Regional conference 'Citizens & Culture: Fuse' was held. Transform. Revive! ' was organized by the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria within Europe for Citizens program in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from March 27-29, 2019. The conference promoted cooperation of Plovdiv as the European Capital of Culture in 2019 and Novi Sad as the European Capital of Culture in 2021, as well as the program "Europe for Citizens".

The participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with successful projects in the field of culture within this program and to exchange ideas for future project proposals, together with potential partners from Serbia and Bulgaria. In addition to representatives of civil society and cultural institutions of the Republic of Bulgaria, 13 civil society representatives and local self-government units from the Republic of Serbia participated in the conference, whose presence was organized and funded by the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society.

In the introductory part of the conference the participants were addressed by: Assistant Minister of Culture of the Republic of Serbia Asja Draca Muntean and Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria Amelia Gesheva who emphasized the importance of cultural activities and projects, as drive for regional and urban development, to strengthen the feeling a common past, present and a common European future. Following the introductory panel, presentations of the Plovdiv capitals of culture 2019 and Novi Sad 2021 were held, followed by Sanja Atanasković Opačić and Dobrina Miluševa, a Serbian and Bulgarian contact point for the Europe for Citizens Program, who moderated the discussion on cultural projects under this program.

The second day of the conference was reserved for interactive workshops: FUSE - an interactive workshop that presented successful projects that supported the inclusion of ethnic and minority groups and aimed to establish communication between different generations and different social groups while creating a space for networking and exchange idea, TRANSFORM, which initiated the exchange of ideas on the design and revitalization of forgotten and abandoned urban spaces and REVIVE - an interactive workshop on the preservation of cultural heritage in a contemporary context while avoiding the stereotype of tourist attraction with the aim of improving access to cultural heritage through the use of new technologies and digital media.