Istanbul, which has participated in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since 2017, is a candidate for the 2021 Annual Conferences of the Creative Cities Network which is hosted every year by a Creative City.
Istanbul, Turkey’s city that connects two continents, has become a candidate for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Conference, an enterprise gathering different cities from every region, with different prosperity levels, capacities, and populations. According to project’s founding principles, the Creative Cities Network is based on seven creative themes that the participating cities can prefer. These creative themes are literature, film, music, artizanship, folk arts, design, gastronomy, and media arts. Istanbul has participated in the Creative Cities Network under the category “design” since 2017.
Being a host candidate for the UNESCO Annual Conference 2021 is important for Istanbul. There were 180 cities as of the 2018 Creative Cities Network and it is predicted that this number will increase in 2021. These conferences, attended by at least three Creative Cities, play a big role in the communication between countries on an international level. The main objectives of these events are exchanging experiences by countries, formulating new intercity partnership initiatives, and designing new strategies and operating projects.
You can reach the presentation prepared for candidacy here.