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1. Main trends in young people's creativity and cultural participation

2. Main concepts

Main trends in young people's creativity and cultural participation

Over the last decade, the cultural landscape has expanded substantially with new venues such as the MUDAM (museum of contemporary art), the Rockhal (concert halls and rehearsal rooms), the Rotondes (cultural centre for visual arts, conferences, group projects and workshops), the Philharmonie (concert hall), and the Trifolion and Cube 521 (cultural event halls), reflecting increased investment in culture and artistic engagement. At the same time, makerspaces and digital creativity hubs (e.g., Bee Creative makerspaces) provide places for coding, robotics, 3D printing and collaborative project work, blending digital and artistic creation.

Luxembourg’s nomination as European Capital of Culture in 1995 and 2007 has affected this development, as it has pushed investment into culture in a sustainable way. A first evaluation of Esch2022, the European Capital of Culture in 2022, already shows the positive impact of the project on the Southern region of Luxembourg and neighbouring France. The collected feedback from the population attending the Esch2022 showed the impact on the cultural habits of the participants and also on the cultural perception of Esch and the Minett Region. The establishment of the university in 2003 has also had an impact on cultural practices in Luxembourg, since students and graduates should be familiar with cultural places and highly interested in becoming involved in cultural projects and activities (Borsenberger, 2014).

The Youth Report 2025 highlights changing patterns in young people’s cultural practices and interests: digital media use is increasing, while traditional activities such as reading magazines or watching live TV are declining. Digital youth cultures—ranging from gaming communities to beatboxing—play an ever-greater role in creative expression. The 2023 LISER study on young people’s cultural practices shows similar trends. Nearly all young people have internet access and a smartphone; streaming, video-on-demand, and social media are central to daily life. About half participate in creative activities and 70 % in sports, with clear gendered patterns (girls: painting, dance, music; boys: sports, video games). 

Main concepts

In short, based on Kroeber & Kluckhohn (1952) as cited in the Kulturentwécklungsplang 2018–2028 (KEP, p.19): Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in arti facts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other, as conditioning elements of future action.