Page 6 - Re-imagining our Region

4 RE-IMAGINING OUR REGION
q1: Why does your city wish to take part in the competition for the title of European Capital of Culture?
Why we are presenting our bid
Europe is changing. As we emerge from the nancial crisis, historic certainties are being progressively disrupted. The 20th century saw a Europe built through the industrial power and cultural might of major cities – those hubs of trade, knowledge and innovation which attracted talent, generated capital and dominated the discourse of European identity. Yet the 21st century is already proving to be di erent. Digital technology and improved transport connections, coupled with the growing pressures of big city living are opening up the possibility of smaller cities and relatively rural regions as places to achieve a progressive work and life balance. At the same time, smaller cities and their surrounding countryside are nding their cultural voice and seeking themselves to play a leadership role in reshaping Europe at a time when the very values that informed the European Union are being ques- tioned. From embracing new technologies to diversify their economies to welcoming refugees and other new Europeans to build communities of sanctuary, tolerance and hope, it is o en Europe’s smaller cities and notionally ‘peripheral’ re- gions which are demonstrating an enlightened and passion- ate approach.
Waterford for the Three Sisters is a new model for culture-led change in a relatively rural region which is geo- graphically to the edge of Europe today and yet to the heart of the Europe of tomorrow. It is based on a unique partnership between three historically competing counties (Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny) in South East Ireland. Like many other regions across Europe without a dominant urban centre (it is made up of three smaller cities and multiple small towns and villages), the Three Sisters is struggling to nd a voice and to establish a sustainable approach to economic, social and cul- tural development. Our bid o ers a strategic opportunity, to share capacity and resources to build a sustainable European region and enable our smaller cities to forge a new productive culture-led role. By bringing our three local authorities to- gether to explore, plan for and invest in culture-led solutions to place, community, social and economic development, we can together re-imagine the European region.
Our ambition is to be an example to Europe and to inspire other small regions to work together through Culture to transform their future.
Our vision
Three Sisters European Capital of Culture 2020 focuses our collective ambition to deliver innovative and sustainable culture- led regional development, which embraces the cooperative, collaborative and creative potential of our urban and rural areas, enhancing the lives of our citizens, celebrating our shared European heritage, and transforming the potential of our region.
The Three Sisters, European Capital of Culture 2020 will enable us to:
- Pioneer a new model of culture-led regional partnership and investment that connects urban and rural areas, establish shared approaches to development
- Develop a sustainable cultural economy built on collab- oration and co-creation.
- Shape new ways of working which enable culture-led solutions to health and wellbeing issues
- Strengthen our collective sense of place, reanimate citizen engagement and enable new types of cultural activity
- Facilitate a Europe-wide participative agenda which, through culture, critically re-imagines what we mean by ‘growth’, ‘competitiveness’ and ‘productivity’ in regions outside a metropolitan core
- Explore how non-metropolitan regions across Europe can provide sanctuary, opportunity and community for those who have been marginalized, threatened and displaced from their homelands.
We Need it
We Want It We Can Deliver It