European Capital of Culture

Cities recognized by the European Union as culturally significant for Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

European Capital of Culture

A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for a city to generate considerable cultural, social, and economic benefits, and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city's image, and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale. Multiple cities can be a European Capital of Culture simultaneously.

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The logo used by European Commission for European Capital of Culture
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Chemnitz (Germany), European Capital of Culture for 2025
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Nova Gorica (Slovenia)-Gorizia (Italy), European Capital of Culture for 2025

In 1985, Melina Mercouri, Greece's Minister of Culture, and her French counterpart Jack Lang came up with the idea of designating an annual City of Culture to bring Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values.

The Commission of the European Union manages the title, and each year the Council of Ministers of the European Union formally designates European Capitals of Culture: more than 60 cities have been designated so far. The current European Capitals of Culture for 2025 are Nova Gorica in Slovenia with Gorizia in Italy, and Chemnitz in Germany.

Selection process

An international panel of cultural experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union.

For two of the capitals each year, eligibility is open to cities in EU member states only. From 2021 and every three years thereafter, a third capital will be chosen from cities in countries that are candidates or potential candidates for membership, or in countries that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA)[1][2]– an example of the latter being Stavanger, Norway, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2008.

A 2004 study conducted for the Commission, known as the "Palmer report", demonstrated that the choice of European Capital of Culture served as a catalyst for cultural development and the transformation of the city.[3] Consequently, the beneficial socio-economic development and impact for the chosen city are now also considered in determining the chosen cities.

Bids from five United Kingdom cities to be the 2023 Capital of Culture were disqualified in November 2017, because the UK was planning to leave the EU before 2023.[4]

History

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Melina Mercouri

The European Capital of Culture programme was initially called the European City of Culture and was conceived in 1983, by Melina Mercouri, then serving as minister of culture in Greece. Mercouri believed that at the time, culture was not given the same attention as politics and economics and a project for promoting European cultures within the member states should be pursued.

The European City of Culture programme was launched in the summer of 1985 with Athens being the first title-holder.[5] In 1999, the European City of Culture program was renamed to European Capital of Culture.[6]

List of European Capitals of Culture

Summarize
Perspective
More information Year, City ...
YearCityCountryNotes/LinksCandidate cities
1985Athens Greece
1986Florence Italy
1987Amsterdam Netherlands
1988West Berlin West BerlinCity under Western Allied occupation until 1990; territory was claimed by the Federal Republic of Germany. The name "European City of Culture" was used instead of "Capital" in order to not provoke the East German government.[7][8]
1989Paris France
1990Glasgow United KingdomGlasgow Garden Festival
1991Dublin Ireland
1992Madrid Spain
1993Antwerp Belgium
1994Lisbon Portugal
1995Luxembourg City Luxembourg
1996Copenhagen Denmark
1997Thessaloniki Greece
1998Stockholm Sweden
1999Weimar Germany
2000Avignon FranceThe year 2000 was called the millennium year and treated in a special way, in order to emphasize the enduring heritage and contribution of European cities to world culture and civilization. Because of that, nine locations were chosen, including two cities of states that were to join the EU on 1 May 2004.[9]
Bergen Norway
Bologna Italy
Brussels Belgium
Helsinki Finland
Kraków Poland
Prague Czech Republic
Reykjavík Iceland
Santiago de Compostela Spain
2001Porto Portugal
Rotterdam Netherlands
2002Bruges Belgium
Salamanca Spain
2003Graz Austria
2004Genoa Italy
Lille France
2005Cork IrelandCork CaucusGalway, Limerick, Waterford[10]
2006Patras Greece
2007Luxembourg City Luxembourg
Sibiu Romania
2008Liverpool United KingdomBirmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle and Gateshead (joint bid), Oxford[11]
Stavanger Norway
2009Linz AustriaLinz 2009
Vilnius Lithuania
2010Essen GermanyRepresenting the whole Ruhr as Ruhr.2010.Braunschweig, Bremen, Essen, Görlitz, Halle an der Saale, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Lübeck, Potsdam, Regensburg
Istanbul Turkey
Pécs Hungary
2011Tallinn Estonia
Turku FinlandTurku 2011
2012Guimarães Portugal
Maribor Slovenia
2013Košice Slovakia
Marseille FranceMarseille-Provence 2013Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse[12]
2014Riga Latvia
Umeå Sweden
2015Mons Belgium
Plzeň Czech Republic
2016San Sebastián SpainDonostia 2016Burgos, Córdoba, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Segovia, Zaragoza[13]
Wrocław PolandGdańsk, Katowice, Lublin, Warsaw[14]
2017Aarhus DenmarkAarhus 2017Sønderborg[15]
Paphos CyprusPafos 2017Limassol, Nicosia[16]
2018Leeuwarden NetherlandsEindhoven, Maastricht, The Hague, Utrecht[17]
Valletta MaltaValletta 2018
2019Matera ItalyMatera 2019Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna, Siena[18]
Plovdiv BulgariaPlovdiv 2019Sofia, Varna, Veliko Turnovo[19]
2020 – April 2021Galway IrelandGalway 2020Limerick, The Three Sisters (joint bid Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny)[20]
Rijeka CroatiaRijeka 2020Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula[21]
2022Esch-sur-Alzette LuxembourgEsch-sur-Alzette 2022
Kaunas LithuaniaKaunas 2022Klaipėda[22]
Novi Sad SerbiaNovi Sad 2022 (Coronavirus postponement)
20231Eleusis GreeceEleusis 2023 (Coronavirus postponement)Kalamata, Rhodes[23]
Timișoara RomaniaTimișoara 2023 (Coronavirus postponement)Baia Mare, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca[24]
Veszprém HungaryVeszprém 2023Debrecen, Győr[25]
2024Bad Ischl AustriaSalzkammergut 2024Dornbirn, St. Pölten[26]
Bodø2 NorwayBodø 2024Banja Luka, Mostar[27]
Tartu EstoniaTartu 2024Kuressaare, Narva[28]
2025Chemnitz GermanyChemnitz 2025Hannover, Hildesheim, Magdeburg, Nuremberg[29]
Nova Gorica/Gorizia joint bid Slovenia
 Italy
GO! 2025Ljubljana, Piran, Ptuj[30]
2026Oulu FinlandOulu 2026Savonlinna, Tampere[31]
Trenčín[32] SlovakiaTrenčín 2026Nitra, Žilina
2027Évora PortugalÉvora 2027Aveiro, Braga, Ponta Delgada[33]
Liepāja LatviaLiepāja 2027Daugavpils, Valmiera [34]
2028Bourges[35] FranceBourges 2028Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier, Rouen, Saint-Denis
České Budějovice[36] Czech RepublicČeské Budějovice 2028Broumov, Brno, Liberec
Skopje2 North MacedoniaSkopje 2028Budva[37]
2029Kiruna[38] SwedenKiruna 2029 Uppsala[39]
Lublin[40] PolandLublin 2029Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Kołobrzeg[41]
2030TBA December 2025[42] CyprusShortlisted cities[42]: Larnaca, Limassol
Other applicants: Nicosia [43]
TBA September 2025[44] BelgiumShortlisted cities: Leuven, Molenbeek, Namur Other applicants: Bruges, Ghent, Kortrijk[44]
TBA2TBALviv, Nikšić[45]
2031TBA MaltaBirgu, Victoria[46]
TBA Spainpotential candidates:[47]
Burgos, Cáceres, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera, Las Palmas, Toledo
2032TBA Bulgaria
TBA Denmarkpotential candidate: Næstved[48]
2033TBA Netherlandspotential candidate: Heerlen[49]
TBA Italypotential candidates: Turin,[50] Pesaro/Urbino,[51] Viterbo[52]
TBA2TBA
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1 The European Capital of Culture was due to be in the UK in 2023. However, due to its decision to leave the European Union, UK cities would no longer be eligible to hold the title after 2019. The European Commission's Scotland office confirmed that this would be the case on 23 November 2017, only one week before the UK was due to announce which city would be put forward.[53] The candidate cities were Dundee,[54] Leeds, Milton Keynes,[55] Nottingham and a joint bid from Northern Irish cities of Belfast and Derry and the town of Strabane.[56]

2 A new framework makes it possible for cities in candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine), potential candidates for EU membership (Kosovo) or EFTA member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) to hold the title every third year as of 2021. This will be selected through an open competition, meaning that cities from various countries may compete with each other.[57]

See also

References

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