UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The Bydgoszcz Application to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a natural consequence of the evolution of the approach to culture that has been taking place in our city since the Bydgoszcz Culture Congress and the following events:

• signing the Pact for Culture,
• creating the Civic Culture Development Strategy and the resulting urban strategy.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network program proposes in fact the same operating philosophy that followed Bydgoszcz when adopting Agenda 21 for Culture and creating an application program in the European Capital of Culture competition.

The aim of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network program is to increase public awareness of the importance of culture and its pro-development potential in various areas of social life, including the economy, to foster the emergence of innovative centers of creativity, cultural goods and services, and to increase access to and participation in culture especially for marginalized groups.

By joining the Network, cities reaffirm their commitment to developing partnerships, promoting creativity, sharing best practices and strengthening citizens’ participation in cultural life.

UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network covers seven areas of creativity: literature, music, film, crafts and folk art, design, gastronomy and media art. Currently, the network brings together 246 cities representing various fields of cultural activity.

Six Polish cities belong to the Network. In 2013, the title of the Creative City in the field of literature was awarded to Kraków, in 2015 Katowice (music), and in 2017 Łódź (film), in 2019 Wrocław (literature), and in 2021 Gdynia (film). The youngest, sixth city in the Network is Bydgoszcz, which joined it on October 31, 2023 (music).

UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network program is UNESCO’s partner in implementing the 17 Goals of Agenda 2030 and the New Urban Agenda (2016).