Denia selected to be part of the European Culture project

THE city of Denia has been selected to join the European project Culture for Cities and Regions. It is being driven by Eurocities and KEA-European Affairs in collaboration with European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) funded through the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

The initiative illustrates the importance of culture as an essential factor in the strategies of urban and regional development. Its main objectives are to conduct an analysis of European cultural practices that have been a key element in development strategies, promote the exchange of knowledge on these successful practices and discuss the specific planning and implementation of policies. The project presented by Denia has been selected from more than 240 other candidates including cities like Brussels, Porto, Sofia and Utrecht. Denia’s proposal revolves around the role of cultural industries in developing local economies, especially in the field of tourism and gastronomy.

The scheme is supported by Eurocities and from October 27 to 30, Denia, along with the rest of the cities that have been selected, will visit Bologna in Italy to seek areas of co-operation in the field of creative cultural industries. This also coincides with the start of the Creative Cities Network project set up by UNESCO, which Denia is also bidding to become a part of.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote co-operation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 69 cities which make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and co-operating actively at international level. The initiative is fully funded by the Creative Europe programme.

The meeting in the Italian city will be attended by a delegation from the town including the mayor of Denia, Vicente Grimalt, and the local development technician, Floren Terrades.