European cultural cities came together under the leadership of Espoo

The meeting reflected on how culture departments in cities can contribute to rebuild and restore a hardly hit cultural sector after the pandemic. Artists, entrepreneurs and cultural actors have lost job opportunities and the economic growth of cities has declined. At the same time, artists and culture have brought comfort and wellbeing to many during these difficult times.

“The role of cities in rebuilding Europe is crucial. Now more than ever, European cities need to come together to find future creative solutions”, said Espoo city council member and chair of Eurocities Culture Forum, Jaana Jalonen, when opening the forum on the 8th of October.

Cultural experts and professionals emphasized the role of culture in cities when rebuilding Europe. “Cultural interventions lower social exclusion, unemployment, digital divide and contribute to re-skilling” highlighted keynote speaker Franco Bianchini, independent researcher and part-time Associate Director of the Centre for Cultural Value based at the University of Leeds, UK.

Cities shared best practices on how the cultural field has answered to the challenges caused by the pandemic. Local and regional task forces for culture, research initiatives and new scholarship programs have been set up. Espoo has, for instance, developed new services for entrepreneurs.

Espoo looking forward to future European collaboration

Eurocities is a key network for cities in Europe. Eurocities facilitates dialogue and exchange of practices between cities, and voices the needs of cities towards the European Union. Espoo has been an active member of the network for almost 15 years.

The meeting was the last one chaired by Espoo. The city of Dresden was elected to continue as chair and the city of Ljubljana as vice chair 2021–2022. “During our time as chair, the culture forum has succeeded in reinforcing the role of culture in the new strategic framework of Eurocities. We have learned and shared best practices, and underlined the role of culture in sustainable development. We have also renewed the working methods of the forum to make it even more inclusive.” Susanna Tommila reflects about the outcomes of the chairmanship.

“We look forward to continuing as a member in the network under the leadership of Dresden. The expertise and commitment in the culture forum is impressive. This kind of exchange and collaboration is exactly what cities need in these challenging times”, Jaana Jalonen rounded off in her last speech to the culture forum members.