Dundee is one of 43 global UNESCO Cities of Design and over 260 Creative Cities. This network provides each of its Creative Cities with an opportunity to work together internationally, gain knowledge and share resources, which in turn, feeds into each other’s local initiatives.
UNESCO, which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, Science and Culture. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. There are 7 Creative City categories in total, including: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.
Each of the 7 Creative Cities work together in their own Subnetwork. We are delighted that our Lead Officer, Annie Marrs is the current Cities of Design Subnetwork Deputy Coordinator which she will continue until the 2025 Annual Subnetwork Meeting, before becoming Coordinator.
Participation, contribution and collaboration within the UNESCO City of Design Network is highly valued by Dundee. The city recognises the positive impact and unique opportunities that learning from and sharing with each other, provides. Highlighted below, are a few examples of this recent international participation.
We were delighted to host Imane Assaf and Don Wright of Ahla Fawda, Beirut, and Lebanese American University design student, Sandra Bou Ghanem, in collaboration with V&A Dundee in January 2023. Ahla Fawda’s founder Imane Assaf and Scottish upcycling artist, Don Wright, shared how they use plastic waste to support Beirut’s communities through Lebanon’s crises and thrived on the opportunity to learned from designers from across Dundee and Scotland. You can find out more about their visit to Dundee here.
In November 2019, Dundee was thrilled to be hosted at Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week 2019 as their guest city of honour! Reflecting the theme of Future Us! Design Driven Futures, UNESCO City of Design Dundee restaged Print Festival Scotland’s Print City, which was first shown at Dundee Design Festival 2017 and Biome Collective’s Shpeel, which represented Dundee at London Design Biennale 2018.
In 2018, Dundee was proud to host the annual Sub-network Design Meeting, welcoming 36 international colleagues to Dundee from 19 sister UNESCO Cities of Design! This packed three days of meetings, events and tours around the city included our Global UNESCO Design Cities powered by PechaKucha event, hosted by Creative Dundee. The delegates provided extremely positive feedback which you can read in the full report on their visit here.
Shpeel at Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week 2019, photography provided by Bilbao City of Design.
Global UNESCO Design Cities Event, photography provided by Emma Alexander.
The UK is home to 13 UNESCO Creative Cities
There are 13 UNESCO Creative Cities in the UK across six artforms – crafts and folk art, design, film, literature, media arts and music. Their work supports local communities and creates international opportunities, bringing an estimated £2.6 million1 in economic value to the UK. Recent research2 by the UK National Commission for UNESCO shows UNESCO projects can help build a greener, more equal and more peaceful world, while also creating financial value.
The cities form part of a larger global network made up of over 260 member cities spanning seven artforms, with a UK city being the founding member of the Network.
The UK has world firsts in Literature and in Film
The world’s first UNESCO City of Literature was founded in 2004 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the world’s first UNESCO City of Film was designated in 2009 in Bradford, England.
The concept of a ‘City of Literature’ was devised in Edinburgh and taken to UNESCO, with Edinburgh as the founding city of the Creative Cities Network.
UNESCO Designations marking Excellence in Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Literature, Media Arts and Music
Belfast, Creative City of Music since 2021
Bradford, Creative City of Film since 2009
Bristol, Creative City of Film since 2017
Dundee, Creative City of Design since 2014
Edinburgh, Creative City of Literature since 2004
Exeter, Creative City of Literature since 2019
Glasgow, Creative City of Music since 2008
Liverpool, Creative City of Music since 2015
Manchester, Creative City of Literature since 2017
Norwich, Creative City of Literature since 2012
Nottingham, Creative City of Literature since 2015
Perth, Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2021
York, Creative City of Media Arts since 2014
The UK is part of a Global Network working to Transform the World
All 13 UK Creative Cities together with the international network, are implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the General Assembly in the 2030 Agenda. Through approaching these goals, the cities are working to help transform the world, having identified creativity and innovation as key drivers in creating more sustainable and inclusive urban developments.
Community development – Professional development – Sustainable development
Today, more than half of humanity – 3.9 billion people – lives in cities. By 2050, cities will host 2.5 billion more urban dwellers, making the world almost 70% urban3.
By joining the Network, cities acknowledge their commitment to sharing best practices, developing partnerships that promote creativity and the cultural industries, strengthening participation in cultural life, and integrating culture in urban development plans.
The Network further commits to supporting the United Nations frameworks, particularly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.
