MÉRIDA (Times Media Mexico) -World Cities Day is celebrated today, 31st October, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) appointed 66 new cities yesterday, including Mérida and Querétaro, to form part of its Creative Cities Network, bringing the total number of participating cities to 246.
According to a statement published by the international organization on its website, this network brings together cities that base their development on creativity, whether through music, crafts and popular arts, design, film, literature, digital arts or gastronomy.
(Photo: venturists.net)
The capital of Yucatan was placed in the category of Gastronomy, while Querétaro, in the category of Design. Thus, Mexico has a total of 8 capitals in this UNESCO Network: Ensenada (Gastronomy), San Cristóbal de Las Casas (handcrafts), Puebla and Mexico City (Design), Morelia (Music) and Guadalajara (Digital Arts).
UNESCO’s Creative Cities are committed to placing culture at the heart of their development strategy and sharing their best practices.
“All over the world, these cities, each in there own way, are making culture not an accessory, but a pillar of innovation. It is a test of political and social innovation and a powerful signal to younger generations,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
On October 31st, UNESCO celebrates World Cities Day, with elected representatives from 24 cities around the world. With the object of mobilizing its diverse networks of cities, including, an addition to culture, social inclusion, civic education, promotion, economics and employment, climate change prevention and resilience.
These “urban dialogues” will portray unique cities, focusing on innovation and collective intelligence to imagine the future.
In addition, a collaboration agreement between UNESCO and the Netexplo (Global observatory on digital innovation and trends) will showcase the latest technological innovations at the service of citizens to transform their cities in a sustainable manner.
With the support of a network of some twenty universities, ten cities will be selected that use digital technologies for their socio-economic and environmental development, according to the UNESCO bulletin.
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