Why in News ?
Kozhikode became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) as the city was awarded the title of ‘City of Literature’ at the 16th annual conference of the network that began at Braga in Portugal on Monday. Among the representatives of the 350 UNESCO Creatives Cities in the world, Mayor Beena Philip and Corporation Secretary K.U. Bini became the face of Kozhikode.
What is UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) ?
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development. As of 2022, there are almost 300 cities from around 90 countries in the network.
The Network recognizes the following creative fields:
The overall situation and activities within the Network is reported in the UCCN Membership Monitoring Reports, each for a four-year period for a particular city.
The Network recognizes the concept of creative tourism, defined as travel associated with creative experience and participation.
Today’s News :
This is a moment of pride for Kozhikode and so many people have been waiting for it,” Ms. Philip said from Braga.
The theme of the annual conference of UCCN this year is ‘Bringing youth to the table for the next decade’. The forenoon session on the first day of the five-day conference began with an introduction on the topic and followed by an integration ceremony for the new members including Kozhikode.
The older members presented their activities in clusters, offering a roadmap for the new members of the network to take their works forward. President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and senior UN officials took part in the opening ceremony of the conference.
UNESCO offers Creative Cities status to cities across the globe based on their cultural contributions and traditions in categories such as Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, Music and Folk Art.
The annual conference will provide the member cities with a platform to share knowledge, experiences and good practices towards building the sustainable cities of tomorrow.
Kozhikode and Gwalior were selected as ‘City of Literature’ and ‘City of Music’ respectively in October 2023.