European Capitals of Culture cooperation seminar brought over 100 cultural sector professionals to Bourges
On September 24–25, representatives from the municipalities of European Capitals of Culture and the organizations implementing these titles gathered in Bourges for the "Matrix" seminar.
Over the course of two days, more than 100 participants from 35 European cities came together to share experiences, discuss shared challenges, and explore opportunities for further cultural cooperation.
The seminar program combined plenary discussions, workshops, and site visits.
Sille Talvet-Unt, project manager of “Ecoc Echo”—a legacy project for European Capitals of Culture led by Tartu 2024—gave an overview to the attendees of how nine past, present, and future European Capitals of Culture are working to ensure that the achievements of their title years continue to positively influence regional development long after the title year has ended.
The project compares how different ECoCs plan and manage the period before, during and after the title year. The work combines surveys of past, current and future ECoCs, focus groups, interregional learning events, partner-level legacy planning and the identification and verification of good practices.
We are looking not only at what worked, but under what conditions, what evidence exists and whether it can be useful elsewhere. Once completed, the results of Ecoc Echo will be available for use by all European Capitals of Culture.
Tartu and Tartu 2024 was represented by Tartu Deputy Mayor Ulla Preeden, Tartu 2024 CEO Annela Laaneots, and Tartu 2024 Development Manager and Eco Echo Project Manager Sille Talvet-Unt.