Ecoc Echo: Nine countries combine forces for sustainable culture!

Ecoc Echo: Nine countries combine forces for sustainable culture!

Today is an exciting day for the cultural scenes in Europe. Nine European countries have launched the Ecoc Echo initiative. The aim of this initiative is to strengthen the long -term effects of the European Cultural Cities (ECOC) on regional development, even beyond the actual title year. chemnitz.de reports that…!

The Ecoc Echo initiative brings together cities that already carry or carry the Ecoc label. Chemnitz, which profiled itself as a cultural capital in 2025, forms the heart. Cities like Leeuwarden, Novi Sad and Veszprém are also part of the project that not only aims at the exchange of experiences, but also to create a sustainable network.

a strong network

The project is supported by a budget of around 2.27 million euros, divided between the nine countries and twelve partner organizations. It provides for the inclusion of local actors who play a key role in cultural policy. The representative of Tartu 2024, Sille Talvet-Unt, emphasizes how important the development of sustainable strategies that extend beyond the year of the cultural capital is

With the development of strategies, the initiators want to ensure that the cultural heritage generated in the title year is embedded in the local structures. This not only promotes regional growth, but also the formation of new cooperation systems.

The advantages of the ECOC program

The ECOC program was launched in 1985 and has honored more than 60 cities in the EU and beyond since then. The advantages of this program are diverse. Cities benefit from increased visibility, an improved city timing and a revitalization of local culture. culture.ec.europa.eu describes that… the cultural diversity and wealth of European cultures.

the top priority has the promotion of the common cultural heritage, which also strengthens the feeling of belonging to European citizens. For example, two cities are planned for 2025 as European cultural capitals, an exciting event that requires a lot of planning and preparation.

sustainability in focus

Long -term effects are known to be difficult to quantify, but there is a clear trend towards sustainable legacy planning. This means that cities are increasingly emphasizing the long -term consequences of cultural measures. [Europarl.europa.eu shows that ...] (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/document/ipol-cult_et (2013) 513985) also have to play an innovative approaches to measuring the sustainability success.

For the future, it is crucial that cities - even after the celebrations of a cultural capital - actively maintain and promote their networks. A uniform assessment framework and increased cooperation between the cultural capitals can help to exploit the full potential of the program.

The results of this initiative are to be presented in Bourges in 2028, at the same time when the nearest cultural capital is opened. Let's be excited to see which creative solutions will be developed in the coming years!