The “Crafts and Folk Art Creative Field” is also interesting for centers of natural stone / So far only Carrara is registered / Detailed concepts must be submitted
Unesco has various initiatives to preserve the cultural achievements of humanity, such as the World Heritage List and the Intangible Cultural Heritage List. In contrast, little is known about the Creative Cities Network, whose goal is to develop creativity as an economic potential of these cities. One of the categories (“Creative Fields”) of this initiative is “Crafts and Folk Art”, so handicrafts. Cities with a natural stone profile can also apply here – so far only Carrara for the marble and Lubumbahsi in Congo for the gemstone malachite have been registered.
Founded in 2004, the network aims to “promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development”. In other words, according to Unesco these “centers of excellence”, as they are called, should come into contact with each other and thus strengthen each other.
There are 7 categories: Craft, film, music, design, gastronomy, media art and literature. By now 246 cities are registered in the network.
New applications are possible every 2 years. 2021 the next procedure will be announced.
Among other things, the historical significance of culture for the respective city must be explained in an application. In addition, the applicants have to give an outlook on how they imagine the local culture to be in the future. Concrete concepts and action plans are expected.
Various Unesco committees evaluate the applications. The time from the submission of the documents to an admission usually takes 6 – 8 months.
Members of the network are expected to keep it alive themselves. There is no financial support.
(14.10.2020, USA: 10.14.2020)
