European Capitals of Culture
info-day
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Jacqueline Pacaud
European Commission « Culture Programme and
Actions Unit
Agenda
1. What is an ECOC?
2. Who can be one?
3. Why should you want to be an ECOC? What are the
benefits?
4. How to become one?
5. What can go wrong? What are the risks?
What is an ECOC?
A large scale cultural programme
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awarded to one city in 2 MS p.a.
lasts a full year
very strong European dimension
based principally on cultural cooperation
designed specifically for the year
Not about what a city looks like,
but what it does during the year
A simple idea ….
« to highlight the richness and diversity of
European cultures and the features they
share, as well as to promote greater
mutual understanding between
European citizens »
… but an ambitious event!
• One of the most visible European cultural events,
substantial in scale and scope
• Very high artistic and cultural quality
requirements
• Considerable financial investment (1995-2004):
– Total operating expenditure: between 8 and
74 million euros
– Total capital expenditure: between 10 to 220
million euros
Who can be one?
Which cities will be one?
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2011: Turku and Tallinn
2012: Guimaraes and Maribor
2013: Marseilles and Kosice
2014: Umeå and Riga
2015 : Mons and Pilsen
Which cities can become one?
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2016: Spain, Poland
2017: Denmark, Cyprus
2018: Netherlands, Malta
2019: Italy, Bulgaria
Why should you want to become
one? The benefits
Cultural benefits
• New audiences for culture, more vivid
cultural life
• New cultural infrastructure
• New cultural management skills and
more international cooperation
Economic benefits
• Regeneration and urban development
• Tourism: +12% on average compared to previous
year,
• Knock-on effects for other sectors, new jobs
• Improved image for the city, (« creative » city,
welfare environment)
Social benefits
• Social cohesion and intercultural
dialogue
• Outreach programmes
– Children, young people
– the elderly
– minorities
– the disadvantaged
• Volunteer programmes
How to become one?
A competition in 2 stages at national
level
• The competition starts 6 years before
the event : in 2011 for 2017
• Proposals assessed by an international
panel (13=7+6 members) against the
criteria
• 2 stages : pre selection and final
selection
One example : the 2017 title
• Cyprus and Denmark
• 2010 : call for submission of applications to
be published by the MS
• End 2011 : pre selection panel’s meeting =>
list of pre selected cities
• Autumn 2012 : final selection panel’s
meeting => one recommended city
• 2013 : Designation by the EU Council of
Ministers
Evaluation based on criteria
The European dimension
• 2 aspects
• The themes : role/links of the city in Europe,
European identity, participation in European cultural
life;
• The way of implementing : cooperation,
trans borders projects
• Examples in the Guide for cities applying for the
title
Evaluation based on criteria
City and citizens
• 2 aspects
• Attractivity at European scale and
participation of people
• Sustainability/ long term cultural and
social development of the city
How to apply
• Reply to the call for submissions of
applications filling in the « Proposed
Application for the title » (in EN) :
overview of the programme
• Completed by a file for further details
• The pre selected cities will have to
provide the same documents to
complete/go further
Monitoring
• After designation, 2 meetings with a
panel of 7 international experts (in 2014
and 2016 for the 2017 title)
• 3 objectives : assessing the
progress/giving guidance/checking
compliance with the commitments
• A prize « in honour of Melina Mercouri »
(1.5 millions euros?) to reward the quality
of the preparation.
Keys to success : concept
• Devising clear objectives and concept for the event on
the basis of the criteria (European dimension etc.) and
the specificities of the city
• A forward looking programme
• An attractive programme at European scale
• A sustainable project for the city
(thinking together urban and cultural problems)
• Consulting and associating cultural operators and
the socio economic world from the beginning
Keys to success :implementation
• Public commitment to the programme and
the budget must be firm and constant
• Seeking for sponsorship well in advance
• Independence from the political authorities
of the artistic director
• A clear and strong communication strategy
Keys to success :ethic rules
• The title cannot be hold by a group of cities nor a
region
• The title cannot be hold before the formal
designation by the Council (important to specify
candidate city)
• A logo to be used
• A clear visibility of the EU
Keys to success
Information and best practices
• The Guide to the cities applying for the title
• http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmesand-actions/doc629_en.htm
• The Palmer study
• The ECOC library in Brussels
• Sharing of good practices
What can go wrong?
What are the risks?
Risks
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Instability in governance structures
Weak public commitment
Financial deficits
Delays in getting sponsors
Weaknesses in cultural content
Delays in building infrastructure
Weaknesses in communication:
lack of European visibility
• Disappointment
• → Need excellent concept and planning, time, money,
political consensus
Advice from two panel members
- Sir Bob Scott
- Mary McCarthy
Thank you!
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and
actions/doc413_en.htm