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The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was first established in 2004. In essence, the goal of this network can be defined as the promotion of cooperation between cities that seek to harness and develop creativity as an engine for sustainable urban development, social inclusion, and vitality. Having said that, it’s always more interesting to explore grand missions through the tangible results they’ve delivered. Montreal – the largest city in the province of Quebec, joined the program back in 2006 when the network had only nine members. As of today, however, the project has grown to include as many as 246 cities from all around the world. Every location operates with different creative directives in mind, and the program encourages to cultivate the potential of that field by actively involving it in urban development. Music, film, craft and folk art, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and design – the last one, in particular, has been assigned to Montreal (and since 2016, to Kaunas as well). Today, as one of the forty UNESCO Design Cities, Montreal can undoubtedly be called a veteran of the program.
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Meaningful design as a powerful tool Justė Vyšniauskaitė
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