Getting “that Orange Feeling”: The FUSION Partner Meeting at Roskilde Festival
When the pandemic hit, nobody knew it would mean two summers with hardly any music festivals across Europe. The joy of meeting at Roskilde Festival in 2022 for an f2f FUSION PARTNER MEETING was thus immense. The experience was NOT diminished by any restrictions – Roskilde Festival was very much happening around us, as we indulged in inspirational talks and tours of the biggest music festival in Scandinavia.
By Nils Nagel
The agenda for our meeting at the end of June 2022 was packed. On Tuesday, we held an internal workshop focusing on the status quo of our collaborative work. Our first Intellectual Output, a guide that gathers good-practice case examples of Social Innovation from across the continent, was the main focus of the first work meeting. After some productive working hours, we went on a guided tour to visit examples of social innovation activities all live and kicking at the Roskilde Festival camping site, where more than 50,000 young participants were at it for the third day in a row.
One of the many inspiring stops on the tour was at the FLOKKR stage, located in a central spot on the camping ground. FLOKKR is both a stage and a workshop space, acting as a gathering point for guests. Since 2016, it has been the festival’s platform for activists, musicians, writers, hackers, dancers, and scientists. We had the opportunity to listen to a talk with Adélaïde Charlier, Elizabeth Wathuti & Nina Gualinga – some of the world’s coolest climate activists, providing powerful narratives from the front lines of the climate crisis and providing inspiration for what we all can do.
In the evening, we attended the vernissage of the ambitious Arts and Activism programme at the festival. The many art installations and pieces were ready to invite new dreams and hopes for the future. On the next day, the main festival site would open, so we got a quiet and exclusive look at the installations and art pieces before the storm would hit the day after.
On Wednesday, Roskilde Festival arranged a workshop with input from different state-of-the-art social innovators from Denmark. Moeshia Aaden, a Danish-Somali trans activist and performer, held a touching performance on the topic of defining your own identity. Martin Højlund CEO from Turning Tables Denmark talked about their successful work with minoritized youth in the suburbs of Copenhagen. In a panel, Ian Woodward, professor at the University of Southern Denmark, Anders Folmer, CEO of the Academy of Social Innovation, Kara Djuurhus, Head of Philanthropy at Roskilde Festival, and Clara Berg Jensen from The Green Youth Movement Denmark, discussed how Social Innovation can create tangible societal changes.
With the pulse of the first Roskilde Festival since 2019 as an anticipated backdrop, this Partner Meeting was a perfect way to keep the momentum going for the FUSION project.
