Regenerating rural remote isolated and deserted Europe through poetry, new museology and inclusive sociocultural innovation methodologies in the Courel Mountains for the past 15 years.
WHEN: 26-30.10.2025
WHERE: Folgoso do Courel, Lugo,Galicia, Spain
FOCUS: rural regeneration through poetry
Summary of the programme:
Hosted in the poetic landscape of the rural remote Courel Mountains in Galicia, Spain, Fundación Uxío Novoneyra (FUN) offers an immersive 5-day exchange exploring inclusive cultural revitalisation in rural remote mountains isolated and deserted contexts. Through field visits, roundtables, artistic showcases, and meetings with local stakeholders, participants will engage with good specific practices in literary heritage, agroecology, and social museology. Highlights include a guided walk through the house and open museum of poet Novoneyra, the EidosFest showcase, and a farewell ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the poet’s passing. This peer-learning experience will foster transnational cooperation, new alliances, and replicable experiences for remote non-urban cultural sustainability.
Activities will include:
Exchange period:
The peer exchange with FUN will take place between 26-30 October 2025.
Description of the Host organisation
The Uxío Novoneyra Foundation (FUN) is a non-profit cultural organization located in Parada, a small rural remote mountain village. Created in 2009 to preserve and activate the literary and ecological legacy of the Galician poet Uxío Novoneyra, the Foundation has grown into an internationally connected rural hub of cultural innovation, focusing on the intersections between literature, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Our mission is to foster creativity and cultural rights in rural remote areas by mobilising the potential of literary heritage and artistic practices to respond to contemporary social and environmental challenges.
What makes FUN an AmbGP?
Fundación Uxío Novoneyra is a cultural initiative rooted in the Courel Mountains of Galicia, a remote rural region in economic decline. For 15 years, it has used literature, ecology, and the arts to regenerate the area through long-term, place-based programs. These include the Festival dos Eidos, artist residencies, educational workshops, heritage restoration, and cultural mediation. Its work blends memory, storytelling, and environmental care, supporting intergenerational dialogue and inclusion. With strong local ties and successful European collaborations, FUN offers a replicable model of cross-sectoral cultural innovation. It demonstrates how small rural organisations can have international impact and inspire regeneration through deeply embedded cultural action.
What does FUN hope to gain from the P2P exchange?
“We hope the exchange will help bring recognition and visibility to our work beyond our usual networks, while celebrating together the 25th anniversary of Uxío Novoneyra’s passing and the 15th anniversary of our Foundation. We aim to be acknowledged as a trusted collaborator within Creative FLIP and to build long-term partnerships with the visiting peers for future European projects. We also expect to receive valuable feedback, tools and methodologies from them—adaptable to our scale, rural context and capacity as a small organisation rooted in a mountain territory.”
Facilities for the Visitor