If 2024 was a year of possibility, 2025 became the year Dundee surged forward became a place of new hope.

Culture, music, technology, science, and community spirit collided to create a city that felt alive in new ways.

From electronic music shaking Camperdown Park to astronomy talks firing imaginations on Balgay Hill, from creative milestones on the waterfront to global partnerships in far-off cities, Dundee found itself at the centre of countless stories.

This is the full look back at the year Dundee rediscovered its spark.

Dundee Culture: The Greatest Year Ever

2025 marked an extraordinary milestone for Dundee Culture.

Over 100,000 followers, up 30,000 on the previous year, 161 million platform visits, up from 45 million in 2024 and a huge rise in 18 to 24-year-old audiences, especially on TikTok and Instagram.

Major collaborations with cultural partners played a key role in 2025, including the Mills Observatory, Dundee Museum of Transport and LIVEHOUSE Dundee.

The partnership with Mills played a pivotal role in this success, helping generate unprecedented engagement and public interest.

One of the brightest additions to Dundee Culture’s journey in 2025 was welcoming Kacey Thomson, a Dundonian journalism student from the University of Strathclyde.

Supporting Kacey through her coursework, features and on-the-ground reporting brought a fresh voice to the platform - and her enthusiasm, ideas and creativity quickly became invaluable.

Kacey ended up getting a A in her coursework for her work with Dundee Culture which was absolutely brilliant.

Kacey’s involvement was so impactful that collaboration is continuing more deeply in 2026. A new chapter is beginning.

Dundee Culture’s website, expanded after its 2024 relaunch, became a recognised hub for cultural news, guides, interviews and features. By late 2025, Dundee Culture had become a central player in the city’s media landscape.

It wasn’t just a good year.

It was transformational.

Welcome to the Doof: The Year of Hannah Laing

If Dundee had a soundtrack in 2025, Hannah Laing composed it.

The Dundonian techno star didn’t just dominate playlists - she made history. Doof in the Park, the city’s first major techno festival, attracted 15,000 people to Camperdown Park, instantly becoming one of Dundee’s most iconic events of the decade.

Curated by Hannah herself, the lineup read like a who’s who of electronic music:

Armin van Buuren, Judge Jules, Jezza & Jod, Lisa Lashes and plus a host of rising and established stars brought a whole host of energy as Dundee danced from day into night. For many, it felt like witnessing a local hero become a global force in real time. New releases, awards, and international recognition followed throughout the year.

Hannah hosted her first ever headline residency in Ibiza at HÏ, the biggest club in the world and released some unbelievable tracks including “4am in a Rave”, “Love is a Drug”, “Bass Boys” and “Have You Ever Loved (Ellie)”.

And to top it all off - the Dundee DJ launched her own community music studio in the heart of Dundee’s Change Centre, bringing the opportunities of techno and trance music to a local level in partnership with Turn the Tables.

One of the most heartbreaking moments of Hannah’s year was when she lost her best friend, Ellie Scanlan, who had passed away just days before Doof in the Park. She vowed to power on for Ellie and later created “Have You Ever Loved (Ellie)” in her memory, which earned her third Hottest Record accolade from BBC Radio 2.

Mills Observatory at 90: The Cultural Comeback of the Century

If there was one story that captured Dundee’s hearts and imagination in 2025, it was the extraordinary resurgence of Mills Observatory.

Only recently under threat of closure, Mills roared back to life thanks to a joint city-wide campaign by Leisure & Culture Dundee, Gillian Eilidh O’Mara, Jack Arts, and Dundee Culture, where the social media reach played a defining role in mobilising public support.

The resurgence was so significant that the campaign received recognition at the Courier Business Awards, highlighting what community, creativity, and collective passion can achieve.

2025 marked Mills’ 90th anniversary, and with more than 14,000 visitors, it achieved its highest footfall ever recorded.

Fresh branding, renewed investment, community partnership and widespread online buzz transformed the observatory into one of Dundee’s most talked-about cultural landmarks.

The anniversary wasn’t just a date in the calendar - it was a season of celebration. Events included:

• A public celebration at the summit of Balgay Hill, drawing crowds who gathered to honour nine decades of astronomy and education.

• Talks by Scottish Astronomer Royal Catherine Heymans, whose presence added national significance to the festivities.

• New event formats, including atmospheric live music events inside the observatory - perhaps the first of their kind in its long history.

Mills tapped into something powerful: nostalgia, curiosity, and the sheer magic of looking up.

One of the most symbolic milestones of the year came when Mills marked its anniversary in collaboration with the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London.

A visit by Dundee Culture to Greenwich brought the two observatories together, honouring their shared history - including Greenwich’s original consultation on choosing the exact location of Mills.

An exchange of gifts on the Prime Meridian line marked the occasion, underscoring Dundee’s place within the wider story of British astronomy.

It was more than a gesture. It was a reminder that Dundee’s small hilltop observatory holds national and historical significance.

CoSTAR Realtime Labs: Dundee Opens a New Tech Frontier

2025 cemented Dundee’s reputation as one of the UK and Europe’s most innovative tech cities with the launch of CoSTAR Realtime Labs at Water’s Edge. The facility introduced film, TV and gaming creators to state-of-the-art virtual production technology.

Actors could now appear in different locations but film the same scene seamlessly. Game engines powered real-time environments.

Students, filmmakers, producers and animators suddenly had world-class tools at their fingertips.

Within months, CoSTAR became a hub of workshops, training programmes and production work, strengthening Dundee’s creative industries and positioning the city at the forefront of digital storytelling.

Hello LIVEHOUSE: A New Cultural Force on the Nethergate

Dundee gained a major new venue in 2025 with the opening of LIVEHOUSE, located in the former MECCA Bingo Hall.

Run by 22A Events, LIVEHOUSE quickly became a cultural hotspot, hosting Idlewild, in one of the year’s standout gigs, The Last Dinner Party, a rising indie powerhouse and the Belfast Brunch Co, whose sold-out themed events brought new energy to Dundee’s social scene

Club events, community gatherings and creative showcases followed. By the end of 2025, LIVEHOUSE felt less like a new venue and more like a vital part of Dundee’s cultural ecosystem.

Eilish McColgan: Dundee’s Record Breaker

2025 marked one of the most significant years yet in the career of Eilish McColgan, as the Dundonian athlete delivered a series of record-breaking performances on the road.

Fully committing to road running following the Paris 2024 Olympics, McColgan produced results that placed her among the very best in British and European athletics.

The year’s standout moment came in April at the London Marathon, where McColgan made her long-awaited marathon debut.

She crossed the line in 2:24:25, setting a new Scottish marathon record and breaking a national mark that had stood since 2019.

The performance was especially meaningful, surpassing the previous record and also bettering the marathon personal best of her mother, the legendary Liz McColgan.

Later in the year, McColgan added another major milestone by setting a new British 15km record at the Zevenheuvelenloop in the Netherlands.

Her time of 47:12 made her the second-fastest European woman ever over the distance, underlining her ability to compete at the highest level on the international stage.

September brought further success at the Vitality London 10,000, where McColgan secured her third victory at the event.

This achievement saw her equal Jo Pavey’s record for the most wins in the race’s history, while her winning time of 30:35 was the fastest recorded by a British female athlete over the distance in 2025.

What made these achievements particularly impressive was their consistency. Rather than a single breakthrough, McColgan delivered excellence across multiple distances and events, adding to an already extensive list of Scottish, British and European records accumulated throughout her career.

Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby: A Defining Year on the Ice

2025 proved to be a defining year for Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby, as the Dundee-based ice dance partnership delivered their most successful season to date.

Across national and international competition, they not only defended their dominance at home but elevated British ice dance on the European stage.

The year saw Vaipan-Law and Digby being crowned reigning British Champions, underlining their status as the country’s leading ice dance team.

Their continued success at national level reflected years of consistency, technical refinement and artistic growth, setting a strong foundation for what would become a landmark international season.

That breakthrough came at the European Championships in Tallinn, where the pair finished fifth overall, achieving Britain’s best European ice dance result in 35 years.

The performance was widely regarded as a major moment for British skating, signalling a return to competitiveness at the highest level and earning recognition well beyond the UK.

Momentum continued later in the year at the Warsaw Cup, where Vaipan-Law and Digby secured a silver medal against a strong international field.

The podium finish further confirmed their place among Europe’s elite and demonstrated their ability to perform under pressure across multiple competitions.

What made 2025 particularly significant was the trajectory it created. Rather than a single standout result, the season showed sustained progress, growing confidence and increasing international respect. .

As the year closed, Vaipan-Law and Digby had firmly positioned themselves as serious contenders heading into the road to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy after qualifying at the latter stages of 2025.

Dundee Book Festival: A New Literacy Offering

The launch of the Dundee Book Festival in 2025 marked a major new addition to the city’s cultural landscape.

For the first time, Dundee hosted a large-scale literary celebration of its own, bringing together authors, poets, illustrators and readers across multiple venues.

The festival aimed to showcase Dundee’s long-standing creative voice, from journalism and publishing history to its contemporary writers.

Events ranged from panel talks and readings to workshops and book signings. Established Scottish writers appeared alongside emerging Dundonian voices, creating an inclusive and diverse programme.

The festival placed strong emphasis on accessibility, with fringe events taking place in libraries and community hubs across the city.

The Dundee Book Festival established itself as an event with significant potential for growth in the years ahead.

The SAY Awards Arrive in Dundee

For the first time ever, the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Awards were held in Dundee, transforming the Caird Hall into a celebration of Scottish music and creativity.

The success of the event led to Dundee being confirmed as host again in 2026 and 2027. Workshops, artist events and industry discussions took place across the city, giving local creatives valuable opportunities to connect with Scotland’s top music professionals.

Dundee didn’t just host an awards show - it joined the conversation shaping the future of Scottish music.

V&A Dundee: A Landmark Year of Exhibitions & Innovation

2025 was a major year for V&A Dundee, whose exhibitions and programming drew national attention.

One of the museum’s most significant exhibitions to date, Garden Futures, explored how gardens shape our environmental future.

Blending design, ecology, architecture and community voices, the exhibition examined everything from climate resilience to urban greening and the emotional role gardens play in our lives.

Interactive installations, newly commissioned works, and large-scale environmental pieces made it a defining cultural moment in Dundee’s year.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Ninewells Hospital, V&A Dundee created a special exhibition exploring the medical, architectural and human impact of the institution since 1974.

Stories from patients, staff and researchers painted a powerful picture of a hospital that transformed healthcare across Scotland.

Memory Threads, a poignant exhibition created with artists and community groups, reflected on Dundee’s 45-year twinning partnership with Nablus, Palestine.

The exhibition explored memory, displacement, resilience and cultural connection through textiles, photographs, letters and oral histories.

It provided space for reflection during a time when global conversations around Palestine were especially important, offering empathy and understanding through the lens of creative expression.

Together, these exhibitions made 2025 one of V&A Dundee’s strongest museum years since opening.

Dundee Music Festival: The Ultimate City Pub Crawl

The launch of the Dundee Music Festival in 2025 brought a fresh, energetic new event to the city’s cultural calendar.

Billed proudly as the city’s biggest pub crawl, the festival was unique in its approach, transforming Dundee’s pub scene into one giant interconnected music venue for a full weekend of live entertainment.

Dozens of pubs participated across the city centre to the West End, each hosting their own lineup of performers.

From acoustic sets and indie bands to DJs and local duos, the festival created a lively, non-stop circuit of music that encouraged audiences to explore Dundee’s nightlife on foot.

One of the festival’s greatest strengths was its celebration of grassroots talent. The majority of performers were local artists, giving Dundonian musicians a chance to play to new audiences while strengthening the city’s live music ecosystem.

The atmosphere across the participating venues was vibrant, with packed crowds, spontaneous singalongs and a sense of shared celebration between pub owners, performers and festivalgoers.

The Tay’s Edge: Dundee’s Soap Opera That Never Happened

Dundee Culture's 2025 April Fools' joke went viral, which was the announcement of a new local soap opera called The Tay's Edge, complete with fake cast details, storylines about love and betrayal, but it was revealed to be a fun concept generated by an AI and shared as a prank, though they'wished it were real. The joke highlighted local pride with a "Dundee twist" in the fictional show's plot!

Deborah and Donut: A Mystery Unsolved

Amid a year filled with major milestones, one of 2025’s most memorable moments came from something entirely unexpected - a handwritten banner tied to a Dundee bridge.

Appearing seemingly overnight in May, the message read: “Deborah my queen, I’m sorry, your Donut”. No context. No explanation. Just instant intrigue.

What followed was a wave of speculation that spread rapidly across social media. Who was Deborah? Who was Donut?

What had happened? Had someone cheated? Had someone eaten an actual doughnut? Or was “Donut” a nickname?

Dundonians wasted no time in turning the mystery into what many jokingly dubbed the greatest Dundee drama of all time.

The banner quickly went viral, shared thousands of times and sparking countless theories, memes and tongue-in-cheek commentary.

Entire comment sections were dedicated to cracking the case, with locals and non-locals alike drawn into the unfolding saga. It was playful, harmless and completely irresistible.

Things escalated further when responses began to appear online, adding fuel to the fire and keeping the story alive for days.

Each new development reignited debate, laughter and speculation, turning a simple apology into a full-blown community event.

What made the Deborah and Donut saga so special wasn’t just the humour, but how collectively Dundee embraced it.

For a brief moment, everyone was in on the joke. It cut across age groups, neighbourhoods and platforms, reminding people of the joy of shared silliness.

In a year that carried both triumph and tragedy, Deborah and Donut provided something invaluable - laughter. It was a reminder that sometimes culture isn’t planned, promoted or programmed. Sometimes, it just appears on a bridge and brings a city together.

For The Love Of Cats: Frankie and Benny Take Over Dundee Culture

Amid a year of major moments, one of Dundee Culture’s most unexpectedly joyful stories came courtesy of two very familiar faces: Frankie and Benny.

They were adopted into our family and as a result, I thought it would be cool to include them in content promoting the University of Dundee’s cat exhibition, and the pair quickly captured the city’s attention.

The cats became the unlikely stars of Dundee Culture’s infographics, appearing front and centre in a run of posts that struck a perfect balance between informative and playful.

The response was immediate and overwhelming, with the posts generating more than 10,000 likes across social media platforms.

What followed was something even more special. Dundonians began sharing photos of their own cats in huge numbers, filling comment sections and stories with feline companions of all shapes, colours and personalities.

What started as a promotional idea turned into a city-wide celebration of one of the world’s most loved animals.

The surge in engagement highlighted something important about Dundee Culture’s role in 2025. It wasn’t just about reporting on the city, but creating moments of shared joy and participation. Frankie and Benny became a gentle reminder that culture doesn’t always have to be grand or serious to matter.

Cats offered a moment of warmth, humour and connection on Dundee Culture in 2025. Sometimes, all it takes to bring a city together is a couple of familiar paws!

Remembering Fortune Gomo: A City Coming Together

One of the most heartbreaking moments of 2025 was the tragic murder of Fortune Gomo, a talented doctor who had recently moved to Dundee with her young family.

Her death sent shockwaves through the city and beyond, leaving a deep sense of grief and disbelief.

In the days that followed, Dundee responded not with silence, but with compassion. Communities came together in a way that felt instinctive and heartfelt.

Vigils were held, flowers laid, and spaces were created for people to grieve collectively. Thousands were raised through fundraising efforts to support Fortune’s family, as Dundonians sought to turn sorrow into something meaningful.

What emerged was a powerful reminder of the city’s humanity. People who had never met Fortune stood alongside those who had, united by a shared sense of loss and a desire to honour her life.

Services and gatherings focused not on the violence of her death, but on who she was – a dedicated professional, a mother, and a woman whose future should have been long and full.

Fortune’s passing also sparked wider conversations around safety, awareness and care for one another. In remembering her, the city was forced to pause, reflect and look inward, asking how communities can better protect and support those who call Dundee home.

Fortune Gomo will always be remembered in Dundee not only for the tragedy of her loss, but for the way her memory brought people together.

Justin Bieber’s Unannounced Stop in Dundee

When Justin Bieber stepped onto Dundee soil in 2025, the city entered global headlines.

The pop superstar filmed his music video for “Bad Honey” at Abandon Ship following his appearance at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Crowds gathered outside as filming took place, turning a quiet street into an international moment.

Social media erupted. Dundee trended globally. And for a day, the city became a pop-culture phenomenon.

Medical Breakthroughs Put Dundee on the World Stage

In 2025, Dundee’s life sciences sector didn’t just advance research – it made history.

The city delivered a series of breakthroughs that placed it firmly on the global scientific map, reinforcing a reputation built over decades of innovation, collaboration and world-class expertise.

One of the most remarkable achievements was the first-ever transatlantic remote stroke treatment, carried out between Dundee and Florida.

Using cutting-edge robotic and telemedicine technology, specialists were able to collaborate across thousands of miles in real time, demonstrating how emergency stroke care could be transformed for patients anywhere in the world.

The implications were profound: faster intervention, broader access to expertise, and the potential to save lives in regions previously limited by geography.

This breakthrough was quickly followed by Dundee being selected to lead a major UK-wide dementia research programme.

The decision recognised the city’s strengths in neuroscience, data-led medicine and clinical collaboration.

With dementia posing one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century, Dundee’s leadership placed it at the centre of efforts to improve early diagnosis, treatment pathways and long-term care.

Momentum continued when Dundee became one of the first cities globally to spearhead a new Parkinson’s clinical trial.

The trial marked another step forward in understanding neurodegenerative conditions and developing more effective therapies.

It also underlined Dundee’s ability to move discoveries from the laboratory into real-world clinical settings.

What made 2025 particularly significant was not just the scale of these achievements, but their human impact.

Behind every trial, treatment and research paper were patients, families and clinicians working together with a shared purpose.

Dundee’s science community demonstrated that innovation is most powerful when it remains grounded in care and compassion.

By the end of the year, one thing was clear: science in Dundee was not confined to laboratories or lecture halls. It was reaching across oceans, reshaping global healthcare conversations, and changing lives.

In 2025, Dundee didn’t just contribute to medical progress – it helped define the future of it.

The Year of Dundee’s Retail Revival

2025 brought a notable revival to Dundee’s retail landscape, led by the highly anticipated arrival of Fraser’s in the Overgate Centre.

The new department store marked a fresh chapter for the city’s shopping district, offering modern retail space, new product ranges and increased footfall at a time when many UK high streets faced ongoing challenges.

The impact of Fraser’s opening was quickly felt. Its arrival encouraged further investment across the centre, helping attract a series of new and returning brands.

One of the most significant additions was Mango, whose contemporary fashion offering filled a long-standing gap in Dundee’s retail mix.

The premium fashion and lifestyle scene also received a boost with the expansion of Flannels, bringing luxury and designer labels to the city.

Alongside this, Superdrug unveiled an enlarged modern store with an extended beauty and healthcare range, demonstrating renewed confidence in Dundee’s city centre retail potential.

Several familiar brands also returned or expanded, including Clarks, which re-established a presence welcomed by families and long-time customers.

Lifestyle retailer Rituals strengthened its presence with a refreshed store, while jewellery favourite Pandora expanded its footprint to meet increased demand.

New names continued to arrive, with sportswear brand Castore and Italian jewellery brand Nomination adding further variety to the city’s retail offering.

Together, these developments helped transform Dundee’s shopping district into one of the most revitalised in Scotland in 2025.

The Keiller Centre: Leaving A Legacy After 46 Years

While Dundee’s retail revival was plain to see, 2025 also marked the quiet end of a space that meant far more to Dundee than bricks and mortar.

After 46 years, the Keiller Centre closed its doors to the public for the final time, bringing to a close a chapter that spanned generations of Dundonians.

For many who grew up in the late 20th century, the Keiller Centre was woven into everyday life. It was a place of first trips into town, Saturday wanderings, familiar shop fronts and chance encounters. It sat at the heart of Dundee’s city centre routine, not as a destination to impress, but as somewhere that simply belonged.

In its later years, the Keiller Centre found an unexpected second life. As retail patterns changed, the building was repurposed into a creative hub, offering space to independent artists, makers and small galleries.

For a brief but important period in the 21st century, it became somewhere new ideas could take root, proving that even tired spaces could still serve the city in meaningful ways.

That creative resurgence mattered. It gave the building dignity in its final years and allowed a new generation to form memories there, not through shopping, but through art, expression and community.

It showed what Dundee does best when faced with challenge: adapt, reimagine and keep going.

There was always an awareness, though, that the building itself was struggling. Its condition reflected years of strain, and closure was never entirely unexpected.

Even so, its final day carried weight. Not just because a building closed, but because a shared reference point quietly disappeared.

Above all, the Keiller Centre is remembered because of the people. The staff who worked there across decades, the artists who filled its spaces in later years, and the countless Dundonians who passed through its doors.

The building may now be closed, but the memories it holds remain firmly part of the city’s story.

Some places never really leave. They simply become memory.

Dundee and Toronto: Reconmecting A Forgotten Relationship

2025 was also the year Dundee took meaningful steps towards deeper international cultural relationships.

A new collaboration between Dundee Culture and Mackenzie House in Toronto honoured the legacy of William Lyon Mackenzie, Toronto’s first mayor and a proud Dundonian.

Conversations with the Toronto International Alliance Programme set the foundations for a long-term relationship between the two cities. The aspiration? For Dundee to an established partner with Toronto by 2036, marking Toronto’s 200th anniversary.

These first steps in 2025 may one day be seen as the beginning of a major cross-Atlantic partnership.

From the Rep to the Stars: Dundee Talent on Doctor Who

One of the more quietly remarkable cultural threads of 2025 was the presence of Dundee Rep talent at the centre of one of the year’s biggest television moments. Through Dundee Rep, the city once again demonstrated its influence far beyond Tayside.

Alan Cumming, a Dundee Rep alumnus, delivered a standout performance as Mr Ring-a-Ding / Lux Impreator, in the acclaimed Lux episode of Doctor Who.

His appearance was widely praised and quickly became one of the most memorable guest performances of the series.

It came in the same year when the Rep alumni also won an Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for his work on the US version of The Traitors.

The same season also marked the conclusion of Ncuti Gatwa’s time as the Doctor. His regeneration into Billie Piper became one of the most unexpected and talked-about moments in British television in 2025.

Gatwa’s connection to Dundee Rep, where he began his professional career, added a quiet but meaningful local resonance to the moment

Dundee’s Christmas Festivities Became A Huge Success

Dundee’s Christmas festivities were critically acclaimed. Bringing back the tree to the City Square was an absolute no brainer and the lights switch on and the Dundee Hooley were absolutely amazing.

The switch on was reminiscent of the old Hogmanay parties that used to take place in the City Square decades back and gave those who went to them a sense of nostalgia when visiting the City Square once again for the lights switch on.

The festivities featured rides and markets from Horne’s Pleasure Fairs who were later praised for their action to make sure families and schools had access to celebrations in the square.

2025 was a blueprint of what Christmas should be in Dundee. 2021 was great, 2022 was good, 2023 was a complete and utter disaster and 2024 was a return to form but 2025 was the best in such a long time!

2025 Was A Year Of New Hope

Sixty years ago, an STV documentary described Dundee as a “Place of New Hope”. In 2025, that phrase returned with renewed meaning.

This was a year defined not just by festivals, exhibitions, breakthroughs and growth, but by the way Dundee responded to both joy and tragedy.

Alongside that sorrow stood extraordinary progress.

Culture flourished.

Music brought thousands together.

Science saved lives.

Historic institutions were rediscovered and reimagined.

New voices were nurtured, new spaces opened, and Dundee’s story was shared further and wider than ever before.

What made these moments matter was not their scale, but their sincerity - driven by people who cared deeply about the city and each other.

For Dundee Culture, 2025 was shaped around the idea of new hope. It was never about ignoring the challenges, but about believing that creativity, community and connection could still carry Dundee forward.

This year proved that belief was not misplaced. It delivered in ways that were visible, measurable, and deeply felt.

Hope in Dundee does not arrive quietly. It arrives through shared effort, through difficult conversations, through music in pubs, stargazing on hills, exhibitions that ask hard questions, and communities standing shoulder to shoulder when it matters most. It is built slowly, honestly and together.

As Dundee looks ahead to 2026 and beyond, the city does so with clarity.

Not because everything is fixed, but because it knows who it is and what it can be.

2026 is a year of looking out and moving forward for Dundee, I personally believe. Building on the successes of 2025 is what needs to happen in Dundee next year - and I believe that is very much possible.

Dundee Culture’s theme for 2026 will be Looking Out, Moving Forward

Sixty years on from that first declaration, Dundee once again stands as a Place of New Hope - not as an idea, but as a lived reality.