The meeting aimed at fostering a dialogue between the creative sector, urban administration and public communicators. Another goal was to compile ideas for a proposal towards municipality, government and/or EU on how to foster the creative economies and to initiate a common project in this field.

The meeting was opened by Ognian Zlatev, Head of the European Commission’s Representation in Bulgaria, Malina Edreva, Head of Council of Culture and Education of the City of Sofia, Christian Spahr, Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe and Enzio Wetzel, Director of Goethe-Institut Bulgaria. Among the participants were also Carsten Winter, Professor for Media and Music Management at the University of Hannover, and Markus Haas, Head of Culture and Communication at the German Embassy in Sofia, as well as SEECOM members Ivana Djurić (Serbia) and Stefan Vukotić (Montenegro). The meeting was also attended by NGO representatives and artists from different countries.

Malina Edreva emphasised the role of culture for the urban areas and presented best practice examples of the City of Sofia. Christian Spahr from the KAS Media Program raised the question on how political communication can benefit from culture. He underlined that it could serve as an instrument for improving the picture of South East Europe as a region in the international public diplomacy. Spahr identified three main discussion topics:

• How can countries and cities present themselves with culture in an innovative way?
• How can the creative sector and politicians learn from each other in their dialogue with citizens?
• How can they work together on a national or regional branding?

In this context, Enzio Wetzel presented the Goethe-Institut’s project "Bud.ko" (from the Bulgarian 'будка' – a small kiosk for the sale of everyday goods such as newspapers, nuts and tickets). Goethe-Institut maintains a former kiosk in Sofia, serving as a showcase for cultural projects. This type of kiosk, in the "Bud.ko" project, stands for a communicative place connecting citizens, creative people and public services.

The aim of the organisers was to create a regional network that can foster the dialogue between stakeholders in culture and politics in different South East European countries. Prof. Carsten Winter explained that the project of Goethe-Institut could serve as an open network for co-creation and reduce the communication gap between citizens and the governing structures.