The city of Skopje has made a decision to bid for the prestigious title European Capital of Culture for 2028
WHAT IS EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE (ECoC)?
The European Capital of Culture (EcoC) is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organizes a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension. The European Capital of Culture intends to bring Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values. The purpose of the title “European Capital of Culture” is to emphasize the diversity of European culture and to draw attention to Europe's different communities with focus simultaneously on our cultural differences and similarities.
The European Capital of Culture programme was initially called the European City of Culture and was conceived in 1983, by Melina Mercouri, then serving as minister of culture in Greece. Mercouri believed that at the time, culture was not given the same attention as politics and economics and a project for promoting European cultures within the member states should be pursued.
ECoC project provides financing for the cultural development of the city that is awarded the title from European public, national, regional and local funds. It is strongly believed that the ECoC significantly maximizes social and economic benefits, especially when the events are embedded as a part of a long–term culture-based development strategy of the city and the surrounding region.
The mission of the Skopje2028 project is to promote public awareness of this concept throughout European concept.
By our example, we would like to show other European cities what can be done by using a mighty unifying force of arts and culture to overcome any division.
The ECOC 2028 bid process gave us a new perspective: culture to be in a focus of the strategies development of the cities. The ECOC 2028 title candidacy enabled us to gain a bigger perspective on arts and culture and for the first time is included in the Skopje strategy of the culture. Long - term planning is the first positive effect of our ECOC 2028 candidacy.
