The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is currently coordinating a Jean Monnet Network sponsored by the Erasmus + programme on the role of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Initiative in the cross-border urban cohesion, the CECCUT Network. The scope of the partnership is to investigate how ECoC located in Europe borderlands can be instrumental in the construction of cross-border urban regions of the EU:

https://www.liser.lu/?type=module&id=39&tmp=434

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/eplus-project-det…

The kick-off conference of the CECCUT network will take place the 7th March 2019 in Belval (Luxembourg). It will be introduced notably by the Minister of Culture of the Luxembourg Government, Mrs Sam Tanson. The following cities located in Europe borderlands, cities which have been/will be/are willing to be European Capitals of Culture will be represented in the event: Esch, Lille, Mons, Timisoara, Novi Sad, Debrecen, Gorizia, Rijeka, Narva and Braga.

We have thought you would be interested in attending the kick-off conference of the CECCUT network and in disseminating the information about this conference among your contacts who also pay attention to the role of cultural initiatives in the construction of the European Union. The conference targets stakeholders involved in cultural projects in Europe borderlands.

Here is the short presentation of the conference and the link to register to it:

Conference: European Capitals of Culture and Cross-border Urban Cohesion (CECCUT) – 7 March 2019 – Belval (Luxembourg)

The CECCUT network conference taking place on 7 March 2019 at the Belval Campus (Luxembourg) has two objectives. First, draw up the major issues of cross-border urban cohesion through cultural policies based on the experience of urban stakeholders in charge of setting up the European Capital of Culture initiative. Second, after these debates in the plenary room, three workshops will be held in parallel on the following topics:

1) Strengthen the sense of belonging to a common cross-border cultural space;

2) Support social inclusion across borders through culture, particularly that of young people and marginalised groups;

3) Promote urban development based on the cultural and creative economy beyond state borders.

The exchanges held in these workshops will act to orientate and organise future works of the CECCUT network. This includes the production of a good practices guide and an evaluation of the European Capitals of Culture located in border areas.

The invitation, programme and registration form are available on the following link: www.liser.lu/ceccut2019/en/

Registration for the conference closes on 3 March 2019 or when maximum number of registrations has been reached.

The languages used in the conference will be English and French. An interpretation service will be provided.