Pamplona will once again submit its candidacy for the Creative Cities Program -

Pamplona City Council

Pamplona will once again submit its candidacy to the Creative Cities programme, a seal of quality with which UNESCO certifies its commitment to cooperation and the development of culture. Spain can only submit two nominations to UNESCO in two different categories and the National Committee has selected Manises (handcrafts and folk arts) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (music) from among the 7 nominations it received.

The selection was based on the deliberations of a working group composed of members from the Ministry of Culture and Sports and representatives of the Spanish National Committee for Cooperation with UNESCO. Among the criteria taken into account are, for example, the suitability of the nomination to UNESCO standards and recommendations, including the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the sustainability and impact of the potential designation as a Creative City; The existence of different autonomous communities and the representation of Spain in various categories.

Among the cities presented in this call, in the case of Pamplona, which achieved the goals of the 2030 Agenda and presented a plan of cooperation with Uganda among its projects, the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was selected, which included several examples of cooperation with Africa, one of the regions where Its geographical presence on the network with the Arab world will be strengthened. In addition, this city gives the presence of a region that, within the isolated regions, does not currently have a representative among the creative cities. In the case of the other selected city, Manises, the committee confirmed that it had submitted a nomination from a creative field (crafts and folklore) in which there was no representative of Spain and its submission was strategic.

For the nomination, the Pamplona City Council worked on the “Map of Creativity and Music for the City of Pamplona”, on which resources, history, traditions, infrastructures or public and private initiatives are used in culture, and more specifically, in the field of music. The council also held several workshops with various cultural, social and economic agents of the city regarding music which laid the foundations for new channels of dissemination and collaboration.

The concept of “creative cities” is based on the belief that culture and knowledge can play an important role in sustainable urban and economic development, in transmitting cultural identity and promoting diversity. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) Network was born in 2004 to promote international cooperation between cities that identify creativity as a strategic factor in their sustainable development. Currently, 246 cities are part of the network.