The general objectives of the European Capitals of Culture are to safeguard and promote the diversity of cultures in Europe and the common features they share, while strengthening the sense of ...belonging to a common cultural space. The growing appeal of the title of European Capital of Culture, especially after the success of Lille (2004) and Marseille (2013), both in France, has led to numerous bids in the country, despite the high cost of preparation and implementation. Amiens, Bastia, Bourges, Clermont-Ferrand, Lens-Lievin, Nice, Reims, Roubaix, Rouen and Saint-Denis have already announced their candidacy to the title of European Capital of Culture in 2028, often in connection with their region. The article analyses the cultural and development projects of these cities and territories according to the criteria of European values and identities.
The article deals with the concept of future-making and its European (i.e., EU) dimension in the context of European Capital of Culture projects. The analysis is based on two case studies – Rijeka ...2020 and Nova Gorica 2025. The authors focus on ECoC bid books and other strategic documents that give insight into the desired legacy of the event and the (re) positioning of each city on the cultural and political map of Europe through the transposition of relevant European topics into local contexts. They examine the visions of the anticipated urban development that is hoped to occur as a direct consequence of the project’s implementation.
Članak se bavi konceptom stvaranja budućnosti i njezinom europskom, odnosno EU dimenzijom u kontekstu inicijative Europske prijestolnice kulture. Istraživanje se temelji na dvije studije slučaja – Rijeka 2020. i Nova Gorica 2025. Autori se fokusiraju na knjige prijave EPK projekata i druge relevantne strateške dokumente koji daju uvid u željeno nasljeđe događaja i u (re)pozicioniranje gradova na kulturnoj i političkoj karti Europe prevođenjem aktualnih europskih tema u lokalne kontekste. Pritom analiziraju vizije urbanog razvoja za koji se očekuje da će se dogoditi kao izravna posljedica provedbe projekta.
The European Capital of Culture (ECoC) highlights the importance of promoting social inclusion and equal participation opportunities for a wide range of citizens, with special attention paid to young ...people, as well as marginalised and disadvantaged groups. In light of the looming risk of global youth disillusionment, such goals appear increasingly important. Enhancing participation and a sense of belonging among young people is a centrally important goal for the ECoC project of the city of Oulu and its wider region (Oulu2026), which aims to tackle existing issues related to, for example, youth unemployment, mental health issues, and negative net migration among young adults. This mixed methods study adopts an intersectional lens to examine young adults’ cultural participation and experiences of disillusionment in the Oulu2026 region, as well as related strategies presented in the bid book of Oulu2026. Special attention is paid to questions of marginalisation and disadvantage. The research data consists of a survey among young adults in the region, document analysis of the bid book, and review of the ECoC criteria and guidelines. Supported by existing research and academic discussion on cultural participation, cultural citizenship, and intersectionality, the paper concludes that the bidding phase strategies of Oulu2026 fail to recognise the diverse participatory needs of those young adults who experience marginalisation and/or disadvantage, especially when such experience is based on multiple categories of difference. Based on the findings, I suggest that cultivating a profound understanding of the issues limiting full cultural citizenship among young adults in the region and adopting an intersectionally aware approach would help Oulu2026 to better respond to the participatory needs of young people from diverse groups and backgrounds. Moreover, I propose that the official ECoC guidelines and criteria, as well as contemporary cultural citizenship debates would benefit from the integration of an intersectional dimension.
This article is part of a three-year research project on volunteerism and the value for organisations employing volunteers, volunteers themselves and finally the tourists who meet the volunteers in ...various settings. Employing a mixed methods approach, we conducted a mutual research collaboration between the Danish Destination Management Office (DMO) VisitAarhus and Dania Academy within the Frascati research frame. The focus of this article is on the leaders of the volunteers and how they facilitate the conditions that enable volunteers to create the aforementioned value. This was done through in-depth semi-structured interviews with volunteer leaders from across Europe. We focus specifically on how leaders perceive the volunteers, how they assess the value that the volunteers create and, finally on what motivates the volunteers. The result of this article is a conceptual model that creates insights into the elements that help foster an identity among the volunteers and thereby increases the value that they produce.
This study analyses the extent to which the exposure to cultural events of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016 resulted in more inclusive participation in culture. Drawing from the data from ...a representative survey of city and region inhabitants (N = 1000) , we examine the impact of the pre-existing habits of cultural participation on engagement in events offered during ECOC 2016. Relationships between the cultural habits of participants, their socio-demographic characteristics, and attendance at ECOC events divided into four categories (mass, ludic, artistic, niche) are analysed. The study indicates the role of the cultural habits preceding participation in ECOC as a determinant of involvement in cultural events. We found that people oriented towards cultural participation were more likely to attend diverse ECOC events. For people culturally oriented to leisure at home, a massive and diverse cultural offer was not enough to expand their interest beyond mass and ludic events. We conclude that - contrary to ECOC values emphasising egalitarianism and open access to culture and contrary to cultural policy goals aimed at broadening cultural participation - ECOC 2016 was a selective event, which can be considered more broadly as a foreseeable failure in achieving the cultural policy aims underlying ECOCs.
Nowadays, the research focus is mainly on how tourists perceive the destination image, while the local community, as a very important key actor, is very often neglected in the studies. In light of ...the fact that Novi Sad has been declared the European Capital of Culture 2021, great attention has been placed on the local community and its perception of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) influence on all aspects of the city's life, including city image. In this regard, during April and May 2018, a survey of residents of Novi Sad was conducted to explore their perception of the city's image - cognitive, affective, and overall. Moreover, the paper is focused on identifying the differences in the image perception on the basis of the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics. In this study, which is the beginning of a longitudinal study aiming to follow the influence of the ECoC project on the city image, a total of 797 respondents participated. The results of the research on the cognitive image indicate that the local community mostly agrees with the claims that Novi Sad is a pleasant place to live in, that it has a good gastronomic offer, is an attractive place for education, and that people are kind and hospitable. On the other hand, the smallest degree of agreement is observed with claims which refer to the living standard in the city. When it comes to tourism and culture, significant differences are observed between individual attributes. Also, research on the affective image shows that the city is perceived as relaxing, pleasant, exciting, and lively. The paper also shows that residents sociodemographic characteristics (age, education, monthly income, employment status) influence the image perception.
The paper deals with the impacts of hosting the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) by the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv in 2019 through the lens of the local community. Based on a survey conducted in ...2021 with 444 residents, the perceived effects of the initiative were discussed in four domains: (1) Cultural, (2) Economic, (3) Social, and (4) Urban environment and atmosphere. Descriptive statistics techniques and analysis of variance were applied to interpret the data and outline the differences in the perceptions affected by respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics. The findings indicate that in general, the ECOC impacts are perceived rather positively, although the locals are hesitant if benefits outweigh the costs incurred. None of the impacts is perceived as high by the survey participants, with mean values of agreement hardly reaching four on a 5-grade scale. The most recognized positive effects refer to the city’s cultural life and the opportunities for local artists to perform; next come benefits for tourism development and promotion along with improvements in urban environment and infrastructure resulting from the ECOC implementation. Less clearly perceived are negative effects such as the price rise and the preference given to tourists over the locals. Significant differences in perceptions are determined by respondents’ education, personal involvement in the ECOC organization, age, gender, and sphere of professional activity. However, such differences are found in roughly half of all 22 statements under study, meaning that certain perceptions depend on the socio-demographic profile while others do not.
European Capitals of Culture (ECoC) is an initiative that promotes European cultural diversity with the aim of economic, cultural, and social revitalization. Measuring complex impacts is a constant ...challenge for both practitioners and academia. Thus, the paper presents a comprehensive impact assessment framework (iECoC) quantified through an integral aggregation operator based on a novel use of fuzzy measure (Choquet integral). The iECoC results in a single number, but has an inherent value of reviling its segmented structure, which separately depicts the impact on three segments: culture, economy, and community, thus providing insights into trends for sectoral decision-making. The impact is measured in three years span on the example of Novi Sad—European Capital of Culture 2022.
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