The ways in which citizens access, participate in, and actively contribute to cultural life form a key pillar of cultural rights; rights that resonate with new policies and practices shaping spaces, creative methodologies, and communities. As highlighted by voices from collaborative cultural mediation, access without context is an empty gesture, and participation without connection is merely an illusion. This panel explores experiences of cultural mediation, presenting it as a political, inclusive, and transformative practice, far beyond a neutral tool for interpretation.