The final conference of the Parks4All project, titled A City That Breathes, will be held from 22 to 24 October 2026 at the Prometej Bookstore in Novi Sad.
The programme develops around three questions: Who does the city belong to? Can a festival change a place without disrupting what makes it alive? Can art change the way we see nature? The answers will not be sought only around the conference table. They will emerge through encounters between artists, biologists, architects, festival organisers and audiences, and through observing parks, film, drawing, sound and music.
From the warning contained in the work Pomor, through the reconstruction of Suba’s ecological project The Dream Bird, to stories of art created outside established institutions, the conference explores what culture can do in a time of ecological and social uncertainty. Can it teach us to look more carefully, to hear what usually remains in the background, and to see shared space as something other than a surface to be occupied?
Cities do not lose their breath all at once. They lose it each time a tree disappears, each time public space becomes a commodity, and each time nature becomes the backdrop for yet another event. Culture cannot solve the ecological crisis on its own, but it can act more responsibly within the spaces it inhabits. A City That Breathes therefore brings together artists, organisers, experts and audiences to explore cultural practices that respect space and nature, and support the life already unfolding within them.
Parks4All is a project that, through educational modules, artist residencies and festivals in Serbia and Hungary, has explored how culture can engage with public and green spaces while respecting the relationships, rhythms and life already present within them. Artists, organisers, experts and local communities have explored parks as places of creation, learning and encounter.
The Parks4All project, part of the Interreg VI-A IPA Hungary–Serbia programme, aims to promote the use, activation and rethinking of public green spaces and parks, creating new connections between artistic creativity and the community. The programme aims to develop a stable region of cooperation and improve the quality of life in the cross-border area. It supports economic connectivity, strengthens a shared identity and cultural and historical heritage, and contributes to the sustainable and safe development of the region.
The Interreg VI-A IPA Hungary-Serbia programme is implemented within the 2021-2027 European Union financial framework, under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). On the basis of “shared management system” of the participating countries – Hungary and Serbia, the Programme funds and supports co-operation projects of organizations located in the Programme-eligible area – Hungarian counties Csongrád-Csanád and Bács-Kiskun, and Serbian territories: West Bačka, North Bačka, South Bačka, North Banat, Central Banat, South Banat and Srem. Project Partners: Cinema City Association (Serbia, Lead Partner), Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture Foundation (Serbia), Youth and Cultural Association „WEMSICAL SERBIA“ (Serbia), DDTG Danube Development Transnational Group nonprofit limited liability company (Hungary), and Catholic Youth Foundation (Hungary).
The Programme helps the development of a stable and co-operating region and the overall quality of life in the border region. It enables economic collaboration of organizations from the two countries, nurtures the common identity, and cultural and historical heritage of the border region, and contributes to its environmental sustainability and safety.
