UNESCO Creative Cities
Ljubljana, Slovenia (City of Literature)
UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Science, and Culture Organization, started the Creative Cities Network to facilitate international relationships within creative industries.
Joining the Network encourages cities to share best practices and develop partnerships involving the public and private sectors in order to:
strengthen the creation, production, distribution and dissemination of cultural activities, goods and services;
develop hubs of creativity and innovation and broaden opportunities for creators and professionals in the cultural sector;
improve access to and participation in cultural life, in particular for marginalized or vulnerable groups and individuals;
fully integrate culture and creativity into sustainable development plans.
The hope is that the Network can support more sustainable urban development suited to the practical needs of the local population, while making creativity a lever for urban development and conceiving of new solutions to tackle common challenges globally.
Cities are designated in one of seven categories: Literature, Film, Music, Design, Craft and Folk Art, Media Arts, and Gastronomy. The network currently consists of 246 cities from around the world.