
Online newspaper based in Matera
EcocNews is registered at the Court of Matera in the press register n. 2/2021
Editor in chief: Mariateresa Cascino. Founder and editorial director: Serafino Paternoster
via San Francesco, 1 - 75100 Matera (Italy)
There will be three European capitals of culture in 2030. One will be designated by Cyprus, the other by Belgium, and the third will be chosen between Nikšić (Montenegro) and Lviv (Ukraine). On the short list are three cities for Belgium: Leuven, Molenbeek, and Namur. Larnaka and Lemesos have been shortlisted for the title of European Capital of Culture 2030 in Cyprus.
On the eve of the new programming of the European Capitals of Culture, the debate to improve this programme continues. EcocNews was perhaps the first public space to question the future of the European Capitals of Culture by interviewing cultural managers from all over Europe since 2022, just after the pandemic. And the interviews will continue in the coming months.
We, cultural and media players who benefit from EU funds ask the European Commission and its Creative Europe funding programme, to take the threats caused by the growing power of digital capitalism represented by tech giants into consideration and to take a leading role in tackling them. EcocNews, as an international news and media outlet dealing with culture and Europe, supports and endorses the open letter “Rethinking Digital Practices and Spaces”.
From 5 to 10 May 2025, Materahub kicks off the Europe Week, a series of of cultural and educational events designed to honour the founding values of the European Union. The symbolic heart of the initiative will be Europe Day on 9 May, which this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the historic proposal presented in 1950 by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman that laid the foundations of European cooperation.
What will happen after 2033, the year in which the current programming cycle for the European Capitals of Culture ends? Under what rules will cities be selected? What criteria will be used?
There will be three European capitals of culture in 2030. One will be designated by Cyprus, the other by Belgium, and the third will be chosen between Nikšić (Montenegro) and Lviv (Ukraine). For all three countries we have entered the shortlist phase and therefore the cities have been working around their cultural projects for some time.
The selection process is under way to award the title of European Capital of Culture for 2030. The countries to nominate the city are Cyprus, Belgium and one of the candidate countries to join the European Union (EFTA/EEA area).
Today, the journalist Michele Serra, in one of Italy's leading newspapers “La Repubblica”, highlighted the urgency of upholding the values of Europe inviting citizens to take the streets for Europe (A”piazza” for Europe was the title of the article).
In Italy, engines are revving up to join the race and gain the title of European Capital of Culture in 2033. To this day, the cities that have decided to enter the competition can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet the deadline is quite close. It is true that the Ministry of Culture's call for entries has not yet been published, but it will most likely be published in a year's time.
The word culture has many meanings. One of the many is undoubtedly that of helping humanity protect itself from the upheavals of nature caused by human activity. Climate change is increasingly visible to everyone and all of humanity is dramatically experiencing what it means not to take care of the environment.
In 2031, Malta and Spain will be the countries designating the European Capitals of Culture. For Spain, there are already several candidate cities such as Jerez.
Coinciding with the announcement by the Minister of Culture of Spain about the begining of the process of selection for the European Capital of Culture in 2031, a new application named #BurgosisCulture2031 was launched on Friday 10th January.
Launching the month of Liepāja’s 400th anniversary celebration, the Liepāja Holy Trinity Cathedral on Saturday, 1 March 2025, at 17:00 will host a sacred music concert, “Caur gaismu nāk un sudrabs top” (Through Light Cometh Silver Shine).
After Novi Sad, Serbia, (2022), Bodo, Norway (2024), and Skopje, North Macedonia (2028) in 2030, along with Belgium and Cyprus, it will be Montenegro or Ukraine that will name the fourth European capital chosen in the EFTA/EEA area, candidate country or potential candidate country as stipulated in the regulation of the second programming cycle 2020 / 2033 of the EU programme.
The national meeting “Legacy is Capital: the volunteering legacy on big events”, promoted by CSVnet,held in Trento on 15th November 2024, saw the participation of various national volunteering organizations, as well as the “Open Culture 2019 Volunteers” association, established at the time of the nomination of Matera as a European Capital of Culture.
In the last days, Bielsko-Biała, Poland, became an international hub for discussions on the role of culture in addressing modern health challenges. The “Culture for Health and Well-being” conference brought together over 200 participants and 23 speakers from 18 countries to explore how cultural participation and artistic activities can impact mental health, support individuals in crisis, and shape modern public health approaches.
On 6th December will be an important day for the two Swedish cities seeking to earn a title of European Capital of Culture for 2029. Poland has already chosen and in 2029 Lublin will be the European Capital of Culture.
In the last days, the European Capitals and Regions of Europe of 2024 officially handed over their titles to the European Capitals of Culture of 2025. Bad Ischl Salzkammergut (Austria), Bodø (Norway) and Tartu (Estonia) passed on the title to the ECoCs of 2025 Chemnitz (Germany) and Nova Gorica/Goricia on the Slovenian-Italian border.