Academy of
Subcultural
Understanding

The first Academy project focused on Germany, this will focus on EU, and in the future we will have projects and semesters open to everyone. Note – you do not need an EU passport to participate, but your club must be based in the EU.

The Tresor Foundation’s focus is to grow subcultures and see more clubs in more cities. The Academy is one tool we use to do this. Cities need clubs and similar spaces for young people to feel like they belong. These spaces produce communities of shared passions, as well as build micro-economies that are good for cities. But most mayors are not planning a new subcultural club when they plan their annual budgets: we need young people to do this work. We hope that our graduates help to revitalize their cities and regions, particularly in places where there isn’t enough subculture.

The smaller group size ensures that we can talk about each individual’s city and plan, and makes it easier for everyone to participate in discussion. Our weeks in Berlin will be packed with workshops, seminars, and other sessions, and a limited number of people allows us to all get to know each other more meaningfully than a large group.

The program is free of charge – you will only have to pay for your travel to and from Berlin. There are a limited number of needs-based stipends if you cannot afford the travel costs.

The two weeks in Berlin will be full of events, workshops, and seminars. You will have free time, but we expect you to be in Berlin in person and fully available for the Academy. Most of the commitments will be during the day, but we will also have at least one night event.

For the five month mentoring program, you will meet approximately every 1-2 weeks with your mentor, most likely online. We have a small stipend to pay for travel to meet at least once in-person.

For the five-months, we will also have monthly online meetings with all eight participants in Subcultural Futures: 19:00 on January 16, February 20, March 20, April 24, May 22.

We require your full participation in all aspects of the program.

We have a modest budget for accommodation and are working on the best possible solution. Everyone will be offered a free place to stay, but you are free to find your own accommodation as well.

We do not have a full list of speakers, but you will meet some interesting characters from Berlin’s techno history, as well as have sessions with highly-qualified experts from within the wide circle of Tresor’s contacts.

Mentors will be found who are best-suited for you and your project. We have a network of contacts and will aim to find someone in your country who can give you advice that we cannot, such as issues on national tax and licensing laws, fire regulations, or building codes, which are different in each country.

Sadly, then this is not the right project for you, but we continue to develop our curriculum and will offer more programs in the future.

This is probably not the right program for you – our main focus is on developing subcultures outside of the major cities. If your city already has great subcultural venues and even if your plan to open a club is excellent and exciting, we are still likely going to support another candidate in a place where clubs are needed.

First, you upload a one-minute video (set to unlisted) to YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo or Dropbox plus a short text to our application portal. After the deadline, a jury of staff (Martin Fuller and Diana Alagić) and former students of the Academy will go through all applications and invite a small group of applicants for online interviews. Approximately 4-6 weeks after the deadline, we will inform all applicants of the results via email.

There are going to be far more excellent applicants than we have room for. We consider the strength of the application and the potential impact of your project in your region when making these difficult decisions. We aim to have a wide diversity of geographical regions in the project, and desire to support people who are marginalized or underrepresented in club management today.