Legacy and impact
The Festival Academy aims to sustain and further develop our Alumni and Cross-Sector Experts Network that unites participants of all of our training and open activities. The network currently includes 1082 festival leaders from 103 countries and all continents, from our Alumni community and 308 festival and cross-sector experts who, together - among themselves and with us, boost our global community-building practices and goals.
The network ensures sustainability beyond the training formats. It allows young festival managers to connect to participants and experts from other training programmes and initiatives, and supports them in their personal and professional development. Our community is continuously growing with each training edition and activity, and our aim is to allow for extended cooperation, networking and career opportunities.
Inge Ceustermans, General Director The Festival Academy
“The Alumni Network is the heart of our organisation, because it’s all about them – the people – and the things they can imagine and realise together.”
Activities of the Network are developed in collaboration with Alumni themselves. Activities include Alumni meetings in the framework of training of The Festival Academy and events of the European Festivals Association (EFA); online exchanges via social networks and online exchange platforms; information updates through newsletters; and access to materials, speeches, presentations, and knowledge shared during the respective training activities.
They identify the key elements that the Alumni Network should address, and give feedback on the training formats, as well as on new training formats and activities The Festival Academy is developing.