The European Capitals of Culture programme has grown immeasurably since its launch in 1985. 

“We started modestly 30 years ago and now we are typically having cities spend up to EUR 70-100m for a yearly programme being a European Capital of Culture,” says Karel Bartak, Head of the Creative Europe Coordination Unit at DG Education and Culture, European Commission.

“So it is very prestigious from the point of view that there is a huge interest in every country.”

Initiated by Greek culture minister Melina Mercouri and originally called “European City of Culture”, the programme was renamed “European Capitals of Culture” in 1999. Two hosts are now appointed each year, enabling a wider range of destinations to benefit. 

“In the past most of the bidding and winning cities were capital or very big cities, but now many of these have already been European Capitals of Culture, so now we are seeing smaller cities bidding and it brings a new and very interesting edge”.

“If you have a smaller place of 100-200,000 inhabitants, the impact is much, much bigger and also much more visible for the city's inhabitants than if you have a European Capital of Culture in say Paris or Athens.”

In 2013 the medium-sized Slovakian city of Kosice was a European Capital of Culture. 

“Everyone who comes from there says the city has been changed beyond recognition by the year, and it has really become a cultural hub including Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and so on,” says Bartak.

“In Umea last year in Sweden it was similar case; and this year the town of Mons in Belgium, which has only 80,000 inhabitants, is having a huge impact and the whole country is celebrating.”

Mons is joined by Pilsen in the Czech Republic as a European Capital of Culture for 2015.

How to bid

The bidding procedure is based on a “Decision” of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which is the legal basis for the selection and monitoring processes.

“This legal basis determines which countries are concerned with European Capital of Culture for the next eighteen years, so we all know well in advance which countries are going to be concerned,” says Bartak.

The country concerned typically issues a call for applications six years in advance of the title year. Interested candidates submit a bid book of 80-100 pages and present it to a panel that pre-selects a shortlist of candidates. 

The pre-selected candidates then have another seven to eight months to prepare the final bid. 

The panel is now composed of 10 members who are selected by European Commission, Parliament, Council and Committee of the Regions, plus two selected by the governments of bidding country. This international jury of experts is renewed by a third every year. 

The process is democratic. “The chairperson, who is always chosen by the jury from among its members, is always trying to have a consensus. But if there is no consensus then there is a vote,” says Bartak. 

“It is always tense as the responsibility is huge, cities investing a lot of energy, hope and financial resources in their bid.”

Once selected, the host cities have four years to prepare their programme for the year. During this phase, the Commission convenes monitoring meetings during which the panel give cities advice and guidance and take stock of their preparations.

How are the bids evaluated?

The international jury judges the bid on criteria specified in the Decision of the European Union. 

One of these criteria is the European dimension of the programme: how it brings to the fore the cultural diversity in Europe and our common cultural features, how it leads to new or reinforced cultural partnerships and cooperation at EU level. Another is the participation of the citizens and of the various cultural, social and economic stakeholders of the city in the design and implementation of the yearly programme. The jury also looks at sustainability and legacy issues as the project must be embedded into the longer term cultural development strategy of the city.

“They make sure that once the year is over the overall level of cultural life and the investment in culture has long lasting effect, and the level of cultural life stays much higher than it was before the year,” says Bartak.

“Besides that, the jury is looking into the financial sustainability – the composition of the package of money that is available. We are always keen on having a good mix between private and public funding and so on.”

The financial contribution of the European Commission is relatively small.

“The Melina Mercouri prize which is given to each city which has won the title is 1.5m Euros, so it is just a kind of symbolic contribution; otherwise the city has to find the budget. Many hosting cities however use the money coming from the EU Structural Funds.”

Future hosts

The selection process for 2020 European Capitals of Culture is now underway. Ireland and Croatia are currently running their competitions for 2020 and the bidding process is set to change slightly. 

“The current situation is that the Commission is monitoring the process, but is not at all interfering in it. This is run by the independent panel, the jury. Until now, the national governments and then the institutions of the EU (European Parliament, Commission and Council) would then take on board the recommendation of the jury,” says Bartak.

“As of the 2020 titles, this will be done differently; the jury will recommend the city to the government concerned, so the institutions of the European Union will be left out of the process – to make it simpler and less bureaucratic.”

The pre-selection process in Croatia was completed in May 2015. “We had nine cities competing and four were preselected. The recommendation for the final selection will happen in January of next year.” 

By October, it will be clear which cities in Ireland are competing to host the 2020 European Capital of Culture. “I think all bidding cities have a chance. Each application is judged on its merits,” says Bartak.

Creating a network of cities

There is a great opportunity for the European Commission and its network of European Capitals of Culture to share experiences.

“As previous title-holders, Mons and Pilsen have organised a gathering of previous and future European Capitals of Culture, which was an interesting moment of brainstorming and bringing together their experiences and stories of preparation and implementation.

“We feel that with our thirty years of experience, we have more and more knowledge and advice to give and, with the lessons learned it becomes easier for cities to avoid mistakes made in the past.”

The European Commission will discuss these issues and opportunities in greater detail at HOST CITY 2015 on 9th and 10th November in Glasgow.

To find out more about the bidding process for European Capital of Culture visit http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/actions/documents/ecoc-candidates-guide_en.pdf or register to attend HOST CITY 2015

The Brighton Centre will host the autumn 2016 conference of Liberal Democrat party members. 

The number of Liberal Democrat party members has shot up by a third, to reach more than 60,000, since the party’s heavy losses in the May 2015 general election, which left the party with just eight members of parliament. 

Brighton hosted the Liberal Democrats in 2012 and 2013 and the Labour party in 2014 and 2015. 

The governing Conservative Party is holding its 2016, 2018 and 2020 conferences in the Birmingham International Convention Centre (ICC), after Manchester Central hosted its 2015 conference. Conservative party membership is around 150,000, according to the latest estimates.

The Labour Party, which has the largest membership of more than 200,000, will hold its 2016 and 2018 conferences at ACC Liverpool.

The Scottish National Party, which now has the third largest representation in Westminster parliament after the Conservatives and Labour, is hosting its 2015 conference at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. SNP membership has grown 300 per cent since the Independence Referendum of September 2014, when Scotland narrowly voted against independence.

Lasting four to five days, party political conferences bring a significant economic boost to the host city. According to Birmingham ICC, 14,000 delegates attended the 2014 Conservative party conference, bringing an economic benefit of GB£17m to the local economy.  

Dutch event company Jaarbeurs has partnered with international media specialist Cavendish Group to organise the first RAID conference in Utrecht on 8th and 9th June.

RAID, which stands for Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet-of-Things and Data, aims to be Europe’s largest cross sector Disruptive Innovation Conference and Exhibition. 

The event will feature the highest level of conference content, with an accompanying trade show and marketplace showcasing technology solutions that will disrupt the way Europe’s largest companies operate.

As innovative technologies and solutions will emerge from, and be applicable across, multiple sectors, RAID is aimed at large established business sectors including insurance, automotive, pharmaceuticals, banking, energy utilities, logistics, and advanced industrial manufacturing. 

RAID will look at how C-level executives from different sectors can learn from each other about how Europe’s largest companies approach disruptive innovation. There is also a significant crossover of senior executives between different sectors and disruptive thinking must start first and foremost with Europe’s business leaders.

RAID will be an international event with a strong pan-European theme. Disruptive innovation is positioned as the logical and natural solution for kick starting the more productive economic growth that the EU needs, Cavendish Group said.

This event is about the impact of technology convergence and disruptive innovation on large cross sector companies.

RAID will take place in the Jaarbeurs Media Plaza and exhibition area in the heart of Utrecht, ranked by the European Commission as the most competitive centre for business across the EU. The venue is walking distance from the Utrecht train station, with the airport express train to Schipol, 30 km away and with direct links to many leading German cities. 

The aim for the first RAID conference and exhibition is to attract more than 700 attendees and exhibitors from Europe’s largest companies and most innovative technology and solution providers. 

Cavendish Group is the publisher and owner of a number of leading international media brands including HOST CITY, Oil & Gas Technology, Renewable Energy Technology, Automotive Manufacturer, the International Capital Conference and many more. 

More details of the event can be found on the RAID website. You can also keep up to date by following the RAID Twitter feed.

RAID Utrecht takes place on the 8th and 9th June, 2016. The conference agenda and event details will be announced in early September 2015.

For more information please contact: RAID@cavendishgroup.co.uk.

The US Olympic Committee is due to speak with Boston’s bid team today to re-evaluate whether they should remain the US city of choice to bid for the 2024 Olympics Games – but comments made to Host City earlier this month by the USOC’s lead advisor indicate that the choice of city is not the critical issue.

“I think the biggest challenge that any US city faces has to do with the host city agreements and being able to provide the appropriate guarantees to the IOC. It’s no secret that that’s a challenge for any US city.” USOC advisor Doug Arnot told Host City in early July.

“Being able to put together a programme that is risk-averse, that minimises and mitigates risk to the extent that it can be acceptable to fitting in state government is always going to be a challenge for any US city, not only Boston.

“Boston has responded very well to what I would call democratic pressures. They have had to take a look at their plan and make sure that it made sense from a financial perspective, from a legacy perspective – they’ve had to examine it much more carefully than a lot of bids would at this time. 

“They’ve been under the gun, it’s definitely been a challenge but they’re responding very well to the challenge.” 

Asked whether the USOC chose the right city in Boston, Arnot said: “We had four great cities to choose from. There were some very good reasons to pick Boston and there were some very good reasons that we could have gone with the other cities. We have all put our energy behind Boston and are trying to help them to continue to advance the plans.”

National Olympic Committees interested in bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games must present a city to the IOC by 15 September. 

Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome have so far been announced as bidding cities, with Toronto said to be considering applying. The Russian city of Kazan has also recently been linked to a possible bid.

Nashville is to host IBTM America 2016, the meeting place of the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry, following IBTM America 2015 in Chicago. 

“The excitement behind delivering our event in different key convention cities in the US adds variety and new experiences for all our attendees,” said Jaime McAuley, Event Director, IBTM America.

“Nashville is one of the hottest convention cities in America right now and whilst its very roots are in music (the Country Music Hall of Fame) there is also history, the arts, food – the city recently was nominated in the top 10 best BBQ cities in the US – and of course a variety of venues to benefit this industry.”

IBTM America will take place from June 15 to 17 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center – the largest exhibition and meetings venue in continental US, with 2,882 guest rooms onsite, 6 ballrooms, more than 100 technologically advanced conference and breakout rooms, 600,000 sq ft of meeting, convention and exhibit function space and 4.5 acres of covered tropical gardens.

“We fully expect many will want to either arrive early or stay on to make the most of the facilities, whether it’s to spend more time in downtown Nashville or at the Gaylord as this resort is certainly one of a kind in the USA,” said McAuley.

In addition to its growing business events industry, Nashville is the world’s capital of country music with more than 120 live music venues.

Durban has been announced as the host city of the XIV World Forestry Congress, the biggest meeting of the world’s forestry sector. 

Taking place every six years under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the event is organised by the government of the host country.

The XIV World Forestry Congress, hosted by the Republic of South Africa, will bring together the global forestry community to review and analyse the key issues and to share ways of addressing them.

According to the FAO, the Congress is inclusive of people from all countries, regions and sectors including government organizations, NGOs, private companies, scientific or professional bodies, forestry societies and individuals.

The FAO is particularly keen that the 2015 event provides a platform for youth, students, professionals, women and local communities have a platform on which to voice ideas and concerns.

The congress is set to propose technical and policy approaches to boost the sustainability of the forestry industry and showcase the latest developments and innovations in global forestry, using multimedia platforms to illustrate practical applications and linkages, the FAO says. 

The venue for the congress, the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC), is also set to feature in the Durban 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Global Entrepreneurship Network has awarded Johannesburg the hosting rights to its flagship event, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), in 2017. 

This will be the first time Africa has hosted the event, which typically attracts business professionals from more than 150 countries. The 2015 edition brought 10,000 delegates to Milan in March, according to organisers.  The Colombian city of Medellin is hosting the 2016 edition. 

Johannesburg’s bid to host GEC 2017 was a project involving the City of Johannesburg, Barclays Africa, the South African government and Sustainable Entrepreneur Accelerator  (SEA) Africa. 

Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu said "GEC will help sustain the momentum of an entrepreneurial revolution which President Jacob Zuma set in motion last year when he announced the establishment of our separate department that would focus on small businesses and cooperatives. 

“I am confident that GEC 2017 will further thrust entrepreneurship and small business development firmly on the national agenda and the collective consciousness of our nation.”

The event will be co-hosted by Johannesburg and SEA Africa. Kizito Okechukwu, executive head of SEA Africa, said “This Congress will assist businesses and promote entrepreneurship across the African continent.

“We are therefore calling on entrepreneurs to leverage from various support structures and programmes being introduced by various partners. We are expecting leading global entrepreneurs and innovators to grace this occasion."

Craig Bond, CEO of Retail and Business Banking at Barclays Africa, said, "The GEC is a platform that can open doors for our youth, ignite entrepreneurship and put our youth in the global arena. It contributes to the overall Pan-Africanism objective by strengthening common perspectives amongst nations, creating partnerships and collaborative efforts, and encouraging inter-regional trade."

Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Network, which holds the rights to the event, said, "GEC 2017 is just one example of the Global Entrepreneurship Network commitment to helping the next generation of African entrepreneurs start and scale—rebranding the continent and permanently shifting perceptions around the world.

The Beijing 2022 bid committee has promised to keep costs down on being elected as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, with the International Olympic Committee citing manageable infrastructure costs as a key factor in the success of the bid. 

“Just as with the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, the Olympic Family has put its faith in Beijing again to deliver the athlete-centred, sustainable and economical Games we have promised,” the newly elected host of the 2022 Olympic Games said in a statement issued to the press. 

Existing venues, such as the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium built for the Games in 2008, will feature in the Games. US$1.5bn will be spent on Olympic villages, sports venues and other infrastructure, a sum that is “significantly less than for Olympic Games in the past”, according to the IOC.

“Olympic Agenda 2020 calls for a stronger focus on sustainability, legacy, and transparency, while making it easier for host cities to tailor Games that meet their needs rather than trying to fit a template,” the IOC said in a statement issued after the election.

“Beijing took advantage of the flexibility provided by Olympic Agenda 2020 to improve its plans for the Games and reduce costs.”

Despite being widely viewed as the runaway favourite, Beijing won the vote narrowly with just 44 to Almaty’s 40. Only 84 of the 100 International Olympic Committee members participated in a vote that had to be recast after technical difficulties. 

The Beijing 2022 Winter Games will immediately follow the 2018 edition in PyeongChang, South Korea. Developing winter sports further in the Asian market promises to be a valuable effect of hosting the Games in Beijing.

“Beijing aims to use the Games to accelerate the development of a new sport, culture and tourism area, and to encourage interest in winter sports in a region that is home to more than 300 million people in northern China,” the IOC said.

The Beijing 2022 bid committee said “This will be a memorable event at the foot of the Great Wall for the whole Olympic Family, the athletes and the spectators that will further enhance the tremendous potential to grow winter sports in our country, in Asia and around the world.”

Beijing will be the first city to host both a summer and winter edition of the Olympic Games – facilitated in part by hosting many skiing events at Zhangjiakou, 220km away from Beijing. Artificial snow is also likely to play a role in enabling the competitions to take place. 

The host city contract signed by Beijing representatives and IOC president Thomas Bach has been made public for the first time. 

Meanwhile, the “Olympic capital” city of Lausanne was elected as the host of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games at the IOC Session, garnering 71 votes to Brasov’s 10. 

The IOC Evaluation Commission singled out Lausanne for its good use of existing, temporary and demountable venues, which is in line with Olympic Agenda 2020 sustainability reforms.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended its recognition of SportAccord on Sunday, saying it is ready to discuss restructured representation with the organisation’s stakeholders. 

The IOC had recognised and worked with SportAccord, the “umbrella group” for Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations, for many years. 

Relationships between the two organisations have deteriorated since SportAccord president Marius’ Vizer’s criticism of IOC president Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 programme of reform at SportAccord Convention in April. 

Many international federations (IFs) of Olympic and non-Olympic sports have since left SportAccord. 

Despite Vizer’s resignation last week, the IOC has withdrawn its recognition of SportAccord. 

“The IOC will continue its ongoing and direct relationship with the IFs and other members of the Olympic Movement,” the IOC said in a statement issued during an executive board meeting in Lausanne.

“We encourage and support them in all the initiatives being taken to restructure their representation following the serious internal problems of SportAccord.”

“We have been in contact with many of the IFs and their representative bodies in the last days and we have been advised that they want to take some measures in this respect.

“We would like to invite the representatives of different groups to further discuss this issue and to come to an agreement among all stakeholders.

“We will first wait for their deliberations and consultations to conclude, and we are ready to support them and ready to invite the representatives of the different groups, including the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF), the Association of Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF),  the Alliance of Independent Members of Sport Accord (AIMS) and the International World Games Association (IWGA), to discuss the restructuring of their agreement for a common approach.”

SportAccord has historically provided support to IFs to ensure the integrity of their sports – a role that the IOC will take up directly during SportAccord’s current circumstances.

“In the meantime, we do not want the clean athletes to suffer in any way from this vacuum. We are offering the IFs concerned all the services and advice in the fight against doping which have been offered so far by SportAccord and financed by the IOC and WADA. 

“We will be making the same offer with regard to good governance as well as on match-fixing and related corruption, and the IOC is ready to provide this support directly. We must ensure that there is not a vacuum during this ongoing process.  

“Like many members of SportAccord, we are suspending our recognition and we will withhold our funding until these questions are answered and an agreement between the stakeholders has been reached.

“We are awaiting the outcome of the consultations and, when the time is right, we would like to invite these stakeholders here to discuss how services can best be provided in the future to the above-mentioned organisations.”

The bidding process for the 2021 and 2023 FINA World Championships is underway, with ten cities from seven countries across four continents having expressed an interest. 

Budapest had originally been selected for the 2021 Games, but its hosting was brought forward to 2017 when Guadalajara, Mexico pulled out of hosting the 2021 edition. 

FINA said it has received expressions of interest from Argentina, Australia (Melbourne or Sydney), China (Wuhan or Nanjing), Germany (two potential cities), Japan, Turkey and Qatar to host the showcase aquatics event.

FINA said it is in discussions with each of the potential candidates, providing them with all the necessary information to plan their proposals. 

An information meeting will take place on 30 June 2015 for nations and cities that have shown an interest in bidding.

FINA said it hopes to announce the chosen host cities of the 2021 and 2023 FINA World Championships by the end of 2015.

“We are delighted with the strong level of interest from a number of different cities who want to host swimming’s showcase event,” said FINA President, Dr. Julio C. Maglione.

“I believe that they are all attracted by the evidence that the FINA World Championships brings clear economic, social, cultural, tourism and sports impacts to every host city. There is a measurable benefit through better youth and community facilities, through high-performance opportunities, and through showcasing your city to a global audience.”

The FINA World Championships is one of world’s most followed international sport events. A cumulative audience of 4.5 billion watched the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, across six platforms.

The 2015 FINA World Championships will take place in Russia for the first time on 24 July to 9 August 2015, in the city of Kazan. 2,200 athletes from a record 188 countries have registered so far.

The next two editions will be held in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017 and in Gwangju, Korea, in 2019. 

FINA, the Fédération Internationale de Natation, is the governing body for aquatics worldwide. Its five disciplines – swimming, open water swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming – are all included in the Olympic programme.