ACCIONA Living & Culture will hold on April 23rd and 24th, 2025, the second edition of the NEXT IN Summit, an international forum that will bring together leaders and professionals in museology, architecture, immersive experiences and art to analyze the fundamental role of culture in shaping the future.

The event, which will be inaugurated next Wednesday in the presence of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, will showcase best practices in the design, management and innovation of cultural spaces, hosting some of the most reputable international voices in the sector, including architect David Chipperfield, founder and director of David Chipperfield Architects and president of the RIA Foundation; Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, artist and founder of Atelier Lozano-Hemmer; and Elizabeth Diller, partner of the architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, among others.

The roundtables, panels and presentations will address topics such as the role of cultural institutions and artists in promoting a sustainable future. Innovation in museums and exhibitions will also be analyzed, with a particular focus on immersive experiences and their impact on the relationship between culture and entertainment. Moreover, the concept of "hybrid museums," which combines physical and digital experiences to enrich the public's interaction with art, will be explored.

One of the summit’s highlights will be the launch of “The Key Book of Museums”, a work by ACCIONA Living & Culture that brings together the conclusions of research carried out in more than 150 museums around the world with the aim of creating a guide of best practices in sustainability that will inspire this sector.

NEXT IN Summit 2025, which will be held on the ACCIONA Campus in Madrid, is shaping up to be a key forum for professionals interested in the role of culture in the future, offering a platform for the exchange of ideas and collaboration on innovative projects.

A total of thirty international experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and Spain, among other countries, will participate as speakers this year. In addition to giving informative lectures and participating in panel talks, they will also meet with attendees in networking spaces.

The full program is available in the following link: https://nextinsummit.com/speakers/

ART MASTERS

The summit’s attendees will also be able to enjoy a preview of the virtual reality experience titled ART MASTERS: A Virtual Reality Experience, created by ACCIONA Living & Culture, in collaboration with the Prado National Museum, where visitors, through a tour of an imaginary museum, will delve into five great masterpieces from the Prado Museum's collection, exploring a universe that moves between the real and the dreamlike while discovering the secrets hidden in these iconic canvases.

This experience, in which each visitor will interact through virtual reality glasses with some of the most important works of the Prado Museum's collection, will be exhibited in Shanghai and Chengdu in June and July 2025.

SECOND EDITION

In the previous edition of the NEXT IN Summit, representatives of the Prado, Orsay and Louvre Abu Dhabi museums analyzed the impact of their collections and temporary exhibitions on the dynamization of the sector. In this regard, Sheika Reem al Thani, from Qatar Museums, explained how her country's national network of museums boosts employment and tourism as part of the Qatar National Vision 2030 strategy.

Architecture was also a key focus of discussion, with award-winning architects Frida Escobedo and Tatiana Bilbao defending its role in social inclusion, as well as the balance between indoors and outdoors.

Michael Kimmelman, an art critic for The New York Times, who will also participate in the 2025 edition, highlighted cultural architecture as a living legacy, while Turkish artist Refik Anadol explored the potential of Artificial Intelligence in artistic creation.

Overall, the event was attended by more than 300 professionals from 25 countries, making NEXT IN a conference of international importance in the sector.