The FAQ page for Cities After Dark (CAD). Stay up to date with our regularly updated CAD page.

What is CAD?

Cities After Dark (CAD) is a meeting series that connects key nighttime stakeholders together across Europe. Our goal is for cities to work together and apply for tenders and funding on a national, continental and international level. Member cities include Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam, Ghent, Vilnius, Lisbon, London and more. 

As a consortium, we meet once a month. These 90-minute monthly meetings are an opportunity to update the consortium about ongoing projects, share new opportunities, and exchange knowledge. The meetings also feature a lecture and discussion on a nighttime-related topic, such as on the different models of nighttime governance in Europe, sustainability within the nighttime sector and research methods in nighttime studies.

Who can join?

To join the CAD consortium, a city applicant includes three partners: (1) a local academic or research institution; (2) a city or municipality partner; and (3) a nighttime advocacy partner. This is to ensure that we build a diverse network within and across cities, representing some of the key partners in advocacy, research and policy-related initiatives.

CAD is currently open to members from cities in Europe, but we hope to expand to include other regions in the future.

What are the benefits of joining?

Some of the benefits of joining CAD include:

• Becoming involved in EU or non-EU funding opportunities and research projects
• Meeting other partners in different cities to potentially collaborate on tenders or other projects and initiatives
• Learning about nighttime research and grant opportunities in other cities to become involved in or to develop in one’s own city

How can my city join?

If you are interested in applying with your city “trio,” please contact jess@vibe-lab.org to receive a Letter of Intent (LOI), which collects the contact information of the city partners and outlines the responsibilities of CAD members.

What happens if my country is outside of the EU?

CAD is currently open to members from cities across Europe, regardless of whether their country is part of the EU. Involvement in EU-specific tenders and calls will depend on the requirements of the specific application, and we are also looking for opportunities that are available to members outside of the EU.

What happens if there are multiple academic, advocacy, or municipality partners from the same city that are interested?

A trio combining an advocate, city official and an academic partner is the minimum requirement to become involved. These core partners will be responsible for attending the meetings and disseminating information to other interested parties within their city. We can help connect different parties from each city together, but each city will be responsible for self-organising.

What happens if someone’s position is both an advocacy and official municipality role (e.g. night mayor)?

In the case that one person could fulfil the role of an advocacy and official city partner, the city would only need one more academic partner in the consortium. However, involving an additional advocacy or city partner could be a good opportunity to get more people within the same city involved.

Do the advocacy, research, and/or city partners have to be nighttime-specific?

All city partners within a trio do not have to be nighttime-specific. For example, some cities may want to include a city official from an arts/culture office or economic/labor office, especially if there is not a dedicated nighttime office working within the municipality. Similarly, advocacy and academic partners can come from a wide range of fields and backgrounds. 

The goal of forming a trio is to prepare a group that will be valuable contributors for future tenders and calls related to but not limited to arts, culture, music, nighttime, and innovation.

What are the fees involved?

There is no membership fee to become a member of CAD and join the monthly meetings. However, partners may need to contribute financial or other resources when joining specific applications (e.g. contributing core writers). This will depend on a case-by-case-basis.

I know of a call that may be interesting for other CAD members to apply for.

If you are aware of transnational tenders that you would like to apply for, please send an email to jess@vibe-lab.org. You can also share this information during our monthly meetings.

I want to propose and/or lead a discussion topic.

Please reach out to jess@vibe-lab.org if there is a topic you would like to lead or learn more about during our monthly meetings.

I have more questions.

If you have any more questions, please reach out to jess@vibe-lab.org who will be able to assist you further.