How can cultural work help to counteract social division and hate speech? How can we reconnect people and live democratic values? How do we create places for encounters, empathy and productive dialogue? What practical and political work is needed and which partnerships strengthen our work?

With the Shortcut Europe conference, the Fonds Soziokultur invites you to Chemnitz on 10 September 2025 together with its partners, the City of Chemnitz and the Saxony Sociocultural Association, the Dutch Embassy in Berlin and the partners of the Cultural Bridge programme - in the European Capital of Culture 2025. Together with stakeholders from culture, politics, science and civil society, we will discuss how socioculture can contribute to social cohesion - in a practical and strategic way.