Jinju City Strengthens Its Status as a Cultural City Through Exchanges With Creative Cities Worldwide

Presentation of Outstanding Cultural Policy Cases
at the UNESCO Creative Cities Annual Meeting in France

Jinju City in South Gyeongsang Province announced on June 25 that it participated in the 17th UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) Annual Meeting, which was held in Enghien-les-Bains, France, a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts.

This year's annual meeting was held under the theme "Culture and Artificial Intelligence: Designing the Future of UNESCO Creative Cities." The event brought together delegations from UNESCO Creative Cities around the world and included an opening ceremony, thematic sessions, a mayors' forum, and intercity exchange events.

During the mayors' forum session held on June 23, Jinju Mayor Jo Kyu-il delivered a presentation in English on the topic of "Jinju City's Efforts to Implement the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration and the Braga Declaration in Cultural Policy." He introduced a range of policies and initiatives that Jinju has undertaken as a UNESCO Creative City.

Photo of Jinju City presenting an excellent cultural policy case at the 17th UNESCO Creative Cities Annual Meeting.

The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration defines culture as a common public good for humanity and presents key agendas such as arts and culture education, cultural diversity, the cultural economy, and digital transformation. Jinju City is actively implementing policies at the local level to align with these international discussions.

The Braga Declaration was adopted at the 16th UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Meeting held in Braga, Portugal, in July last year. It is a joint vision by mayors of creative cities to integrate culture as an independent goal in the international development agenda after 2030, and Jinju City actively participated in this initiative.

In his presentation, Mayor Jo emphasized, "Culture is a public good enjoyed by all humanity, and enhancing cultural rights through arts and culture education and the creation of a local cultural ecosystem is a core goal for Jinju City."

In particular, Jinju City shared its concrete efforts for global cultural exchange and arts education by introducing various programs, including traditional woodworking training, the Traditional Crafts Biennale, the World Folk Arts Biennale, the Artist-in-Residence program, support for convergence art creation projects, the International Youth Creativity Development Camp, and the organization of international academic forums and the publication of international journals.

The presentation received great interest and positive feedback from mayors of other creative cities, as it was highlighted as a major implementation case of both the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration and the Braga Declaration promoted by UNESCO. In particular, Ekaterina Travkina, the moderator of the mayors' forum, remarked that she was especially impressed by Jinju's practical initiatives, such as the training of traditional woodworking professionals.

Mayor Jo Kyu-il stated, "This annual meeting was a meaningful opportunity to further strengthen our cooperative relationship with the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and to showcase Jinju City's outstanding cultural policies to the international community. We will continue to do our best to realize diverse international exchanges and policies so that culture can become a key driver of urban development."

During the meeting, Mayor Essam bin Abdullatif Al-Mulla of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, the vice-chair city in the field of Crafts and Folk Arts, and Mayor Philippe Sueur of Enghien-les-Bains, France, the host city, had time to communicate with Jinju City. They discussed ways to maintain friendly relations and explore cooperation in various fields such as culture, arts, and tourism, thereby further strengthening the international network.

Meanwhile, since being designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2019, Jinju City has played a central role in the global Creative Cities Network as the chair city in the field of Crafts and Folk Arts since 2024.