{"id":44811,"date":"2026-10-05T16:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T13:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/?p=44811"},"modified":"2026-10-05T16:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T13:25:26","slug":"vilnius-experience-at-the-reconnect-conference-in-brno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/pasaulis-en\/vilnius-experience-at-the-reconnect-conference-in-brno\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius Experience at the RECONNECT Conference in Brno"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 1\u20132 October, Vilnius Night Office took part in the RECONNECT 2026 conference in Brno and its City Talks programme, dedicated to the relationship between cities, music venues and music. Representatives of European cities and the music sector discussed the role of clubs in cities, their financial and legal stability, relationships with residents, noise management, and how cities can strengthen local music ecosystems. City Talks was designed as an open discussion format for exploring not only good practices, but also challenges and solutions that have not worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music as Part of Urban Development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of City Talks, Vilnius Night Office Project Manager Gabija Liaugminait\u0117 led a session on music and cities together with Music Cities Network Director Lena Ingwersen and Jonathan Bennett, Head of Music, Media and Culture at Edinburgh College. Gabija presented Vilnius\u2019 Dainyklos programme, Lena introduced the work of Music Cities Network and its experience connecting music cities, while Jonathan shared insights into Edinburgh\u2019s music ecosystem and the city\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the key points raised by Lena Ingwersen was that music needs to be part of urban development, and that a strong music ecosystem requires more than concerts or infrastructure alone. It needs active people and communities, a strong musical narrative for the city, and sustained attention to music and culture from the city itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In smaller group discussions later in the day, participants explored what conditions are essential for a healthy music ecosystem, regardless of a city\u2019s size. The group moderated by Gabija focused primarily on clubs, independent music venues and nightlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the examples discussed was Brno\u2019s club association BACH<\/a> and collaboration among its members. The discussion highlighted how a sector\u2019s ability to organise and speak with a collective voice can strengthen its position in dialogue with the city and funding bodies. Participants also discussed the need to move beyond seeing clubs solely as places of entertainment: they also function as cultural infrastructure, community spaces and incubators for emerging talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who Shapes the City\u2019s Soundscape?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In another City Talks session led by Live DMA, the focus shifted to the relationship between music venues and cities. The official programme posed the question: what do cities need from music venues, and what do music venues need from cities to make long-term cooperation possible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A significant part of the conversation focused on noise and the urban soundscape. One of the key ideas was that noise is subjective: a sound perceived as a disturbance by one person may be an important part of a cultural experience for another. This raises a broader question:\u00a0who has the right to shape the city\u2019s soundscape?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion emphasised that this is not only about decibels, but also about social class, race, gender and power relations \u2013 whose needs and cultural practices are given greater weight in the city. Examples from Helsinki, Barcelona, Manchester and Montreal were discussed, alongside the\u00a0Agent of Change principle, under which the party introducing a change bears responsibility for preventing potential conflicts. Participants stressed that this principle is most effective when embedded in legislation. The discussion also addressed the risks of cultural zoning, the importance of collecting and properly interpreting noise data, and the need for continuous dialogue between music venues, residents and the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Club \u2013 a Business or a Cultural Venue?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The question of club status continued into the second day of the conference. On 2 October, Gabija Liaugminait\u0117 took part in the panel\u00a0\u201cClub Status: Defining What Clubs Mean for a City\u2019s Cultural Ecosystem\u201d\u00a0alongside Music Venue Trust founder Mark Davyd, Czech club association representative Jan Faltys, and Serial Killer Festival Director Kamila Zlatu\u0161kov\u00e1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion addressed challenges faced by many European cities: rising rents, disappearing cultural spaces, conflicts with neighbours, and the continuing lack of clarity around the status of clubs.\u00a0Is a club a business, a cultural venue, or both? And why does having a clear definition matter in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example discussed was the UK\u2019s grassroots music venues. When these venues are not clearly distinguished from conventional bars or nightclubs in statistics and legislation, their cultural role becomes less visible, making it more difficult to develop targeted funding, tax or legal measures that respond specifically to their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for\u00a0long-term stability\u00a0was another recurring theme: music venues need not only one-off project funding, but also the ability to plan their activities several years ahead. The importance of sector self-organisation and a clear legal status for music venues was also emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWhen we started working on Vilnius\u2019 nightlife policy and developing the Dainyklos programme, Music Venue Trust was one of our main points of reference. Their experience helped us understand how small music venues can be seen not only as businesses, but as an important part of a city\u2019s cultural infrastructure. It is therefore particularly rewarding to now share a discussion with Music Venue Trust founder Mark Davyd \u2013 not only to learn from their experience, but also to bring into the conversation what we have built in Vilnius over this time,\u201d says Gabija Liaugminait\u0117, Project Manager at Vilnius Night Office.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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From Supporting Venues to Developing Their Audiences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the conference, the Vilnius Night Office representative also took part in Live DMA\u2019s practical workshop\u00a0\u201cCrowdbuilder: Audience Development in Practice\u201d, led by Juliette Olivares. The workshop approached audience development as a responsibility shared across an entire organisation, rather than something belonging solely to its communications team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop introduced\u00a0Crowdbuilder, a free multilingual tool developed together with 17 European music venues. It helps music organisations better understand their audiences, strengthen relationships with their communities, and develop consistent audience development strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One idea returned throughout the two days of discussions:\u00a0a strong music and nightlife ecosystem cannot be built through events alone.\u00a0It requires music venues that are able to operate over the long term, a sector capable of collaborating and representing its interests, understanding from city institutions, and policy measures that recognise these venues as part of the city\u2019s cultural infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, Vilnius\u2019 Dainyklos programme was presented in the international conversation as one way for a city not only to provide financial support to independent music venues, but also to recognise them, strengthen their role in the city, and build a long-term relationship with them.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 1\u20132 October, Vilnius Night Office took part in the RECONNECT 2026 conference in Brno and its City Talks programme, dedicated to the relationship between cities, music venues and music. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":44796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pasaulis-en","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44815,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44811\/revisions\/44815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vnb.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}