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About the Creative City:

The city of Kutaisi hosts 20 libraries, a dynamic university literature department, and dozens of literary events throughout the year, including public readings, antiquarian book sales and poetry recitals. This ensemble forms a solid basis for the roll-out of ambitious cultural policies. For example, the Creative City actively fosters the development of institutions that disseminate literary works and strive to achieve the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals. These include the Youth Palace, which offers all children the opportunity to learn, to read and to write, thereby contributing to youth intellectual empowerment. 

Kutaisi is striving to bolster international cultural cooperation. As host of the EU4 Culture regional conference and the Council of Europe's 10^th Cultural Routes Annual Advisory Forum, the city endeavours to enhance regional cooperation to improve the status of artists and the economic sustainability of the cultural and creative industries.

In addition, Kutaisi is planning to draw on the Network's strengths to launch an international literary festival in the near future, with the aim of promoting cultural diversity, energizing the local literary sector and emphasizing the international dimension of the city's cultural policy. Kutaisi also intends to continue supporting young people, in collaboration with its network of public libraries and by offering workshops and training courses for young writers, publishers and translators. This initiative will go hand-in-hand with efforts to encourage cross-sectoral creative projects, particularly between the literary and media arts sectors, to safeguard the city's written heritage. 

Added value:

As a Creative City of Literature, Kutaisi is dedicated to:

• Promoting a more inclusive cultural and creative sector by involving social and private partners in initiatives that raise awareness of the issues faced by vulnerable urban populations;

• Bolstering international cooperation through artist residency programmes, joint projects and festivals to encourage collaboration and exchanges between artists and book professionals from different backgrounds;

• Financially supporting the sustainable growth of the cultural and creative sector, particularly the literature sector; and

• Providing inclusive and equal education to guarantee access to culture for all.