MGTO Director and Macao SAR Focal Point to UCCN, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, hands a token gift to the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio, at the opening of the event
The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) represented Macao, China at the XVI Annual Conference of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network held July 1 to 5 in Portugal. Hosted by Braga Creative City of Media Arts, the major annual event of the network gathered delegations from around 250 cities members, with MGTO taking the opportunity to enhance exchange and the involvement within the network, helping to raise Macao’s profile internationally.
MGTO Director and Macao SAR Focal Point to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, was in Braga to attend the annual conference plenary sessions, as well as the cluster meetings for the Creative Cities of Gastronomy, and other activities.
Around 250 cities gathered for largest annual event of the network
This year’s UCCN Annual Conference gathered about 550 representatives from around 250 member cities coming from over 80 countries from around the world in the seven creative fields covered by the network: crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music.
Delegates were welcomed, in an opening ceremony on Monday, by the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio, and the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, Ernesto Ottone R.. The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also sent welcome video messages for the unveiling of the event.
Wide array of activities to bring together cities from all creative fields
Under the theme “20 years of UCCN: Bringing youth to the table for the next decade”, the five-day event unfolded with a string of themed plenary sessions. Among the highlights were the presentation of the activity report of the network by UCCN Secretary Denise Bax, the adoption of the “Braga Manifesto: A Culture Goal for Sustainable Development”, high level roundtable dialogues with mayors and representatives from international organizations, and thematic panels for creative cities of different fields to share their best practices.
Multiple parallel activities were also held, including a Mayors’ Forum, Dialogue with Youth, as well as cluster meetings for each creative field, for delegates to exchange and forge new initiatives aiming to create more inclusive, creative and sustainable cities, in line with the network’s goals and to contribute to implementing the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Another important part of the event included a wide array of cultural activities across Braga featuring the different creative fields of the network. There was also a one-day program of cultural and exchange activities in three neighboring creative cities in Northern Portugal: Amarante Creative City of Music, Barcelos Creative of Crafts and Folk Art, and Santa Maria da Feira Creative City of Gastronomy.
Macao showcases “International Cities of Gastronomy Fest” at cluster meeting
The meetings of the cluster of Creative Cities of Gastronomy, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, were attended by about 40 member cities. The Cluster Coordinator and Focal Point of San Antonio, USA, Colleen Swain, presented the activity report of the Creative Cities of Gastronomy, while Macao and other participant cities also shared about initiatives conducted.
MGTO Director talked about the fruitful experience in organizing the first edition of the “International Cities of Gastronomy Fest, Macao”, which gathered in June representatives and chefs from 29 Creative Cities of Gastronomy from six continents and was the largest international event of gastronomic culture organized in Macao, contributing to provide a platform for the network and fulfill the UCCN mission. Senna Fernandes extended the invitation for member cities to join the event again next year.
On Thursday, the Macao delegation joined a visit to the Creative City of Gastronomy of Santa Maria da Feira for a program with immersive and exchange activities revolving around the theme “Innovation and the New Generation Technologies: from upskilling tools to collaborative platforms”. The participants were welcomed by the mayor of the city, Amadeu Albergaria.
First Macao, China participation in person since the pandemic
Hosted by a different creative city each year, this year’s UCCN Annual Conference marked the return in person of Macao to the event for the first time since the pandemic. Following its designation in 2017, Macao has been actively engaged with the UCCN and network member cities organized events, as part of its action plan to develop as a Creative City of Gastronomy.
The fast-growing network created in 2004 is currently formed by a total of 350 cities in the seven creative fields across more than 100 countries. In the field of gastronomy there are 56 cities, including six in China, which is the country with the most Creative Cities of Gastronomy, namely: Chengdu, Shunde, Macao, Yangzhou, Huai'an and Chaozhou.
