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ECCM Network
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ECCM: The Network of European Cultural Capitals and Months |
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The Network of European Cultural Capitals and Months (ECCM) is regrouping representatives of the past and future Cultural Capitals and Months of Europe and contributes for more than ten years now in the monitoring, coordinating and evaluating efforts of this most important European project in the cultural field. |
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It was founded in 1992 by the organizers of the 10 first Cultural Capitals as a non-profit organisation. Its official seat is the Ministry of Culture, Research and Higher Education of Luxembourg. Its General Assembly meets in the successive Cultural Capitals at least once a year, while its Executive Committee is ensuring the coordination on a permanent basis. |
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Since the idea of European Cultural Capitals has been adopted also outside the borders of the European Union (Russia, Arab Countries, Canada, Latin America etc.), the Network adapted its rules to regroup also representatives from these new Cultural Capitals Organizations or Networks, as well as delegations from the Ministries of the new Member-States of the European Union charged with the designation of Cultural Capitals from 2009 to 2019 and also candidate cities competing for the title under the new EU-regulation ,as well as several researchers and students working on the Cultural Capitals' concept in the higher education all over the world, who are also consulting the Network's experience. |
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Cultural Capitals are now organised, also on the basis of a common cultural heritage as the language, in the case of the Capitals of Catalan Culture. These initiatives are also represented in ECCM. The ECCM-Network is a continuous know-how transfer by the organizers of Cultural Capitals to the new designated or candidate cities. It is also a hub of new ideas [and a continuous brain-storming] on how to improve the institution and the intercultural dialogue as a policy tool for peace and equitable international cooperation. |
http://www.eccm-cultural-capitals.org/Description.html
Spyros Mercouris, honorary president of the ECCM Network (until it folded in 2010- see post-script), would recall that after Melina Mercouri had initiated the institution of European Capitals of Culture and after having observed a few years of functioning, it became clear it is not merely important what one city does during that one year, but what the Cultural Capitals altogether manage to contribute to Europe. Consequently the necessity was felt to create a network to bring together these various experiences and to pass them on to newly designated cities. It brought together innovative personalities and cultural cities. In so doing the ECCM Network wished to contribute towards a deeper understanding of Europe's cultural diversity and thereby how to promote Europe's unification through culture.
Key principles of the ECCM Network were
- to link former, current and future European Capitals of Culture
- to work together more informally than formally in order to facilitate the flow of ideas between different European Capitals of Culture
- to safeguard the legacy of Melina Mercouri and the initial idea behind the founding of the institution of European Capitals of Culture
The ECCM Network undertook many initiatives to put these principles into practice. To this belong the First and Second Symposiums held in Athens in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
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