ECoC

What is a European Capital of Culture?

Why are we competing for the title of European Capital of Culture?

The challenges faced by Bielsko-Biała today largely reflect what is going on globally. Therefore the City of Weaves’ artistic agenda draws attention to the most important themes regarding Europe and Bielsko-Biała. We want to implement new solutions, learn together, share good practices, and, in doing so, create the city of our aspirations. 

We want EVERYONE to feel at peace and to feel safe in Bielsko-Biała regardless of age, origin, views or sexual orientation; so that through empathy, shaped by culture and art, we respect each other more and build social capital based on bonds of trust and cooperation. This is an extraordinary opportunity for us, both to celebrate the art of our city and to use culture as a tool for social development.

Awarding Bielsko-Biała the title of European Capital of Culture would mean a number of lasting benefits for the city. The positive consequences of ECoC activities will be felt in the areas of culture, education, social relations and economy. They will also have an effect on the material domain.

Benefits:

Culture is intended to be a way in which to engage residents in activities for the benefit of the city and to give them a sense of agency. The involvement of every single resident in cultural projects could turn out to be a remedy for loneliness, depression or burnout, and also for the pressing issue of mental crisis affecting children and young people today.

The ECoC also means money for Bielsko-Biała. The Ministry of Culture has indicated that the city awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2029 will receive 100,000,000 PLN towards its projects. Funding from the European Union and the private sector can also be expected. 

What does the selection process look like?

The official process of applying for the title of European Capital of Culture takes two years. In the first year we formulated a basic proposal in the form of a ‘bidbook’ which contained responses to the most important questions posed: the contribution to the long-term strategy of cultural development in the city; proposal of cultural and artistic events; the European dimension; the involvement of our residents in creating the bid, its implementation and reaching new audiences; management; all this taking into account financial and implementation prospects.

A 60-page bidbook was submitted on 15 September 2023. We then presented Bielsko-Biała's bid during a meeting and interview with twelve experts, two from Poland and ten from Europe. Following this meeting the expert committee announced a list of cities moving onto the next stage of the competition. We were of the firm belief that we would be in this group and we were right. Together with Katowice, Lublin and Kołobrzeg we are one of the four cities in the final. We will present the final version of our 100-page bidbook to the committee by mid-September 2024. We will battle one last time during this final presentation before experts for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2029.

Who else is competing?

The following cities announced that they would be competing for the title of European Capital of Culture 2029:

Bielsko-Biała, Bydgoszcz, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Katowice, Kielce, Kołobrzeg, Lublin, Opole, Płock, Pszczyna, Rzeszów and Toruń. 
The decision of the committee of experts was that Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Lublin and Kołobrzeg would advance to the second and final stage.

Is our city not too small?

Looking back at the history of the European Capitals of Culture programme, the title has been awarded to both much larger and much smaller towns and cities, some with often fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. The smallest of these include Bad Ischl in Austria with fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, Matera in Italy with 60,000 inhabitants, and Weimar in Germany with a population of 65,000. Moreover, a trend can be spotted whereby it is the smaller and medium-sized cities that are more likely to be appreciated by the committee of experts.

What if we don't win?

We are competing because we believe that Bielsko-Biała can win. Even if we do not win, we know from the experience of Žilina and other towns and cities, where despite their best efforts they were not awarded the title, that the very process of trying has had a great impact on the development of the town or city and has improved the quality of life there. Preparation of the first stage bidbook already helped us better understand the expectations of residents and to analyse the most important challenges faced by our city. To this end, we were able to integrate artistic circles and cultural institutions, to hold meetings with business representatives, with residents with special needs and with groups on the margins of society. Such meetings will continue. We hope that the young people who joined these discussions will be intent on actively co-creating the feeling of WELLBEING in our city. We have established international contacts which we certainly want to further maintain by participating in international projects and programmes. In the open call for ideas for projects under the ECoC, over 100 applications were received and almost as many were submitted by members of the Programme Council and Tasking Team. We are already implementing some of the ideas in prototype form, and others we plan to implement regardless
of whether we become the European Capital of Culture or not.

How much will it cost?

Participation in the ECoC generates certain costs because the preparation of the bid itself requires organisation of workshops, consultations and expert opinions. In addition there are the costs of translation, promotion and operating expenses. However, all of these are an investment in the future to benefit the city, whether they be in the form of know-how or specific projects. Research conducted in other capitals of culture shows that, on average, for every one złoty spent we can expect an inflow of over four złoty from outside. When Wrocław was the European Capital of Culture it spent 100 million złoty over the course of that year and during the preparatory period - a large portion of this amount constituting an investment in infrastructure - and accumulated 186 million złoty externally. Added to this was the income generated by the people attending organised
events.

How can I become involved

One of the important premises of the European Capital of Culture contest is the involvement of the local population who co-create the programme and who wish to change their city for the better. It is not just about the artists or those in charge of cultural affairs, but about each of us. We want to hear about what is needed. We want to discuss matters and together create scenarios for a decent future, be it in the context of cultural events, functioning institutions, places, public transport, or missing elements within the cultural panorama of Bielsko-Biała. There are many interesting projects to be found in the agendas of the current capitals of culture that combine art with nature, business, science and sport. It is for this reason that the scope of our interests is far reaching.

During the first stage of our endeavours two open calls were held for project concepts, but you can still contact us at any time, share your ideas and work with us. If you would like to get involved in any of the activities, write to us on esk@bb2029.com. The information office, Point 11, is at 11 Listopada Street 24 in Bielsko-Biała (open Monday to Friday 12.00 - 18.00), telephone: +48 506 210 636.