Jinju City Hosts the 8th UNESCO Creative Cities International Academic Conference

'Building and Revitalizing the Cultural Ecosystem' Topic

Jinju City in Gyeongnam recently held the 8th UNESCO Creative Cities International Academic Forum at the City Hall Citizen Hall, the city announced on the 13th.

The forum was conducted in a hybrid format, connecting on-site presenters with overseas participants via video conference, and was attended by over 150 people including domestic and international experts, creative city officials, cultural and artistic organizations, and general citizens.

Since its inception in 2017, the annual international academic forum has played a role in establishing the theoretical foundation for Jinju’s designation as a Creative City in October 2019. This year, under the theme of “Establishment and Revitalization of the Cultural Ecosystem in Jinju,” domestic and international experts presented in two sessions.

Jinju City is hosting the 8th UNESCO Creative Cities International Academic Conference.

The first session began with a keynote speech by Professor Nam Ki-beom of the University of Seoul, followed by presentations from Marka Joseph (Spain), an expert from the Culture Committee of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), on “Culturally Vibrant, Equitable, and Sustainable Cities,” and Jang Sang-hoon, Director of the National Jinju Museum, on “The Role of Regional Museums.”

In the second session, Rosella Tarantino (Italy), a member of the European Capital of Culture Committee and economist, and Silvia Aman (Austria), a cultural expert from the EU’s urban development program, shared European case studies on revitalizing cultural ecosystems.

Subsequently, experts from Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries participated in a lively discussion exchanging questions and opinions.

During the forum, experts expressed opinions on the need for scalability beyond local boundaries, the discovery of young cultural and artistic talents, and the necessity of cultural policies that organically link culture, society, economy, and environment to establish and revitalize cultural ecosystems.

In particular, as a special event, Jinju City successfully carried out the UCLG pilot city project over the past three years and was approved as a UCLG Leading City this year, marking the opening of the UCLG Leading City. This approval is the second in Korea, following Jeju City.

As a result, Jinju City will introduce cultural policies to enhance citizens’ cultural rights by 2025, build various collaborations with cities worldwide, and participate in international events.

Mayor Jo Gyu-il said, “Through this international academic forum, we hope to promote the establishment and revitalization of the cultural ecosystem, expand creative industries, and lead to the development of the cultural industry,” adding, “As a UCLG Leading City, we expect this to enhance our international status and improve citizens’ cultural rights.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.