Representatives of local governments and development centres in South Estonia discussed the cooperation model for the post-title year of the European Capital of Culture in South Estonia.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Tartu 2024 Council, Mayor of Tartu Urmas Klaas, who highlighted the broader impact of the European Capital of Culture on Tartu, South Estonia and Europe, which encourages South Estonia to continue the cooperation that began with the European Capital of Culture.

At the beginning of the meeting, the director of the Alatskivi School of Arts, curator of the Eduard Tubina Museum, member of the board of the Kodavere Heritage Centre, and cultural entrepreneur Mikk Kirikal gave an overview of what was usefully learned during the visit of the European Capitals of Culture heritage project ECoC Echo to the 2018 European Capital of Culture Leeuwarden-Friesland a few weeks ago.

Tartu 2024 CEO Annela Laaneots outlined a roadmap for developing a cooperation model.

Isabel Laiapea, cultural advisor at the Tartu County Development Centre, gave an overview of how the cooperation model developed within the framework of the European Capital of Culture heritage project ECoC Echo will be part of the Tartu County development strategy.

ECoC Echo head Sille Talvet-Unt spoke about the goals that other ECoC Echo partner countries are currently working towards.

In the second half of the day, topics that must definitely be kept in mind when planning the cooperation model were mapped out.

Meeting took place within the framework of the European Capital of Culture heritage programme ECoC Echo.

The project partners under the leadership of Tartu 2024 are: Leeuwarden 2018 (Netherlands), Novi Sad 2022 (Serbia), Veszprem 2023 (Hungary), Chemnitz 2025 (Germany), Oulu 2026 (Finland), Liepāja 2027 (Latvia), Evora 2027 (Portugal) and Bourges 2028 (France).

The project is funded by the European Union’s interregional cooperation program Interreg Europe, which supports local, regional and national institutions in European countries in developing and implementing the best policies.