Cluj-Napoca will host the second meeting of the Candidate Cities Network, on May the 4th and the 5th, 2018. Cities and experts across Europe committed to mobilising culture for social and urban transformation are invited to join the meeting and contribute to the development of the network.
The network was founded in 2017 by ten European cities, current and former candidates to the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) title. The mission of the network is to support cities to implement culture-led urban development programmes and policies, building on the experiences, participatory processes and collaborations established during the preparation for the ECoC bid. It aims to gain wider European acknowledgement of culture as sustainable development and to extend the existing European cultural cooperation frameworks. The network also makes a contribution to the ECoC programme legacy, by facilitating the implementation of more ECoC programmes throughout Europe.
While the first conference in September 2017 aimed to establish the network’s profile, the upcoming meeting focuses on selecting priority areas, developing joint projects and platforms for cooperation between the member cities. The discussion builds on the needs assessment done at the previous meeting, on the current cultural and urban development objectives of the member cities and the existing European funding opportunities.
The event includes a public key note speech by Prof. Dr. Pier Luigi Sacco, Professor of Cultural Economics at IULM University in Milan, Senior Researcher and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University and Special Adviser to the European Commissioner for Education and Culture.
Please read more about the network’s aims, priorities, membership and its founding members at www.cccluj.ro/network-documents.
To register for the meeting please contact us at alexandra@cccluj.ro.
Please find the meeting agenda here.
