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The First Gansu Dialogue Mayors’ Conference was held on 14-15 March in Lanzhou. The conference is the first major opportunity that gathered more than 130 leaders, experts, and a wide range of stakeholders from UNESCO, the World Bank, Gansu provincial government, seven project cities/counties/districts of Gansu Revitalization and Innovation Project, universities and vocational institutions, heritage sites, enterprises and local communities.

Mr. Chen Weizhong, Director General of Gansu Cultural and Tourism Department, Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Beijing Office, and Dr. Ahmed Eiweida, World Bank Global Coordinator for Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism delivered opening remarks. Mr. Chen Weizhong expressed gratitude to UNESCO and the World Bank for long-term support to the development of Gansu. He pointed out the World Bank financed Gansu Revitalization and Innovation Project enhanced Gansu’s professionalization and internationalization in cultural heritage preservation. He hoped this dialogue can deepen the collaboration among Gansu, UNESCO and the World Bank, bringing a stable and multidimensional partnership mechanism in heritage management.

According to Prof. Shahbaz Khan, UNESCO and the World Bank has been engaging to enhance sustainable urban development, build on cultural heritage and creativity as resources and assets over the past decades. The overall objective for UNESCO’s technical assistance of the Gansu Revitalization and Innovation Project focuses on awareness raising, capacity building and policy guidelines. Within the framework of the Project, he hoped that through the dialogue, concrete action plans can be developed to unlock the power of the cultural and creative industries in cities’ future development.

Dr. Ahmed Eiweida valued the partnership among Gansu Province, World Bank and UNESCO, which brings best global and local knowledge to combine the cultural heritage, rural and urban revitalization with creative economy and sustainable urban development for the benefits of Gansu people. He believed the First Gansu Dialogue comes at a critical moment in our history, providing an excellent forum to enable knowledge sharing of experiences among other provinces, global partners and countries.

Mr. He Xiaozu, Secretary of Party Committee, Gansu Provincial Culture and Tourism Department delivered a keynote speech, sharing the outcomes and vision of Gansu culture and tourism development from the perspectives of regional connectivity, mutual learning, creative future, and mutual benefit.

Dr. Duong Bich Hanh, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Beijing Office analyzed the great potential of the cultural and creative industries as well as existing challenges. Based on the outcomes of the “Cities, Culture, Creativity” capacity building workshop, Dr. Duong suggested intersectoral collaboration, digitalization, upskilling of the cultural and creative workforce, data-based decision making, and promotion and branding can help Gansu find new development pathways through culture-driven growth. 

Through four thematic discussions on digital transformation in cultural and creative industries, cultural resources in urban regeneration and rural revitalization, sustainable tourism and sustainable heritage management, under the guidance of Prof. Xiang Yong (Dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries, Peking University), Prof. Dong Wei (Professor of School of Architecture, Southeast University), Prof. Ba Duoxun (Professor of Northwest Normal University), and Prof. Zhang Jianwei (Deputy Director of the School of Archaeology & Museology) respectively, the decision makers identified the biggest opportunities of their locality in leveraging culture and creativity for development.

Building on the outcomes of the First Gansu Dialogue, Mr. He Xiaozu announced the Lanzhou Declaration. The participants of the Dialogue were committed to take actions for the advancement of the following priorities:

• Foster the effective implementation of UNESCO’s international cultural conventions, protecting the cultural diversity;

• Balance tourism development with protection of cultural resources;

• Emphasize policy planning from top-level, fully consider cultural and creative development in evidence-based policy formulation and development planning preparation;

• Promote a multi-sectoral cooperation in the CCIs;

• Integrate resources across the counties, districts and municipalities for cluster-level development of tourism and CCIs, while maintaining the uniqueness of each locality;

• Recognize and upskill the cultural and creative workforce including through integration of culture in all educational levels;

• Identify new digital solutions that reinforce local innovation and facilitate tourism development;

• Apply the “Cities, Culture, Creativity” Framework in a holistic manner to ensure a culture- and creativity-based local development that is inclusive, innovative and sustainable.

   

In the coming months, UNESCO will join hands with Gansu provincial government, the World Bank and leading international and national experts to build capacity of Gansu’s stakeholders to foster heritage-based tourism and creative industries development and maximize its role for local development.