- Culture and creativity project to strengthen cooperation
The cities of Kütahya and Pécs, which signed a sister city protocol in 1975, have maintained this sister city relationship for 45 years. This relationship, which has been continuing for 45 years without losing all its cordialness and sincerity, has remained only at the level of managers since it is not supported by an institutionalized program. For this reason, the desired ownership has not been created in the public eye.
In town twinning activities, one of the parties is usually the buyer who benefits from the other's experience. The example of Kütahya and Pécs, where both cities are on an equal scale, can offer an unusual program of sister cities, where both parties convey knowledge and experience to the other.
Pécs was selected as the European Capital of Culture in 2010 with the motto “The Borderless City”.In 2017, Kütahya was the first city from Turkey adopted by UNESCO as Creative and Cultural Cities Network of Craft and Folk Art. In other words, both cities are cultural cities and this project will enable the preparation of a culture-based town twinning program.
The history of both Kütahya and Pécs cities is older than the history of their countries and has a very rich culture. When this cultural background is examined, it is seen that the common denominators of both cities draw attention. In the study visits organized within the scope of the project, common points of the cities were determined. The fact that these common points are strengthened and that a traceable concrete strategic action plan and ownership of the sister city relationship from the management level at the public level is the expected result of the project.
Within this framework, the preparation of Kütahya, Pécs and Town-Twinning culture strategies are foreseen within the scope of the project. The keyword of the project has been determined as “participation”. Therefore, an international workshop with wide participation, round table meetings, in-depth interviews and field studies were carried out to ensure participation at all levels for these strategies prepared within the scope of the project.
In the works carried out within the scope of the project, the universities, artists, chambers and businessmen of both cities have gained full participation by embracing the project. We invite the Pécs and Kütahya people and their leaders to read the strategies given below and to participate in each institution to fulfill their duties in order to implement these strategies. Pécs and Kütahya cities, which have determined culture-based development as a policy, must participate in an exemplary twin city program with the principle of “Sustainable Development Goals, Partnerships for the Goal 17”.
Click for the download for Culture Strategy of Kutahya, Pécs and Town Twinning in Turkish, English, Hungarian
