Leuven, European Capital of Culture 2030
The Initial Situation
The city of Leuven is competing for the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture 2030. This required submitting a ‘bid book’ in 2024 that had to meet many demanding requirements.
The path to achieving this is an enormous challenge for every candidate city—not only to write a compelling narrative but also to engage a broad network of urban stakeholders.
Each city approaches this challenge differently. Leuven decided to appoint 3 artistic directors who, together with a steering committee, would bear final responsibility for the bid book. Choosing 3 directors was an original but also risky approach, as writing a cohesive narrative with three strong personalities is no simple task. However, it could also be very enriching. It was a gamble worth taking.
By early July, one year before the submission deadline, collaboration in the steering committee had completely stalled. Not between the artistic directors themselves, but within the entire group. There was much miscommunication, endless decision-making processes, and above all… many frustrations. The situation was so serious that they were considering pulling the plug entirely. Something needed to change quickly.
The Request
Help us identify the root of the problem. Why isn’t it working? How can we move forward?
The Approach
Preperation
As with every assignment, I requested carte blanche to speak with everyone involved in the project, directly or indirectly. I call this my license to operate. Though there wasn’t much time for endless conversations, it was essential to hear from some key figures both inside and outside the steering committee.
Step 1
Individual, in-depth, and confidential conversations with about ten people. For context: during these conversations, I have guiding questions in mind, but I primarily look for where things are flowing well or poorly for each person. This can vary greatly, going far beyond the questions I might consider myself. By allowing this breadth and the unexpected, a rich and nuanced picture emerges of what’s happening.
Step 2
Processing the information. This is a process that requires considerable energy from me. Reading and re-reading notes, looking for patterns, questioning everything again, following and testing my gut feeling, consulting my knowledge base…
Several stumbling blocks came up in every conversation—that much was clear. The temptation is then great to focus solely on these. However, this often leads to an overly simplistic conclusion that fails to do justice to the complexity of the situation. There’s always more going on, and I particularly wanted to identify why the group had become so stuck. Why couldn’t they navigate around these obstacles themselves? What caused such a group of intelligent, driven, empathetic, and well-intentioned people to end up in such a paralyzing dynamic?
Step 3
Reporting back to the steering committee and their client (City of Leuven) was a crucial moment for developing understanding and subsequent action. I always approach such feedback in a no-nonsense way—loving and respectful, but direct. This style can be confrontational, but therein lies the great opportunity for change. In understanding and especially accepting the situation as it is (and hearing how everyone likely experiences it differently), freedom emerges to make new choices.
That’s exactly what happened here. After self-reflection, we looked at options for creating a healthier working system. This included a structural change and a new framework of agreements between the city and the artistic directors.
Result
The client informed me a few months later that the entire operation had quickly begun flowing naturally and vigorously again. As if a large boulder had been moved from the river.
For information: the bid book was successfully submitted and made it through the first selection round along with Brussels (Molenbeek) and Namur.
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