From October 7th to 11th, 2025, the New Inherit project reached its final and perhaps most meaningful chapter in Brussels, with the third international Training Course of Cultural Ambassadors and the Final Conference. Hosted by Urban Fox and YEU at TRACK.brussels –a repurposed train museum turned into a creative hub– the week gathered participants from six countries to celebrate what New Inherit stands for: inclusion, creativity, and the power of communities to bring heritage to life.
This last training went beyond theory. It was a space to put learning into practice, to connect ideas, people, and places. Through workshops, site visits, and exchange sessions, participants strengthened skills in adaptive reuse, community storytelling, and cultural activation. Each day was a journey through how heritage can inspire innovation and social change.
The group explored Brussels’ cultural fabric, from the House of Compassion, a church reimagined as a platform for social justice and engaged art, to CAPITAL, a youth organization transforming a 1933 building into a living lab for creativity and employment. The visit to MANIAK Padoue, a climbing gym inside a former church, showed yet another face of adaptive reuse, where sport, community, and heritage meet under one roof.
Alongside these visits, the Cultural Ambassadors presented their testbed experiences from across Europe, sharing stories of collaboration, resilience, and creativity. From the wine village of Omodos in Cyprus to urban experiments in Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Brussels, and Germany, each presentation reflected the diversity and strength of this network.
The week culminated in the New Inherit Final Conference –even though we hope it’s not the last one!– at TRACK. The morning opened with a collective evaluation and heartwarming certificate ceremony, where participants exchanged certificates, and kind words, as a symbolic gesture of gratitude and connection. The atmosphere was both emotional and inspiring, perfectly capturing the spirit of the project.
Later, the conference welcomed partners, guests, and local actors for a day of dialogue and discovery. The Cultural Ambassadors transformed TRACK into a World Café of heritage and art, presenting their work through installations, performances, and creative storytelling. A panel discussion followed, featuring experts in architecture, community management, and social research, who explored the challenges of adaptive reuse and balance between space, people, and governance.
The day closed on a high note with a joyful performance by the Hamburg Indonesian Ensemble, filling the space with music, dance, and celebration.
As the week came to an end, so did the active phase of New Inherit. But the spirit of the project continues –in the stories told, the skills gained, and the communities strengthened–. In Brussels, we witnessed what happens when art, people, and heritage come together: spaces are not only reused, they are reborn.
