From the 18th to the 22nd of July, the city of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, in Brazil, was the world capital of the Creative Economy. Santos hosted the 14th edition of the Unesco Creative Cities Network (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Annual Conference. It is the first time that the annual meeting of public managers takes place in Latin America. The next edition of the Conference, in 2023, has a defined location: it will be in Istanbul, Turkey, another city that is part of the international cooperation chain. The complete program is available on the website: www.unescosantos2022.com.br.

The choice of the municipality to host this year's event is due, first, to the fact that Santos has been a member of the Unesco Creative Cities Network since 2015 – the only representative of Latin America and one of the 21 creative cities in the world in Cinema – and after being chosen among the more than 30 member cities of the network that applied to host the meeting.

"The Unesco Creative Cities Network Annual Conference is a great opportunity to share experiences. We can show the world what we have developed in Santos and learn from the creative initiatives put into practice across the planet. This cultural exchange is important for us to achieve sustainability and social and human development", highlights Mayor Rogério Santos.

Participating in the activities at the Blue Med Convention Center, the heads of the executive power of cities around the world that are part of the international cooperation chain, high-level representatives of Unesco, Embassies and Consulates and the Ministry of International Relations of Brazil.

Based on a successful experience in the city of Santos with the Creative Villages project, the Conference discussed social inequality. In various creative experiences and practices, the speakers - including mayors - shared their experiences and good practices as leveraged at the local cultural level. Likewise, it can also promote the revitalization of important and even critical urban areas through collaboration between cities.

The Conference's sessions and workshops highlighted the role of creativity as a driving force for building inclusive and egalitarian societies, in line with the global priorities established by UNESCO.

Creative Cities Expo and Artistic-Cultural Schedule

In parallel to the Conference reserved for authorities and guests, the EXPO Brazilian Creative Cities also took place. The objective was to welcome other cities interested in being part of the Unesco Creative Cities Network that want to exchange experiences and learnings regarding public policies of excellence aimed at the creative economy, whether in any of the seven creative fields established by the United Nations: Cinema, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.

- After all, what is the creative economy? It is the set of actions and activities related to culture, technology and creativity that generate revenue and impact on the economy. According to the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), these are sectors in which the value of what is produced is based on intellectual property and creative aspects.

The EXPO Brazilian Creative Cities counted on the participation of professionals and institutions from different sectors of the economy, such as Sebrae (Brazilian Service to Support Micro and Small Companies), USP (University of São Paulo), among others. Among the topics addressed was the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, the importance of environmental, social and corporate governance in companies, themes encompassed in the acronym ESG and even the outstanding startup initiatives in the film production market. EXPO activities took place during the same period as the Conference, from July 18 to 22, also at the Blue Med Convention Center, located in Ponta da Praia, in Santos.

Between the 21st and 24th of July (Thursday to Sunday), the City Hall of Santos, through the Department of Culture, prepared an extensive artistic-cultural program, free of charge and open to the public, in the areas of cinema, music, literature, crafts, design and gastronomy. The activities will be spread throughout the Historic Center of Santos and involve the Creative Cities.

The traditional Teatro Guarany, for example, was the meeting point for cinematographic art, a segment that led the city of Santos to join the UNESCO network.

Another place that hosted various activities was the Museu Pelé. The historic mansion was occupied by exhibitions by award-winning artists whose works are connected to the sustainable development goals of UNESCO and Brazilian design-cities. In addition, it received writers from Baixada Santista for debates on local and national literature; and creators in design and literature in tables and chats, in its Auditorium. The activities at the Museum will also count on the participation of Fábrica Criativa, an initiative that produces street furniture and decorative objects, aiming to train and develop talents for the job market.

A few meters away, in Arcos do Valongo, the gastronomic pavilion of the Conference brought together the flavors created by the main chefs of the region and the Brazilian Creative Cities, in a food area that will house food trucks, a fair and an exhibition of handicrafts, among other attractions.

Casa da Frontaria Azulejada – with exhibitions and sale of various products developed by the artists participating in the meeting – and Praça Mauá – central stage of the musical program, which brings together popular, erudite artists and DJs, covering genres such as jazz, rock, chamber music, MPB, choro and samba, in different formations – completed the list of spaces in the Historic Center that will be moved by the event.

More about the 14th Conference

The 14th Annual UNESCO Creative Cities Conference discussed, among other approaches, how accessibility and inclusion are essential components of the concept of equality, especially when applied to the way in which culture and creativity are incorporated into urban planning and regeneration.

Improved accessibility and cultural activities, especially for marginalized groups and communities, help to strengthen the economic and social fabric of cities. 

- Leveraging creativity to reduce inequalities locally and equally involve city dwellers in cultural life results in more sustainable cities, and thus creates fertile ground for the implementation of more creative initiatives - summarizes the presentation text of the meeting.

In this way, the theme Creativity, Pathway to Equality served as a guiding thread in various components of the Conference, in which member cities collectively reflected on shared opportunities for the implementation of strategies and development plans aimed at greater alignment with priority areas from UNESCO.

During the six Thematic Cross-Cutting Sessions, debates and exchanges structured around the Organization's priorities: Priority Africa and SIDS, Gender Equality, Youth and Marginalized Groups, Climate Resilience, International Cooperation, Innovation and Technology, and Recovery Post-Pandemic.

Throughout these panels, Creative Cities shared ideas based on experiences about the initiatives they have implemented to build sustainable and resilient cities, imagined as spaces where access to art and culture is both facilitated and a tool to fuel social dialogue.

Unesco seal 

Launched in 2004, the Unesco Creative Cities Network aims to promote international cooperation between places that invest in creativity as an engine for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vitality. It serves as an international platform for exchange and collaboration between cities for the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, notably Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities. 

The Network comprises 246 cities from more than 80 Unesco member states, in seven creative areas: crafts and folk art, design, cinema, gastronomy, literature, media and music.

Santos Creative

In order to encourage local and regional development, the City Hall created the Santos Criativa program and the Economic Innovation Office (EIE). In 2015, the city joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the cinema. During this period, the creative economy chain has been growing in Santos. Even the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic were not enough to shrink this market. In 2019, there were 13,642 activities of this area registered in the city. In 2021, the number rose to 17,812, up 30.5%. The growth reaches 156% if considering the 2013 index (6,931).

Creative Villages 

The strategy of Santos Criativa and the EIE is to encourage creative activities in their most diverse expressions, with the aim of promoting economic and social development. The 10 creative villages are at the heart of this strategy. Installed in the most socially vulnerable neighborhoods (lower HDI), they offer professional qualification. In 2021, more than 3,200 students attended courses in the areas of gastronomy, fashion and beauty, sales and technology. This year, new classes are already open. These facilities also offer cultural, sports, recreational and social activities, which makes this public policy in Santos capable of reaching eight thousand people a year in creative villages, strengthening the social, civil and political capacities of disadvantaged groups.

Cinema 

Santos ‘breathes’ cinema, whether due to the wide range of public and private rooms, its scenarios that are gaining more and more space on the big screen, its film festivals or the intense work of audiovisual professionals. These and other characteristics justify the Creative City seal in cinema, granted to Santos by Unesco, in 2015. The City also stands out for offering undergraduate and graduate courses in the audiovisual sector, in addition to free workshops promoted by the Secretary of Culture.

The City Hall also plays an important role in investing in local productions, through the Contest to Support Independent Cultural Projects of the Municipality of Santos (Facult) and the Contest to Support Cultural Projects for Short Films. 

Public School of Cinema: the incentive for audiovisual productions will gain even more strength with the Thematic Center for Cinema in Santos, which will be built in the building attached to the Municipal Market. The complex will have a school and public film studios, expanding spaces for professional training and technical support for local productions.

Santos, scene of the seventh art: since 2007, the Santos Film Commission has already supported 800 national and international productions of the most varied types: films, commercials, photo essays, video clips, series, soap operas, documentaries. Thanks to this work, the scenarios from Santos have already played on screens around the world. 

Cinemas: the City has dozens of commercial rooms, in addition to six public rooms, where the public from all regions of the city has the chance to have fun for free or paying popular prices, as in the case of Cine Arte Posto 4. 

Festivals: the effervescence of cinema is even more intense during the screenings of the Santos Film Festival - Curta Santos, which this year will reach its 20th edition, and also at the Santos Film Fest - Santos International Film Festival, which is being held by eighth time. Also noteworthy is the Mostra das Minas – Mostra Livre de Cinema de Mulheres, with 15 editions already held in the City.

Santos

Santos is the only UNESCO Creative City in the area of Cinema in Latin America. It has the third best Human Development Index (0.840) in the state of São Paulo and the sixth highest HDI among all municipalities in Brazil. The municipality is ranked first in the ranking of the best sanitation in the country (Instituto Trata Brasil) and is the best Brazilian city with more than 100,000 inhabitants for the elderly to live in (Fundação Getúlio Vargas/Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon). Due to its economic, infrastructural and service characteristics, Santos has more prominent positions in the national and international scenarios: it is the first city in Brazil in terms of quality of life, according to the BCI-100 ranking, developed by Delta Economics & Finance Santos; and holds the title of Educating City since 2008, granted by the International Association of Educating Cities (Aice). It is also the first city in the world to consider oceanic culture as a public education policy, being recognized by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

Santos Convention e Visitors Bureau

A great partner of the Municipality, Bureau de Santos is an essential tool to support leisure and business tourism in Santos. It aggregates among its members the main companies from the most varied segments of the local economy, with an emphasis on hotels, events (the entire chain of suppliers and organizers), gastronomy, entertainment and services. The associated companies are inductors of hospitality and partners in the entity's actions. Associativism provides entrepreneurs with the exchange of experiences, mutual benefits and business generation. This makes Santos a city ready to offer memorable experiences to its visitors and provide memories of our city. 

Visit the website UNESCOSANTOS2022.COM.BR 

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