Pilot Cities

The activity will take place at Cine Eleusis on Saturday 9 March, where residents of the city will define the place of culture in Elefsina as well as their priorities for the future. An initiative by the European organisation in cooperation with the Culture Committee of the international UCLG organisation – United Cities and Local Governments.

What are Pilot Cities?

Elefsina is the only Greek city and one of the 16 European ones participating in Pilot Cities. An international programme that places culture as the fourth pillar of a city’s sustainable development alongside the economy, environment and social inclusion. Through the unique context that the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture has created in the city in recent years, Elefsina is moving towards a new model of sustainability, with art and culture at the heart of every human activity and the residents as the driving force behind the whole of this participatory programme.

Based on the self-assessment guide of the Culture 21 agenda, and following the first meeting of Pilot Cities, which was held on 26 January 2019 at the EKEDA – Elefsina / West Attica Labour Union Building, residents of Elefsina and the broader region are invited to participate in an intensive full-day workshop, with the aim of laying the foundations for the long-term cultural strategy of their city.

The participatory process of self-evaluation will

• highlight the city’s good practices and their potential,
• reveal and name needs,
• reveal the dynamics of local groups,
• establish informed discourse and dialogue as tools of influence, persuasion and redefinition; and
• establish the value of citizen access to participatory city planning.

Each theme corresponds to an aspect of the city’s cultural development, which is achieved through either organised policies or civil society initiatives. At the same time, however, it is also a commitment to the long-term cultural strategy of Elefsina.

The action concerns the thematic areas linked to culture: COMMUNITIES (inclusion, quality of life, education, equality, coexistence), PROSPERITY (economic development, creative economy, work in the cultural sector, sustainable tourism, digitalisation), PLACES (public space, cultural heritage, architecture, urban design), NATURE (ecological and social transition, climate change, gastronomy), GOVERNANCE (cultural strategy, public administration, participatory processes, networking, communication), RIGHTS (freedom of expression, participation of minorities, accessibility, protection of artistic creation, training).

The network of cities that participate includes: Galway, Gabrovo, Gijon, Lisbon, Namur, Swansea, Tenerife, Terrassa, Timișoara, Leeds, Nova Gorica, Rijeka, Esch-sur-Alzette, Elefsina, Eivissa/Ibiza, etc.

Participation Requirements

Priority will be given to residents of Elefsina and the surrounding area who participated in the first two phases of the Pilot Cities programme and/or in the City-Culture-Legacy meetings. The final selection of participants will be carried out by Culture Action Europe and United Cities and Local Governments in collaboration with 2023 Eleusis, on the basis of their professional and voluntary experience in public, private and voluntary organisations and institutions, and on the basis of their diversity in terms of age, gender, ethno-cultural background, profession and education, in order to form a group that is representative of the total population of the city.