The Europe Challenge is an initiative by the European Cultural Foundation and developed in partnership with Amsterdam Public Libraries (OBA), Public Libraries 2030 and Democratic Society.
The Europe Challenge addresses some of Europe’s pressing challenges in a networked way, by working with libraries and their communities across Europe.
Local questions are often shared questions in a European context. With the Europe Challenge we support the prototyping of solutions to some of the most pressing challenges we face across Europe. We believe citizens must be part of the solutions and that libraries can offer them the space to work together on identifying challenges and solutions.
The Europe Challenge connects local communities and knowledge, offers a European experience and imagines a better Europe. Read more here
The Europe Challenge is engaging a growing network of public libraries across Europe; both ‘lighthouses’ and small; avant-garde and more traditional, capital-based as well as rural. Participating libraries receive a grant for working with communities and come together to share practices and approaches to be safe spaces for community engagement. See here which Libraries are participating in the 2021 Europe Challenge.
The network of libraries involves citizens and communities with great ideas in shaping solutions for our future. Read about what they have been up to in their stories, where they tell us about their communities working on issues like active citizenship, access to knowledge & digital transition, public health & technology, inclusion & equal rights, environmental sustainability of urban areas, women & technology, and democratization of our public space!
After incubation work of the communities in and with the libraries, exemplary prototypes that can be replicated in other European contexts are nominated and selected for The Europe Challenge Award. The award is presented during a European celebratory moment and includes a money prize. See the Timeline of the 2021 Europe Challenge here or check out the navigation bar on top.
We have collected a sketch of how we started our co-design process with the network and brought together some online Tools and methods that are useful in this process. We will keep adding to this set of resources and welcome imput from all to gather more ideas on co-designing with communities.
“The library is among the most critical forms of social infrastructure that we have”- from Erik Klinenberg’s ‘Palaces for the People’