Bulgarian capital Sofia joins UNESCO ‘Creative Cities Network’
Bulgarian capital city Sofia has been named as a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, for its film industry.
Launched in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the organisation said on December 1.
“The network aims to foster international cooperation between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and enhanced influence of cultural in the world.”
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, designated 28 cities from 19 countries, as new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
They are:
Bilbao (Spain) – Design
Busan (Republic of Korea) – Film
Curitiba (Brazil) – Design
Dakar (Senegal) – Media Arts
Dundee (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Design
Dunedin (New Zealand) – Literature
Florianopolis (Brazil) – Gastronomy
Galway (Ireland) – Film
Granada (Spain) – Literature
Gwangju (Republic of Korea) – Media Arts
Hamamatsu (Japan) – Music
Hanover (Germany) – Music
Heidelberg (Germany) – Literature
Helsinki (Finland) – Design
Jacmel (Haiti) – Crafts & Folk Arts
Jingdezhen (China) – Crafts & Folk Arts
Linz (Austria) – Media Arts
Mannheim (Germany) – Music
Nassau (Bahamas) – Crafts & Folk Arts
Pekalongan (Indonesia) – Crafts & Folk Arts
Prague (Czech Republic) – Literature
Shunde (China) – Gastronomy
Sofia (Bulgaria) – Film
Suzhou (China) – Crafts & Folk Arts
Tel Aviv-Yafo (Israel) – Media Arts
Tsuruoka (Japan) – Gastronomy
Turin (Italy) – Design
York (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Media Arts
“The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a tremendous tool for cooperation, it reflects our commitment to support an amazing creative and innovative potential to broaden the avenues of sustainable development,” Bokova said.
By joining the network, cities commit to collaborate and develop partnerships with a view to promoting creativity and cultural industries, to share best practices, to strengthen participation in cultural life, and to integrate culture in economic and social development plans.
The Network covers seven thematic areas: Craft and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music. It aims to promote international cooperation and encourage the sharing of experiences and resources in order to promote local development through culture and creativity.
With these new designations, the number of UNESCO Creative Cities Network members now totals 69.
The next meeting of the Creative City Network is scheduled for May 2015 in Kanazawa (Japan).
(Photo of the statue of St Sofia: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)