Culture-Powered City Diplomacy

Culture Action Europe’s Tere Badia will take part in the roundtable Culture-POwered City Diplomacy organised by the Office of Tenino Picula, member of the European Parliament in cooperation with Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture. The round table will be held in the European Parliament in Brussels on March 19t h, 2019.

In a world increasingly prone to building walls and promoting social divisions, it is worth reminding that inter-cultural communication should be understood as a basic development resource and a common value of our continent. City cultural policies (intercultural cities, digital cities, creative cities) introduce cities as important actors in international cultural relations, which opens new areas of partnership. It also opens many new questions and warns of the need for reform/transformation of cultural policies in cities. International mobility and exchange of artists and other cultural workers are key to spreading new ways of communication and long-term international cultural cooperation. Mobility brings new ideas, knowledge, skills, cultural practices that enrich each community.

The round table will gather experts from all over the European Union to discuss the potential of culture-powered city diplomacy, and the manner in which the EU can, within the framework of the European Capital of Culture programme, best support it.