Keynote(s), Panel Talk
Strategies to Protect Clubs and Cultural Venues From Gentrification13:30–15:00
90 min
Club U (upstairs)
Benjamin (Ben) Thele
he/him
City of Cologne
Cologne, Germany
Benjamin Thele (*1982) studied History and Romance Studies at the University of Cologne. From 2011 to 2018, he served as the Managing Director of the Theater an der Ruhr in Mülheim, overseeing the theater's operations and managing a network of cooperating theaters from across the Mediterranean region. He then spent four years as Head of the Department for Cultural Participation at the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, where he was responsible, among other things, for the topics of culture and urban development. Since September 2022, he has been leading the newly established Cultural Space Management Office at the City of Cologne, for which he was primarily responsible in terms of conception. With his new approach, Benjamin Thele aims to implement innovative thinking within city administration and address topics similarly to a start-up. The Cultural Space Management Office oversees cultural interests in all urban development projects citywide, creates new space through leasing and expanding properties, and provides funding for construction and noise protection to various cultural projects across all sectors.