Figures

Foto © Annelien Geenen

Number of department employees who contributed to the EU Presidency

employees

Number of organised events

Culture

Youth

Media

Number of participants in the events

	Culture	Youth	Media
On-site	724	1163	455
Online	276		737

Different nationalities of the participants

	Culture	Youth	Media
Number of nationalities	44	39	34

Number of speakers at the events

	Culture	Youth	Media
Number of speakers	79	152	98

Number of speakers by gender

	Culture	Youth	Media
Female	29	88	54
Male	50	64	49

Number of youth representatives

over

EU youth representatives

Number of influencers and their nationalities (Media)

At the ‘Content With Conscience’ conference, influencers from various EU member states were present. They shared their experiences and needs with the attending policymakers and experts.

	Total
Influencers	22
Nationalities	12

Number of trees planted (Youth)

In collaboration with Go Forest, we planted 2,100 trees for two projects:

Le Roeulx (Belgium) and Ingung Kapia (Congo).

These trees will absorb 362.25 tons of CO2 over their lifetime.

Number of member states and organisations that signed the Ghent Manifesto (Culture)

With the Ghent Manifesto, the Belgian EU presidency calls for structural cooperation between member states, the Commission, and progressive cultural players and requests the establishment of the European Policy Forum on Data-Driven Audience Development in the Cultural and Creative Sectors.

	Total
EU member states	19
Sector organisations at national or EU level	6
DG EAC (Europese Commission)	1

Number of best practices/field trips (Youth)

We organised 26 visits to youth organisations to see the European youth programmes in action. At the conferences, more than 70 best practices were presented.

	Total
Field trips	26
Best practices	70

Number of press mentions of the EU presidency for Culture, Youth and Media

20 mentions in the press, at Flemish, national, and European levels.

Number of Flemish presidency events provided with cultural support by our department

In addition to the formal activities of the EU presidency, it is customary to enrich the Presidency programme with cultural activities. These cultural additions are a broad concept. It includes Flemish historical, cultural, and heritage traditions, as well as strengths in innovation, technology, and science. As with the previous Belgian presidency in 2010, the responsibility for organising the Flemish cultural support was handled by our department.

40 interventions for cultural support at Flemish events

Figures about Please, Touch The Artwork 2

The presidency coincided with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the death of James Ensor. Therefore, it was decided to link the master’s work to one of our youngest art forms: game development. Brussels-based game designer Thomas Waterzooi (Studio Waterzooi) was commissioned to create a sequel to his 2022 video game ‘Please Touch The Artwork’. The result was ‘Please Touch The Artwork 2’: an accessible game, even for those not familiar with the medium. Waterzooi based his work on 83 pieces by Ensor and used music composed by the painter in the soundtrack.

On March 2, 2024, Thomas Waterzooi and the Flemish Minister of Culture presented the game to the press. Thanks to financial support from the Flemish government, with funds allocated for the cultural framework of the EU Presidency, ‘Please, Touch The Artwork 2’ is available for free. Users can play the game on their smartphone, tablet, and the game platform Steam (PC and Mac). This allows young and old across Europe to get acquainted with the work of James Ensor and Thomas Waterzooi.

The game is well-received by the public, as evidenced by the figures (measured on 30/6/2024):

501.596 Total number of downloads of the game across various platforms

9.9/10 Average rating, based on 4,054 reviews

65 jaar Total playtime by all players combined