Call for hospitality - REstART 2025

Between 6-9 December 2025, Leuven will host REstART, a unique art festival on restorative justice. The event will be a gathering of artists, activists, practitioners, and community members exploring the power of arts to connect people, repair harm and envision new forms of justice. 

REstART is organised by the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) to celebrate its 25th anniversary and the evolving global restorative justice movement, and will be the occasion to show the warm hospitality of Leuven Restorative City and other local partners. 

We believe that restorative justice lives through people, and this festival is a chance to experience and celebrate our values in action. This is why we invite our Leuven-based colleagues and friends to join the EFRJ organising team and help make this event truly restorative, inclusive, and rooted in our community. This will also be a great opportunity to meet and connect with inspiring artists and restorative justice professionals from both nearby and abroad. Together, we can create something special, a space for learning, sharing, and genuine inspiration. 

We hope to have you on board!

There can be different ways to be involved and contribute to REstART:

• Host a guest: We are looking for people who can offer a place to stay in Leuven (a spare bedroom or even just a sofa!) for artists or guests coming from abroad. Once we have mapped out who can host and who needs a sleeping spot, we will help make the connections.
• Contribute to a shared meal or social moment: We plan to organise one meal in the spirit of a potluck, a shared buffet where everyone contributes something small (salty, sweet, or drinks), and together we create a warm and generous table. We will go ahead with this idea if there is enough interest, so for now just let us know if you would like to be part of it, and think of homemade quiche, cake, finger food, or whatever you love making and sharing! 
• Welcome our guests: Be part of the welcome team at venues (including OPEK, STUK, Cinema ZED, and KU Leuven) for a few hours during the festival, offering guidance, a smile, and a sense of home to our international and local guests. We haven’t identified a central festival hub yet, but we are actively looking for the perfect space to bring everyone together throughout the event.

Whether you have a few hours to spare, a room to share, or just want to lend your hands and heart, every act of hospitality helps build the kind of community we envision in a restorative city.

If you are interested in contributing in any of these ways (or have another idea!), please let us know by filling in the webform below. We will come back to you within two weeks from your submission.

For more questions please contact the EFRJ Secretariat at info@euforumrj.org.