Roundtable Held on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The Ministry of Culture held a roundtable on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network at the Heydar Aliyev Center to mark World Cities Day. 

The event was attended by Jahangir Salimkhanov, Adviser to the Minister of Culture, along with heads and staff members of the Ministry’s structural units, representatives of the regional culture departments, representatives of the executive authorities of the cities of Shaki, Baku and Lankaran, as well as representatives of the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO and the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO.

The event began with a brief overview of the history, significance, and objectives of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, followed by an exchange of views on its impact on the socio-economic development of cities.

Presentations then covered the cities of Shaki, Baku, and Lankaran, members of the Creative Cities Network, highlighting activities carried out during their membership. It was noted that the cities have implemented several projects within the framework of the Network and organized events to promote creativity locally and internationally.

Proposals were put forward to improve coordination mechanisms to facilitate more active participation by Azerbaijani cities in the Network, take part in sub-network meetings held in different countries around the world, participate in the 2025 Annual Conference of the Creative Cities Network, to be held in Querétaro, Mexico, and strengthen cooperation with other member cities.

It was noted that work is also underway to submit relevant nominations to the UNESCO Secretariat to include other cities of Azerbaijan in the Network.

It should be recalled that Shaki has been a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017, Baku in the field of Design since 2019, and Lankaran in the field of Gastronomy since 2021.