On Tuesday 14 April 2026, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and Ministry of Culture held a press conference to present the new national “CreativeLab” programme and its dedicated platform.
The initiative aims to offer secondary school students cultural and creative activities outside regular lessons.
Presented by Luxembourg’s Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, and the Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, the programme encourages collaboration between schools and cultural actors across Luxembourg. Public cultural institutions, regional centres, non-profit organisations and other stakeholders are invited to provide artistic and participatory activities in fields such as music, dance, theatre, painting, graffiti, photography and film. These activities are funded by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth.
“At a time when screens occupy a concerning place in the lives of young people, our responsibility is to create concrete alternatives. Every hour spent in front of a screen is one hour less to develop talents and share moments with friends. With ‘CreativeLab’, we give this time back to young people, making room for culture, creativity and real-life experiences,” said Minister Meisch.
All activities are centralised on the creativelab.lu platform, allowing secondary schools to select directly the activities they wish to offer their students.
The new programme, which aims to provide students with more opportunities to explore new forms of expression, stimulate their creativity and develop cultural curiosity, forms part of the Screen-Life-Balance campaign of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth. Beyond reducing screen time, the initiative aims to promote a balance between the digital and real worlds by creating spaces for interaction, creativity and discovery, which are essential for young people’s development and well-being.
According to the ministries, CreativeLab strengthens connections between the school environment and the cultural sector, while providing concrete support to the country’s creative scene. For professionals working in secondary schools, the programme offers an opportunity to share their expertise and passion with young people.
These new opportunities for artists and facilitators contribute to the dynamism of the cultural and creative sectors. In addition, CreativeLab promotes better access for young people to cultural activities by helping to remove social barriers that may limit participation.
“The ‘CreativeLab’ initiative forms part of the government’s broader efforts to support and strengthen the cultural sector. Through the national ‘Access to Culture’ plan, which is currently in its final phase, we will implement an ambitious timetable with concrete measures. Close cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth is essential, as it is by combining our efforts that we will sustainably improve access to culture for younger generations,” said Minister Thill.
All providers offering activities under “CreativeLab” must sign an agreement with the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, which defines the terms of delivery and ensures that facilitators have the required qualifications to work in secondary schools.
The platform is already online and activities can now be booked by secondary schools.
The ministries stated that “CreativeLab” will become an integral part of the Extraklass platform, which will bring together all educational offers for schools and is set to launch at the start of the 2026/2027 school year.
