Living Heritage Strengthens the Foundation of Kokkola’s City of Music Application

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network brings together cities that harness culture and creativity as drivers of sustainable urban development. In addition to identifying their cultural and creative assets, applicant cities are expected to present a forward-looking four-year action plan and demonstrate a commitment to international cooperation. UNESCO Creative Cities Network – Join the Network 

For Kokkola and the wider Central Ostrobothnia region, living musical heritage provides a strong foundation for this work. The region’s musical life brings together professional music and education, active amateur music-making, folk music, and musical practices transmitted from one generation to the next. In neighboring Kaustinen, the fiddle playing tradition has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2021. 

Centria’s Living Heritage research group is interested in the visibility, transmission and teaching of intangible cultural heritage. The group collaborates with professionals, amateurs and international networks in the field. The dialogue between the local and the international is now taking on new relevance. In its City of Music application, Kokkola does not need to construct a new musical identity, but rather to recognize what is already alive in the region and consider how it can be developed for the future. 

From a living heritage perspective, it is also essential to consider who has the opportunity to participate in this development. Musical heritage remains alive only when it is practiced, taught, shared and renewed within communities. At its best, the City of Music application process can bring professional musicians, educational institutions, event organizers, associations, amateur musicians, tradition bearers and new generations of music-makers to the same table. 

For Centria’s Living Heritage research group, the application process also provides an opportunity to contribute research, education and expertise developed through international living heritage networks to the region’s shared development. The research group aims to maintain intangible cultural heritage as a living resource and to find new avenues for it through cooperation across different fields. 

The UNESCO City of Music application looks towards the future, but that future does not need to be built from scratch. In Central Ostrobothnia, it rests on a musical culture that has developed over centuries and continues to live through playing, learning, teaching, celebrations and interaction between people. 

Respond to the survey and have your say about the application process! 

https://link.webropol.com/s/CreativeCityKokkola