About

Caravan Next is a large-scale Social Community Theatre collaborative project connecting professional artists with communities and citizens in a network of theatre organisations and cultural institutions consisting of 13 partners from 11 different European countries.
The concept of Social Community Theatre is to use art and theatre to promote community empowerment. It is an art form that expands the traditional concept of both “theatre” and ”audience”, and rethinks theatre as a process of meeting and exchange between local citizens and professional artists. In this process, the participators from the community are co-authors and co-actors of the final product. Thus, Social Community Theatre is also a way to get into contact with present challenges of the different communities and to establish new networks.
Social Community Theatre events often take place outside regular theatre buildings and include activities such as parades, festivals, outdoor performances, workshops, visual installations, cultural barters and other forms of artistic interventions.

With a circulation of at least 300 cultural professionals and with more than 100 cultural events, Caravan Next connects Europe and other countries worldwide creating thousands of new relationships. All events and activities are based on collaboration across borders and each partner has several locations on their map of events, performances, cultural barters, workshops and labs. Caravan Next activities will take place in 16 different European countries: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia and The Netherlands. Furthermore, ten international conferences will share knowledge and experiences both in Europe and other continents, including countries like Australia, Morocco, Taiwan and the United States.
Caravan Next Micro and Macro events will engage people who normally neither attend or participate in cultural events. Furthermore, many of the activities will be live streamed becoming available for people from all over the world.

Caravan Next uses digital technology to expand the range of participants, audience and creative contribution. We use digital technology also as a tool for direct interaction and engagement with the Caravan Next partners, as a way to create cross-country collaboration and connectivity, and as a mean to enhance and expand community engagement. This will be done by developing a digital puppet and a mascot to be integrated elements in the Caravan Next events crossing Europe, by using live streaming in connection to both artistic events, conferences and community workshops, and by the development of an App based on feedback from participants and new explorative ideas formed from the specific needs of each event.

The process of living methodology plays an important role in Caravan Next. The methodology of Social Community Theatre in itself connects existing knowledge and theories with the living experience and the practical knowledge emerging from the artistic and community life. With methodical supervision the partners are provided with a common cultural background about Social Community Theatre as well as with the possible strategies and various instruments to keep a direction in the artistic process. Furthermore, the process of exploration, research and reporting from an academic point of view is prioritised in order to strengthen the academic knowledge base of Social Community Theatre. Much may be discovered in the process and by the end of the project, the methodology itself will be improved.