, and growing.

Main goals of the CULTIVATOR project focus on:

to support institutional change and care for cultural workers
to develop inclusive approaches to new or neglected communities
to create shared, transferable tools and roles for cultural organizations across Europe.

International partnership:

Studio ALTA – Prague, Czech Republic
Bunker – Ljubljana, Slovenia
Stanica Žilina-Záriečie – Žilina, Slovakia

Main formats and approaches

Artist to Artist: 10 meetings for artists focused on care, mentoring, and experience sharing. Coordination will be led by the artists themselves.
Venue to Artist: A pilot model of co-curation with local NGOs, collectives, and the public. Testing participatory management of cultural space.
Venue to Venue: Facilitating dialogue between cultural centres on resilience, solidarity, accessibility and strategies for working under sociopolitical threats.

The project focuses on structural changes within institutions: care for cultural workers, horizontal management, co-curation, and work with neglected groups (seniors, people aged 55+, parents with young children, people with disabilities, migrants in the role of caregivers). Instead of one-off outputs, CULTIVATOR builds long-term capacities, new professional roles, and openly shared tools that can be implemented in other contexts.

Main outputs and transferability

4 thematic toolkits (artistic formats, working with audiences, accessibility, co-curation).
New roles in organizations (accessibility ambassadors, curatorial councils, care coordinators.
Presentation and dissemination within European networks (IETM, TEH, Culture Action Europe).

[Source: Bunker]

Bunker Institute

(Partner) Ljubljana

Ljubljana

All projects of Slovenian producer

Foreign producers in the supported project

ALT@RT z.ú. (leader)

Czech Republic (EU)
Truc spherique (partner)

Slovakia (EU)

Funded projects

LIVEUROPE – 2017–2021 (4. year)

LIVEUROPE – 2017–2021 (3. year)

LIVEUROPE – 2017–2021 (2. year)

Soft Control

Future Architecture Platform – 2017–2021 (4. year)

Future Architecture Platform – 2017–2021 (3. year)

Future Architecture Platform – 2017–2021 (2. year)

Future Architecture Platform / FuturA – 2015–2017 (2. year)

Aerowaves – 2017–2021 (4. year)

Aerowaves – 2017–2021 (3. year)

Aerowaves – 2017–2021 (2. year)

Aerowaves – 2014–2017 (3. year)

Aerowaves – 2014–2017 (2. year)

Story Time – Connecting People with the Power of Art

European film screening in 2024

European film screening in 2023

European film screening in 2022

European film screening in 2021

European film screening in 2020

European film screening in 2019

European film screening in 2018

European film screening in 2017

European film screening in 2016

European film screening in 2015

European film screening in 2014

European film screening in 2013

The Film Corner Clubs 2026-2028. From virtual to real (TFCClubs)

Here I am! (HIA)

EUthentic Detectives – Fostering Media literacy of people who face cognitive challenges, their caregivers and young volunteers

CEE Animation Workshop (CEE AW) – 2026

Film in Hospital 3.0 - a pan-European Film Initiative for Young Audiences in Healthcare Structures

THE FIRST DOG (TFD)

36. and 37. Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe)

The 22nd and 23rd Kino Otok - Isola Cinema International Film Festival in Years 2026 and 2027

The 12th and 13th edition of FeKK - Ljubljana Short Film Festival

Animateka International Animated Film Festival (AIAFF)

Young Stories from the Old Continent (YSOC)

Bookmark – Marking Europe's Best Narratives

No Person Is An Island (NPII)

Immersive European Cultural Heritage Outreach (Immersive ECHO)

European Media Art Platform Extended (EMAP Extended)

EHIN - European Hybrid Intelligence Network

W.Write – Women, Writing, Rights, and Rites: reimagining the ecosystem of Literary Arts

RE-MIND: A Mindfulness-Based Capacity-Building Model for Digital Wellbeing and Intergenerational Audience Engagement in Museums

New Steps: EU’s first steps towards career transition support for dancers

Brave Creative Producers (BCP)

stART point - a platform where performing arts and young people get connected (stART.)

Heritage Understanding & Participation Hackathon: Co-creating Cultural Heritage Experiences with and for youth (Hup Hackathon)

Artificial Intelligence for Artistic Futures and Creative Talents (ARTIFACT)

Cultivator – a cultural ecosystem for collective change

Architecture With an Approach to Regeneration and Empowerment (AWARE)

Upsala – SUITCASES

Invisible painting (IP)

BRIDGE: Building, Revising, Including – Diaspora and Gender Equality

Studio Virc – Mini Slate 2025: Izzvenelo bo, Dolasilla, princesa usode, Tujek, Pobeglo srce

NOSOROGI – Mini Slate 2025: Three Waters Meet, The Healers, Liar, Thief, Flea-Eater

Mono O – Mini Slate 2025: The Happiest Day, The Last Roast, After Sunday

Cvinger – Mini Slate 2024: Before the Eyes Turn Black, Reckoning by the Sea, Project North

Venice Eastern Gate

Innovation through media collaboration: Digital assets exchange platform (MEDEXCHANGE24)

Animation HUB (A-HUB)

Word: Enhancing European Graphic Novel Perception, Circulation and Market Development

Roma Soul Food (ROMASOUL)

Tying the European Cultural Landscapes with Knots and Patterns (Knots and Patterns)

Hiking Heritage Trails (INHERIT)

Sensory Artistic Experiences for the Blind (Multisensory Art)

PASS – Pass the Street (Art), Shake the Hand

Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

Staragara – Slate 2024 (The Colour of the Doubt, Black Swan, Removal, We would have told each other everything, Kozmonavti)

PAGE: Project for Advancing coGnitivE accessibility in publishing

NEB COOLTOURS: Transforming Tourism Through Cultural Innovation and Environmental Stewardship in Alpe-Adria

Bridges

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

CAFE: Redefining Historic Cafés as European Cultural Heritage

ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation (GTMI)