As a fitting next chapter, the RECUP partnership will come together once again at the 2026 URBACT City Festival in Nicosia, Cyprus, where more than 500 urban practitioners, city representatives and stakeholders from across Europe will gather to exchange ideas, showcase local achievements and explore future opportunities for cooperation. The Festival marketplace will highlight the work of 273 cities from 30 URBACT networks, and RECUP will proudly be among them.
Looking Back: Two Years of Learning Through Culture
RECUP brought together six diverse European partners: Újbuda (Hungary), Amersfoort (Netherlands), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Mancomunitat l'Horta Nord (Spain), Bielsko-Biała (Poland) and Sandyford Business District (Ireland). While each partner faced different local challenges, they shared a common ambition: to use culture not simply as a programme of events, but as a tool for participation, belonging and community building.
Throughout the project, partners explored how culture can help address issues such as social isolation, fragmented communities, declining participation and the lack of meaningful opportunities for residents to connect with one another. Working closely with local stakeholders through URBACT Local Groups, each city developed and tested small-scale actions that later evolved into longer-term investment and continuity plans.
In Újbuda, the project focused on the Gazdagrét neighbourhood, where the Gazdagréti Ünnepelő testing action brought together residents, local organisations and institutions through more than twenty community programmes, demonstrating the power of locally rooted cultural initiatives.
From Testing Actions to Long-Term Investments
One of RECUP's greatest achievements is that it did not stop at experimentation. Each partner has developed a concrete pathway for the future.
Újbuda will launch a Micro-Grant & Mentorship Programme, enabling residents to develop their own community and cultural initiatives while building stronger local partnerships and community ownership.
Amersfoort will continue its work on tackling loneliness through the Reach033 initiative, combining storytelling, artistic interventions, neighbourhood activities and community engagement.
Dubrovnik is developing the Venue Menu platform, mapping and promoting cultural and community spaces outside the historic centre to support the decentralisation of cultural life.
Mancomunitat l'Horta Nord will expand La Cultura l'Horta Nord, a shared cultural platform connecting ten municipalities through a common cultural agenda and improved coordination.
Bielsko-Biała will implement Weaving Wellbeing, a programme that uses public space, creativity, artistic interventions and co-creation to strengthen social connections and community wellbeing.
Sandyford Business District will continue building the foundations for a new community hub, supporting social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and stronger local connections in one of Ireland's most diverse urban districts
Together, these initiatives demonstrate that RECUP was never about replicating one model. Instead, it helped each city adapt shared principles to local realities and create lasting mechanisms for participation and cultural development.
Taking RECUP to Cyprus
At the 2026 URBACT City Festival, each RECUP partner will be represented through a dedicated exhibition poster showcasing its challenge, local heroes and future investment plan. These posters tell six different stories, but together they illustrate a common belief: strong communities are built through participation, trust and meaningful opportunities for people to shape the places where they live.
The festival will provide an opportunity to share RECUP's achievements with a wider European audience, reconnect with partners, exchange experiences with other URBACT cities and inspire future collaborations. Most importantly, it will ensure that the lessons learned throughout the network continue to travel beyond the project itself.
The End of a Project, Not the End of the Story
If there is one lesson that emerged from RECUP, it is that culture creates value not only through performances, exhibitions or events, but through the relationships it helps build. The network demonstrated that small local actions can generate significant change when residents, organisations and institutions work together around a shared vision.
As RECUP reaches its official conclusion, the partnership leaves behind more than reports, plans and pilot actions. It leaves behind new connections, stronger local ecosystems and six ambitious pathways for the future.
And in October 2026, those pathways will meet once again in Nicosia, where the RECUP story will continue to inspire cities across Europe