The two current European Capitals of Culture 2025 Chemnitz and Nova Gorica/Gorizia are hosting the conference to present the white paper “40 recommendations from 40 years of ECoC*: Insights for the European Capitals of Culture from 2034”. It is intended to form the basis for a new legal foundation for the European Capitals of Culture. This conference marks the start of a process designed to ensure the continued existence and further development of Europe's largest cultural project, which was initiated exactly 40 years ago.

The results of the meeting will be presented at a press conference on Friday, April 4, 12:30 p.m., in the Carlowitz Hall of the Carlowitz Congress Center Chemnitz. 

The meeting will begin on Thursday, April 3, at 7 p.m. with a reception hosted by Sven Schulze Lord Mayor of Chemnitz at Hartmannfabrik, the Chemnitz 2025 visitor center.
On Friday, April 4, panels and working groups will take place at the Carlowitz Congress Center from 9 am. 

The detailed conference programme can be found here.

EcocNews will be there.

BACKGROUND
The conference marks the start of a process designed to ensure the continued existence and further development of Europe's largest cultural project. In a joint research project, Chemnitz and Nova Gorica have carried out an extensive study among the management and artistic directors of former and future European Capitals of Culture. Under the direction of Italian researcher Valentina Montalto from the KEDGE Business School in Paris, an Italian-Slovenian team interviewed 64 of the 82 cities that have held or will hold the title of European Capital of Culture about their experiences and perspectives.

The findings are summarised in 40 theses in the "Chemnitz White Paper" guide and will be incorporated into the revision of the European directive on the scope of the European Capitals of Culture. The aim is to strengthen the European dimension, simplify the selection and monitoring process and ensure long-term implementation. In addition, the Melina Mercouri Prize is to be revised in order to facilitate early funding.

The dialogue between the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament will begin in autumn 2025. The revised directive is to be adopted by 2027 and apply to cities that will hold the title from 2034.

40 years of European Capital of Culture
In 2025, the European Capital of Culture project, an initiative of the European Union, will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Since 1985, cities have been selected to build bridges between countries through art and culture and to strengthen the diversity of European cultures. The programme was launched by the then Ministers of Culture Melina Mercouri (Greece) and Jack Lang (France).