The countdown has begun for the UCLG Cultural Summit. The summit, which will be held in İzmir for the first time in Turkey between 9-11 September, aims to ensure the sustainability of the culture, develop collaborative learning, and encourage the sharing of good practices between cities and local governments around the world. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer Emphasizing the importance of culture in building the future, he said, “The future is being established in İzmir.”
There are only a few days left until the fourth of the World Union of Municipalities (UCLG) Culture Summit, hosted by İzmir after a great struggle. The summit will be held in Izmir between 9-11 September 2021. The organization to be hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is a first in Turkey. The aim of the summit is to ensure the sustainability of culture, to promote collaborative learning, and to promote the sharing of good practices between cities and local governments around the world.
“We turn our face to culture”
Expressing that they are proud of being the first to organize this great organization in İzmir, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer“At the summit, we will come together with local administrators and scientists from many countries and many cities. We will assess the impact of the pandemic crisis, which clearly demonstrates our intense need for culture. We will talk about new participatory models and solidarity networks.” Minister Tunç Soyeremphasizing the importance of culture in building the future, “We turn to culture to realize what brings us together and strengthen our sense of belonging to cities.
Especially after the pandemic, we have to place culture at the center of development in our lives. It is time to have the courage to imagine different, better and sustainable ways of living together. And we will do this together in İzmir, a Mediterranean city enriched with the knowledge of different cultures. We will establish the future in İzmir, the future is being established in İzmir”.
“Concrete implementation and project examples will come to the fore”
Stating that cities play a leading role to give culture a central role in sustainable development, Soyer continued his words as follows: “The summit has two main goals. The first of these is to reinforce the messages regarding the role of culture in sustainable development at the local level with concrete examples of practices and projects. Secondly, the summit will provide visibility to international discussions on the UN 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, which we are currently in a ten-year action plan, and the New Urban Agenda, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2021.”
Different topics will be discussed
The summit, whose main topic is “We Are Establishing the Future in Izmir”, also aims to increase knowledge sharing and learning together practices among local governments. Along with the sessions, various events, workshops, concrete projects, and focus area presentations that will enable the sharing of experiences will also take place at the Summit. The main themes of the Summit:
- Culture, Environment and Health After Covid-19
- #Kültür2030 Campaign
- Culture and Climate Crisis
- Cultural Rights and Communities
- Culture and Gender
- Creative Economy and Cultural Diversity
- Cultural Heritage and Tourism
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Accessibility and Culture
- Five Years of the New Urban Agenda
- Culture 21 Actions
- Culture, Barriers and Inequalities
- Seven Key Workshops
- Sessions will be held at Kültürpark
Top Sweden (Malmö), India, Spain (Terrassa, Puerto de la Cruz, Barcelona, Valencia), France (Lyon), Zimbabwe (Bulawayo), Portugal (Lisbon, Coimbra), China (Xian), America (California), Mexico (Mexico City), England (Bristol), Jordan (Amman), Philippines (Vigan), South Korea (Jeju), Colombia (Bogotá), Indonesia (Bandung), Palestinian National Authority (Ramallah), Luxembourg (Esch-sur-Alzette) ), Germany (Mannheim), France (Paris), Argentina (Buenos Aires), TRNC (Girne), Yakustistan (Olenyoksky), national and local administrators, academics and scientists. Within the scope of the Culture Summit, the delegates will meet in the special meeting rooms prepared in Kulturpark Hall 4 and will have the opportunity to develop by sharing their experiences of their own cities, their academic knowledge, new solution proposals and plans.
Events will be held all over the city
The Cultural Summit will reflect on the city with a series of events. Concerts, cinema screenings, concerts, sunset concerts, poetry, literature, culture talks, painting exhibitions, art tours, sea water curtain shows, Izmir Bay ferry trips and many other events will be held not only in the city center but also in the districts.
What is UCLG?
UCLG is the most comprehensive local and regional government network representing 240 thousand cities from different regions of the world and approximately 5 billion people in terms of population. Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, UCLG provides a worldwide representation ground for local governments.
What is the Purpose of the UCLG Cultural Summit?
The Culture Summit aims to create policies suitable for cultural values for cities. These policies are shown as the source of development, general welfare, happiness and the future. At the summit, plans for the future will be revealed with innovative and solution-oriented approaches, and an effective roadmap will be created for the success of local governments for the coming years.
For detailed information, please do not forget to follow the web page of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality.
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