Third Place Summit

While working on our latest book Come, Stay, Grow, Luxor Theater approached includi with an exciting question: could we co-create an event around the idea of third places, together with Luxor and the Municipality of Rotterdam? As a theater that has been inseparably connected to Rotterdam for more than a century, Luxor is reflecting on its role beyond presenting large scale productions to ticket holding audiences. 

How can the theater make better use of its position, location, and spaces, and what does it mean for Luxor, as a cultural organization, to take on a broader civic role? These questions set an exploration in motion that led to the idea of the Third Place Summit. The summit was conceived as a moment of reflection and inspiration for Luxor and its team, while also intended to bring together professionals from related fields, from cultural organizations to municipalities and policymakers.

Co-curating the Third Place Summit started with a series of focused brainstorm sessions, mapping relevant networks and perspectives, and collaboratively shaping a first program outline. Over the course of several months, this draft evolved into a full one-day program. Our team curated and approached both international keynote speakers and workshop leaders working at the intersection of social places, the experience economy, and urban planning.

In parallel, includi developed a clear content structure for the summit, grounded in our Third Place fundamentals Come, Stay, Grow. As part of the overall approach, includi also designed and facilitated a dedicated workshop day exclusively for the Luxor team. This internal session created space to reflect more deeply on insights from the summit and explore how these could inform Luxor’s ongoing plans and vision.

To support the short time frame between organization and delivery, we worked closely with Luxor to set up a targeted social media and marketing campaign, highlighting the different themes and layers of the program. Throughout the process, includi and Luxor worked from a shared understanding that programming, spatial conditions, and organizational structures reinforce one another, building on Luxor’s existing strengths while exploring new possibilities.

With an audience of over 200 participants from multiple countries, representing cultural institutions, libraries, municipalities, policymakers, funders, and designers, the Third Place Summit took place at Luxor Theater in Rotterdam. The day featured three keynote presentations by international speakers, six workshops led by local and international experts, and a best practice panel exploring concrete applications from the field. Beyond the program itself, the summit offered a rich, shared experience. During lunch, local Surinamese food was served, while a visual artist captured the atmosphere in live portraits and a collective word cloud

Cultural interventions were woven into the program to create an experimental and cohesive whole. The day opened with a dance rave as a joyful kickoff and concluded with a spoken word performance that reflected on the day in a personal and poetic way. The program flowed into an informal networking reception, creating an opportunity for continued conversation and exchange.

These elements showed how inspiration and learning can come together in an event that embodied the qualities of a true third place: enriching, connecting, and engaging.