The fourth international Culture Summit to be hosted by İzmir will be organised under the title: “Culture: While Building Our Future.”

United Cities and Local Governments Organisation (UCLG) Culture Summit: “Culture: While Building Our Future” to be organised with the vision and efforts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, will kick off on June, 10 with an online session and will continue with face-to-face sessions between September,9-11, 2021, simultaneously with İzmir International Fair (IEF). Approximately 500 participants from all around the world are expected to get together for the Summit, which will focus on the role of culture in shaping the future of societies post-pandemic.

“Concrete practices and project examples will come to the fore”
Tunç Soyer, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, who notes that cities assume a leading role for ensuring that cities have a central role in terms of sustainable development, has two targets. “First one is to reinforce messages regarding the role culture has in sustainable development at a local level with concrete practice and project examples. Secondly, the Summit will ensure visibility in international discussions regarding the New Urban Agenda, celebrating its fifth year in 2021 together with the UN 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, which we are currently in the ten-year action plan of,” said Soyer.

Soyer further noted that İzmir Metropolitan Municipality has completed the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) pilot city program and added, “İzmir, which initiated the ‘Leading City’ program upon the invitation of UCLG is expanding its capacity and strengthening its bonds with the world based on the principles of UCLG Culture 21 Actions.”

The Summit aims to enhance information exchange between local governments and improve co-learning practices. Various events that will enable co-sharing of experiences, workshops, and focus area presentations presenting an opportunity to promote examples of concrete projects and initiatives will be organized at the Summit along with sessions.

Seven Key Workshop Study
This is a new program initiated by UCLG in order to integrate the cultural dimension to the localization of Sustainable Development Targets. The program is being developed in Bulawayo, İzmir, Lizbon, Mexico City, el Puerto de la Cruz and Xi since March 2021.
“UCLG-Mexico City-Culture 21” International Award. Award-winning cities and best practices.  
  
Main themes  
The main themes of the Summit were determined as follows:
Culture, Environment and Health Post-Covid 19
#Culture2030 Campaign Towards a Single Cultural Target. Starting the UN 2030 Agenda Ten Year Action Plan with concrete examples related to culture.
Culture and Environmental Crisis
Cultural Rights and Communities
Culture and Gender
Creative Economy and Cultural Diversity
Cultural Heritage and Tourism
Cultural Diplomacy
Accessibility and Culture
Five Years of a New Urban Agenda
Culture 21 Actions
Culture, Obstacles and Inequalities
There will be workshops
UCLG Culture Summit is the main global meeting point of cities, local governments and other stakeholders that devoted themselves to the effective implementation of policies regarding culture and sustainability. İzmir Culture Summit will dwell on the results of previous summits organised in Bilbao in 2015, Jeju in 2017 and Buenos Aires in 2019.
Outstripping Russia’s Kazan and Mexico’s Merida cities, İzmir will be hosting the fourth Summit in 2021.