UCLG Awards honour cities of Lyon and Seongbuk

At an awards ceremony in Mexico City in October, cities in France and Korea were honoured with the International Award 'UCLG – MEXICO CITY – Culture 21'. In France LYON was recognised for “The Sustainable City of Lyon: the Charter of Cultural Cooperation” and SEONGBUK in Korea for “Common Seongbuk Artist Roundtable: Local Culture Governance”. Each candidature will receive EUR 25,000.

The objective of the International Award 'UCLG – MEXICO CITY – Culture 21' is to recognise leading cities and individuals that have distinguished themselves through their contribution to culture as a key dimension in sustainable cities.

The International Award 'UCLG – MEXICO CITY – Culture 21' has two categories: the City / Local or Regional Government Award, which recognises a city, local or regional government the cultural policy of which has contributed significantly to linking the values of culture (heritage, diversity, creativity and transmission of knowledge) with democratic governance, citizen participation and sustainable development, and the Individual Award, which recognises an internationally renowned individual who has made a fundamental contribution to the relationship between culture and sustainable development.

LYON

The Charter of Cultural Cooperation has been implemented for over 15 years in Lyon, involving 27 municipal services, cultural projects and events, including those that receive the most funding from the city, which altogether carry out over 300 projects, actions and services adapted to the challenges of policies that connect culture and sustainable development across the city. Now in its fourth edition, Lyon’s Charter of Cultural Cooperation now extends throughout the entire metropolis of Lyon, including 24 municipalities.

The programme has become a powerful tool for cultural policy. The Charter promotes the convergence of cultural policies, in specific commitments, with each of the transversal local policies that contribute to ‘making’ a sustainable city: urban balance and solidarity, citizen participation, policies for equality and non-discrimination, memories and diversities, education and knowledge exchange, energy efficiency, environmental responsibility and social innovation.

Furthermore, the programme involves a continuous process of shared reflection, information exchange, capacity-building, project design and evaluation with all stakeholders involved, at different territorial levels and on a range of regularly-evolving themes.

SEONGBUK

The programme “Common Seongbuk Artist Roundtable: Local Culture Governance” began in 2014 in Seongbuk, a district of Seoul, and has become the most important community initiative in this area, involving over 300 people working together on the basis of cultural governance.

The Artist Roundtable defines itself as a network that works together for the coexistence and cooperation of the local culture. One of its objectives is the cooperative work with those responsible for the cultural policy of the city, through the Seongbuk Cultural Foundation and with the other public institutions with responsibility in the city.

The Artist Roundtable operates on the values and principles of ‘autonomous activity’ (autonomy), ‘cultural democracy’ (democracy), ‘friendship and cooperation’ (solidarity) and ‘respecting cultural differences’ (diversity). Furthermore, the initiative organises local festivals, manages cultural venues and contributes to supporting the artistic and cultural community in the area.

Six cities around the world also received special mentions, including Dublin (Ireland), Saha-gu (Korea) and Novosibirsk (Russian Federation).

Individual Awards went to Basma El Husseiny and Patrice Meyer-Bisch.

Read full notice on UCLG