What is LABA?

Maud Gari: LABA was founded in 2013 as a skills centre and is now based in Bordeaux. We produce European cooperation projects focusing on social innovation and education in the creative and cultural sectors. LABA is made up of around ten people, most of whom have previously worked in the cultural sector - I worked in music for 15 years. Coming from varied and complementary backgrounds, we joined LABA to bring an international dimension to projects developed largely with partners in Nouvelle Aquitaine. We implement training programmes and innovative tools such as mentoring for female entrepreneurs, careers in the ecological transition and the circular economy, always with an artistic and cultural focus. We have mobilised various funding programmes to implement our projects: the Erasmus+, Creative Europe and Structural Funds programmes, which aim to deploy new solutions in certain areas to help people find work, get training, etc.

EPALE France: What does the European aspect bring to your projects?

Maud Gari: The European aspect gives us the opportunity to look at what’s going on elsewhere, to exchange ideas and learn from interesting initiatives that don’t exist in France. Our first European project on mentoring for women was an idea that came to me after a trip to Berlin in 2016. We continue to have contact with the organisation that hosted me. There is also a professional and personal interest: going to Greece to see how NGOs work on the ground with young people or disaster victims opened my eyes to other ways of working.

Today, LABA has a network of over 200 organisations in 30 different countries. Some of them we work with on a very regular basis: universities, associations, artists, in Europe and beyond: we have a project with people working in music in China, in conjunction with the Nouvelle Aquitaine regional council.

EPALE France: How did you get into this role?

Maud Gari: I worked in music for 15 years. I had been involved in European projects without realising it and I saw how it was possible to structure them and apply for support to develop initiatives. I am also co-president of Slowfest, an association that produces low-carbon concerts and raises awareness of the need for an ecological transition in the events industry. LABA has enabled us to connect with people in Italy and Belgium, so we can see what’s going on elsewhere. The cultural sector in itself doesn’t necessarily have a major carbon impact, but it does have a strong voice: when you are dealing with artists, the message gets across better, in a nicer way, it reaches more people and helps build a community.

At LABA, we work a lot with cultural structures that are often unaware of what Europe can do for them, especially in France where our system is self-sustaining. Our role is to give them an international outlook, not necessarily in terms of business but in terms of people. Sometimes the cultural sector is not particularly modern when it comes to these issues.

EPALE France: Can you give some examples of the projects you are working on?

Maud Gari: The issue of entrepreneurship for under-represented people has been important to us for years. Currently, with the “Mosaic, Inclusive investing for Under-represented Founders” project, we are working on access to funding for entrepreneurs who have just arrived in France, who are not white men, but racialised people, women, people returning from maternity leave, etc. We are running this project in partnership with Singa, with Dutch, Romanian, German and Irish people. 

Europe is working on structuring the sector: entrepreneurship, consolidation of very small businesses, business models, network development, while the projects presented to local authorities are more concerned with artistic content. It’s complementary.

EPALE France: And what kind of projects are you working on with Erasmus+?

Maud Gari: We have several projects supported by Erasmus+ Education and Erasmus+ Youth. We have an Erasmus + Education project, #ENDOs, which involves looking at endometriosis from a cultural perspective by bringing together patients, carers and artists to draw attention to this silenced disease. We are going to run experiments in hospitals and are organising an exhibition in Bordeaux in which artists who are patients will talk about their illness. We will be setting up an education and awareness platform on this subject.

With Erasmus+ Youth, we are setting up a project in partnership with the Rocher de Palmer venue in Bordeaux. This project brings together organisations from different countries, including a university in Ukraine and organisations in Bosnia and Germany. The aim is to use music as a vehicle for peace in schools, in association with venues, and to train educators to use the medium of music to educate and raise awareness of peace.

EPALE France: How do you plan to contribute to EPALE?

Maud Gari: For us, EPALE is closely linked to the world of education. We use it, but not enough. During these six months, I would like to make a much more sustained contribution, by keeping a sort of diary on the platform of everything we’re doing, all the projects we’re involved in, to show how our European cooperation is going and to create connections. I plan to use the opportunity to expand my network, see what’s happening in other places and keep an eye on the latest developments.

[Translation : NSS EPALE France]