A global network of creative cities supported by UNESCO has met in the Japanese city of Kanazawa to agree a platform of actions aimed at furthering knowledge exchange for urban cultural development.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (CCN), which was set up in 2004 to promote creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable development, has six Japanese cities among its 69 members across 32 countries and met in Japan for the first time at its two-day annual meeting. The network covers seven creative fields among its member cities: Literature, Film, Music, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Media Arts and Gastronomy.
Among the discussions held in Kanazawa, which has a population of 460,000 and was designated UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art in 2009, were the network’s strategic priorities and initiatives and future enlargement, but also the need to protect the unique cultures of member cities through deepening exchanges and sharing knowledge, particularly beyond its core areas of arts and food.
The capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, Kanazawa is renown across Japan for its deep tradition of local crafts and artisanship, particularly its highly sought gold leaf, which is used to decorate local products and even food. This March the city’s new shinkansen (high speed train) connection opened, shortening journey times to and from Tokyo by one hour to 2 hours 28 minutes.
Across 2015/16 one of JLGC’s research priorities will be local crafts promotion in Europe, led by our Assistant Director from Ishikawa Prefecture, Shinichiro Minato. Among the participants of the Kanazawa meeting was the English city of Bradford, which was designated the first UNESCO City of Film in 2009 and is working with the Japanese city of Yamagata on its aspiration to become a City of Film. It was also announced that the 2016 Creative Cities Network Annual Meeting will be held in the Swedish city of Östersund.
