The
European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the
European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its
cultural life and cultural development. A number of
European cities have used the City of Culture year to transform their cultural base and, in doing so, the way in which they are viewed internationally.
History
Conceived as a means of bringing
citizens of European Union (at that time the
European Community) closer together, the
European City of Culture was launched on
June 13,
1985 by the
Council of Ministers on the initiative of the
Greek Minister of Culture
Melina Mercouri. Since then, the initiative has been more and more successful amongst European citizens and has had a growing cultural and socio-economic impact on the numerous visitors it has attracted.
The European Cities of Culture were designated on an intergovernmental basis until 2004; the Member States unanimously selected the cities most likely to welcome the event and the
European Commission granted a subsidy to the selected city each year. As of 2005, the EU's institutions will take part in the selection procedure of the cities that will host the event.
In 1990, the Ministers of Culture launched the "
European Cultural Month". This event is similar to the European City of Culture but goes on for a shorter period and is addressed to
Central and
Eastern European countries in particular. The
European Commission grants a
subsidy for the European Cultural Month each year.
As early as 1991, the organisers of the different European Cities of Culture created the Network of European Cultural Capitals and Months — enabling the exchange and dissemination of information, also to the organisers of future events. This network also carried out in 1994 a study on the impact of the European City of Culture since its creation. ECCM is a non profit organisation based in
Luxembourg and acting in close collaboration to the European Institutions. Since 1648 to present in every Cultural Capital and in former ones a travelling exhibition "A Journey to the World: Cultural Capitals". The exhibition is inaugurated for the first time in Patras, Greece on the 27th of March 2006.
Individual cities have looked to evaluate their own experience in different ways; it is not easy to track long term evaluations of city experiences in every case. Charles Landry of the UK-based cultural consultancy
Comedia has recently published an interesting evaluation of the
Helsinki Year of Culture in 2000. From 2002-2005, Beatriz Garcia led a research project investigating the long term legacy of Glasgow 1990, based at the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow.
In 1999, the European City of Culture was renamed the
European Capital of Culture, and was financed through the
Culture 2000 programme.
Cork City, in Ireland, was the first city in Europe to hold the prestigious Capital of Culture title. The
European Parliament and Council Decision of
May 25,
1999 integrates this event into the Community framework and introduces a new selection procedure for the Capitals for the 2005–2019 period. This was done to avoid overly fierce competition to win the accolade; each EU member nation will be given the opportunity to "host" the capital in turn. Starting in 2005, two cities will now share this status each year.
In 2004, the European Commission asked Robert Palmer, director of Palmer-Rae Associates, to evaluate the programme of European Capitals of Culture 1994-2004, following an earlier evaluation study examining European Capitals of Culture 1985-1993. The latest study comprehensively deals with cultural, economic, visitor, social and European perspectives of the European Capital of Culture action. It comprises two volumes: one of summary findings, analyses and conclusions; a second of individual case studies. Both volumes can be
freely downloaded.
Based on Palmer's findings, the European Commission has made recommendations for changing the procedures for selecting and monitoring European Capitals of Culture and for placing increased emphasis on the cultural and European components of the action.
It is likely that the Parliament will agree to such changes, and continue the action of European capitals of Culture until at least 2019, with the designation of two European Capitals of Culture each year. Details are provided on the website of the European Commission Education and Culture:
Culture in European Union
On
11 March 2006, the German city of
Essen (representing the
Ruhrgebiet region), the Hungarian city of
Pécs and the Turkish city of
Istanbul were selected as European Capitals of Culture for 2010 by the EU council.
European Cities/Capitals of Culture
Past European Capitals of Culture
- 1985: Athens (Greece)
- 1986: Florence (Italy)
- 1987: Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- 1988: West Berlin (West Germany)
- 1989: Paris (France)
- 1990: Glasgow (United Kingdom)
- 1991: Dublin (Ireland)
- 1992: Madrid (Spain)
- 1993: Antwerp (Belgium)
- 1994: Lisbon (Portugal)
- 1995: Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
- 1996: Copenhagen (Denmark)
- 1997: Thessaloniki (Greece)
- 1998: Stockholm (Sweden)
- 1999: Weimar (Germany)
- 2000: Reykjavík (Iceland), Bergen (Norway), Helsinki (Finland), Brussels (Belgium), Prague (Czech Republic), Krakow (Poland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Avignon (France), Bologna (Italy)
- 2001: Rotterdam (Netherlands), Porto (Portugal)
- 2002: Bruges (Belgium), Salamanca (Spain)
- 2003: Graz (Austria)
- 2004: Genoa (Italy), Lille (France)
- 2005: Cork (Ireland)
- 2006: Patras (Greece)
Current European Capitals of Culture
Future European Capitals of Culture
According to the official EU website[1]
Note: Between 2007 and 2018 multiple cities are named European Capital of Culture. In some future years, cities have not yet been selected, but the country from which that city will be chosen has already been determined (based on a rotation system), as listed below.


Banner promoting Liverpool as European Capital of Culture in 2008
References
- García, B. (2005) “De-constructing the City of Culture: The long term cultural legacies of Glasgow 1990” in: Review Issue of Urban Studies (vol 42, n5/6) (pp. 1-28)
- García, B. (2004) “Cultural Policy in European Cities: Lessons from Experience, Prospects for the Future” in: Special edition on Cultural Policy and Regeneration, Local Economy (vol 19, n4) (pp. 312-326)
- García, B. (2004) “Urban Regeneration, Arts Programming and Major events: Glasgow 1990, Sydney 2000 and Barcelona 2004” in: Gibson, L. & Stevenson, D. (Eds) Special Issue of the International Journal of Cultural Policy: Urban Space and the Uses of Culture (vol 10, n 1) (pp. 103-118)
See also
External links
Current Official Sites
Capital/Cities of Culture Sites
Others
European Capitals of Culture |
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“EU” redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation).
..... Click the link for more information. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance.
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Citizenship of the Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992.
According to Article 17 of the Treaty of Rome (as amended),[1] to hold the "Citizenship of the Union" one must first hold the "nationality of a Member State".
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European Union
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Politics and government of
the European Union
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Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso
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Events
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1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
1982 1983 1984 - 1985 - 1986 1987 1988
Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar).
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Council of the European Union
Established 1952
Presiding Country Portugal
President Luís Amado
President in Office José Sócrates
Members 27 (at one time)
Political parties 7, including:
European People's Party
Party of European Socialists
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Motto
Ελευθερία ή θάνατος
Eleftheria i thanatos
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Melina Mercouri
Birth name Maria Amalia Mercouri
Born September 18 1920(1920--)
Athens, Greece
Died March 6 1994 (aged 75), age 75
New York City, U.S.
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European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. It operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27 "Commissioners", one for each country of the EU, led by a Commission President (currently José
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European Cultural Month is an event created by the European Union to promote culture. It is similar to the European City of Culture, but lasting for a shorter time and intended mainly for the Central and Eastern European countries. It was launched in 1990.
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Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe.
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European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. It operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27 "Commissioners", one for each country of the EU, led by a Commission President (currently José
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Motto
"Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn" (Luxembourgish)
"We want to remain what we are"
Anthem
Ons Hémécht
"Our Homeland"
Royal anthem
De Wilhelmus 1
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For the Spanish literary genre of comedia, see comedia (Spanish play)
Comedia is a comedy film festival taking place in July as part of the larger Just for Laughs comedy festival.
The Comedia festival started in 1996.
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Helsingin kaupunki - Helsingfors stad
Coat of arms
Location of Helsinki in Northern Europe
Coordinates:
Country Finland
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Culture 2000 is a 7-year European Union program, which had among its key objectives preserving and enhancing Europe's cultural heritage. Its duration was between 2000 and 2006, and it had a budget of €236.5 million.
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Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) is the second city of the Republic of Ireland and Ireland's third most populous city after Dublin and Belfast.
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European ParliamentStrasbourg building Brussels building
Established 1952, as the
Common AssemblyPresident Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP)
Since 16 January 2007
Vice-Presidents
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1996 1997 1998 - 1999 - 2000 2001 2002
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EssenView over the center of Essen from the "Tetraeder" landmark in Bottrop. In the background the
Ruhr Heights.
Coat of arms Location..... Click the link for more information. Ruhr Area, also called simply Ruhr, (German Ruhrgebiet, colloquial Ruhrpott, Kohlenpott or Pott) is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, consisting of a number of large formerly industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to
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State Party Hungary
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv
Reference 853
Region Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription 2000 (24th Session)
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State Party Turkey
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv
Reference 356
Region Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription 1985 (9th Session)
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