By October 29th 2021, UNESCO’s Director-General in Paris will designate the new creative cities.
Modena and Como nominated for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
30 June is the deadline for submitting nominations for UNESCO Creative Cities to Paris. The Italian National Commission for UNESCO chose Modena and Como, as 2021 Italian candidates for the Creative Cities Network, respectively in the Media Arts and Crafts sector.
The Executive Board of Italian National Commission for UNESCO, gathered virtually on 24 June 2021, has approved Modena and Como as Italian 2021 candidates for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
The Network was created in 2004 to promote international cooperation between cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable development. Currently, it counts 246 cities in countries all over the world, and it is divided into seven creative sectors: Music, Literature, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Media Arts, Gastronomy, Film.
To date, 11 Italian cities are members of the network: Bologna and Pesaro for Music, Fabriano, Carrara and Biella for Crafts and Folk Art, Rome for Film, Parma, Alba and Bergamo for Gastronomy, Turin for Design and Milan for Literature.
The 2021 call provides that UNESCO Member States can support only two applications in two different creative sectors. The Executive Board of Italian National Commission for UNESCO has decided to support Modena’s nomination in the Media Arts sector for its solid action plan and for the quality of the initiatives already promoted by the city in this field. Furthermore, the designation of Modena would allow Italy to be represented in all the seven creative sectors of the Network.
The candidacy of Como is pertinent to the Crafts and Folk Art sector, since it is related to the production and manufacturing of silk, strongly rooted in the historical, economic and cultural context of the city. In Como’s application dossier, the Executive Board has deeply appreciated the special attention reserved to the themes of the UN 2030 Agenda, and particularly to the environmental sustainability of the textile sector and to gender equality, given the high number of women employed in the sector.
By 29 October 2021, UNESCO’s Director-General will designate the new creative cities, after an evaluation process conducted with the participation of independent experts and of the cities members of the network.