The finalists of the Croatian competition for the title of European Capital of Culture 2020 (Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula and Rijeka) have submitted their supplemented bid books, which marks the beginning of the final stage of the election for Croatian ECoC.
At the moment of the closing of the tender for submitting applications for the initiative European Capital of Culture on 17 April 2015, nine Croatian cities had submitted their candidacies within the set deadline and thus entered the first round of the competition. The cities that applied were Dubrovnik, ?akovo, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Varaždin, Zadar and Zagreb. Between 26 and 29 May 2015, a commission of independent European experts stayed in Croatia in order to decide which Croatian cities would enter the second round of the ECoC competition. Based on the tender documentation and the cities’ presentations, they selected Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula and Rijeka. Guided by the elaborate report issued by the commission of independent experts, these cities had the opportunity to supplement and elaborate on their applications in line with the Commission’s comments by 10 February 2016.
Between 17 and 22 March, representatives of the commission will be touring the candidate cities in order to evaluate the cities’ dedication to their candidacy and project in situ. On 23 and 24 March in Zagreb, the candidate cities will present their final programmes before a unified Commission, which will reach its final decision on which city will win the title of European Capital of Culture of 2020 in the afternoon hours of 24 March 2016.
What are the criteria for selection?
In making the final decision, the six main criteria for selecting the European Capital of Culture will be adhered to: contribution to the long-term cultural strategy, the European dimension, cultural and artistic content, capacity to deliver, outreach and management of the project cycle, in which all of the candidacies have been evaluated as very good. The ECoC initiative particularly aims to strengthen the outreach, diversity and European dimension of the cultural offer of the cities and implement transnational cooperation, while also improving access to culture and participation; strengthening capacities in the cultural sector and its connections with other sectors and raising the international profile of cities through culture.
All the Croatian cities that applied have significantly managed to improve both their cultural profiles and their intercity and international cooperation, with which they have already greatly benefited their cities.
Source: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia
