NODES are international collectives, organizations, or venues that organize walking arts activities related to community-based issues during and connected to the Prespa encounters in their own locations and joining the larger WALC network.
The primary goal of the WALC project is to create an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice in Walking Art. This center will feature a central hub in Prespa, Greece, complemented by regional hubs established in the project partners’ areas. The NODES complement the initiative aims to expand through external collaborations by developing activities and dialogues in other European countries, facilitated via this open call.
At least four of the selected NODES need to be situated in countries other than the WALC partner countries (GR, SP, PT, FR, B).
It is not mandatory for NODES to work in the field of walking arts. We seek to extend our collaborations in a broad range of fields, including one or more of the following disciplines: social practices, arts and academia, wellbeing and healthcare, outdoor activities and sustainable tourism, education, technology, science, and ecology.
Mutual inspiration and support within a larger framework of what is becoming an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice of Walking Art in Prespa is the main objective, along with contributing to the development of Local Communities Innovation, standing for progress, change, and transformation with walking art practices related to community-based issues, especially in areas that are in crisis, underdeveloped, and isolated.
The combined effort of the WALC partners and the nodes will explore models of implementing walking as a community-based practice, contributing to the creation of sustainable communities and through dialogue with precarious groups worldwide.
WALC will be a connector between the horizontal program in Prespa and the vertical program of international NODES. We offer learning from shared experiences on a global scale in collaborative processes.
NODES will be offered an online venue via the WALC online platform, and an opportunity to be involved and participate in online training and online events of WALC. They will be represented in the larger promotion of WALC, including in the video documentary made about the project.
We expect the nodes and their network to take part in the online events of WALC, to organize simultaneous activities and related activities to the Prespa encounters, and to present a local exhibition in the wake of the final exhibition of WALC in the last months of 2027.
You don’t have to be a legal entity to apply, both organizations as collectives or groups are eligible. We expect a NODE to have a curriculum in their field, and already to have an impact on the communities of the place(s) where they are active.
Although priority for at least 4 NODES goes to European countries that are not the WALC partner countries already (GR, SP, PT, FR, B) we can consider accepting additional nodes in the countries above and from outside of Europe, to become part of the larger WALC network.
This is an ongoing call, with the first deadline for proposals on February 28th, 2025.
The first shortlist of NODES will be selected by an expert committee and invited for a video conversation at the beginning of March.
Submit the google form: https://forms.gle/sV46GuUgu9s8HZWE6
If you have any questions please write us at info@walctogether.eu
credits: Lisa Hein, Taking a Wheel for a Walk (Wheels off), Prespa, WAC 2023, photo Yannis Ziogas