Navigation
- Home
- Institution of European Capitals of Culture
- ECoCs contributions to Europe connected through culture
- Europe under construction
- EU Commission
- Candidate cities
- Imprint
"The decade after" - The Brugge Notes 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The conference ‘The decade after. The long term legacy of European Capitals of Culture’
by Filip Strobbe
About the legacy of European Capitals of Culture
by Nele Hertling
European Capitals of Culture. An exercise in eighteen ways
by Hugo De Greef
The decade after: conclusions of the debate
A message to the conference
by Patrick Moenaert, mayor of Bruges
The legacy of Bruges 2002,
European capital of culture: Brugge Plus NPO
THE CONFERENCE
‘THE DECADE AFTER. THE LONG TERM LEGACY OF EUROPEAN CAPITALS OF CULTURE’
BY FILIP STROBBE Director of Brugge Plus NPO
The project ‘Bruges European Capital of Culture’ had a major influence on the city. The mayor of Bruges, Patrick Moenaert, and Hugo De Greef, former intendant, planned a conference to examine and highlight the effects of this cultural year. Brugge Plus NPO was the ideal partner to
organize this congress. Being the direct successor of the Bruges 2002 organization, it still continues the work of the cultural year.
Naturally the conference took place in the Concertgebouw, which is also a Bruges 2002 legacy. The Concertgebouw management kindly put their rooms at our disposal. The conference was held on May 22 and it welcomed about one hundred participants from Bruges, Flanders
and all parts of Europe. Among the participants, there were former and future Capitals of Culture but also cities and regions who applied for the title.
This conference wanted to reflect on the long term legacy of European Capitals of Culture (ECoC). What are the potential effects of the title on the cultural and social life of a city? What are the best practices from former European Capitals of Culture? What are the new insights and
inspirational visions about the legacy developed in cities that are candidates for the title? What are the different aspects of the sustainability?
The participants were welcomed by Yves Roose, alderman for culture and Hugo De Greef, former intendant of Bruges 2002. Nele Hertling, vicepresident at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and organizer of Berlin ECoC 1988 presented a keynote on the questions concerning the legacy
of European Capitals of Culture. Her text is included in this booklet. This was followed by a presentation of several good practices from the past with specific examples useful as a source of inspiration for future events. The case Copenhagen 1996 was presented by Trevor Davies,
project leader, the case Lille 2004 by Thierry Lesueur, general coordinator Lille 3000 and the case Graz 2003 by Katharina Hofmann-Sewera, personal assistant of the former intendant of Graz. Finally the case Bruges 2002 was presented by Filip Strobbe, director of Brugge Plus.
Roger Tropeano, director of Les Recontres, presented the activities of his organization.
The afternoon was reserved for a dialogue between the European Commission, past and future ECoCs, cultural experts and the public. A lively debate developed with Natalie Dewulf as moderator about the legacy with former and future key players: Ann Branch, European
Commission, Head of Unit Culture Programme and Actions, Directorate-General for Education and Culture, Bart Caron, member of the The Flemish Parliament and former coordinator Brugge 2002, Caroline Kadziola, responsible for communication Mons 2015, Greg Richards,
consultant Tourism Research and Marketing, Barcelona, Hugo De Greef, former intendant Brugge 2002, Odile Wolfs, vice-president of Les Rencontres and representatives of Aarhus, Amsterdam, Antwerpen, Berlin, Bruges, Cluj, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Graz, Istanbul, Kosice, Leeuwarden, Lille, Lublin, Maastricht, Mons, Plzen, San Sebastian, Sofia, Sonderborg, Turku, Umea, Utrecht and Wroclaw.
The conclusions of this debate are included in this booklet. They are preceded by the text ‘European Capitals of Culture. An exercise in eighteen ways’, by Hugo De Greef, in which he gives his vision on the role and organization of Capitals of Culture.
Patrick Moenaert, the mayor of Bruges, presented some closing remarks which are also included in this booklet.
« Unity in Diversity | Rotterdam 2001 »