Hojjatullah Ayoubi, Public Relations Officer of the Commission, spoke to IRNA on Saturday, November 21st, 2021, about the successful process of getting Kermanshah to join the UCCN. “Forty-nine cities in the world have joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as of now,” he said. “During this biannual period, the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO nominated two cities to join the Network: Tabriz and Kermanshah.”
The case for Tabriz was in the field of literature and the one for Kermanshah in the field of gastronomy. Both were completed and sent to the Secretariat of Creative Cities. Eventually, Kermanshah became the fifth Iranian city to join the World Creative City Network. Hojjatullah Ayoubi expressed his congratulations to the people of Kermanshah.
Ayoubi considered the selection of Kermanshah as a Creative City for gastronomy in the UCCN to be a great achievement, specifying that it can create opportunities for grander cultural exchanges with other Creative Cities around the world. “This event is an important opportunity to utilize the international capacities of UNESCO and introduce the culture of Islamic Iran to a wider audience,” he said.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was established in 2004, as a way to recognize creativity as a key factor in urban development. The Islamic Republic of Iran has had great success in compiling cases for its cities and getting them approved to join this Network. Iran has an extensive history in its urban civilizations, and urban development has been rapidly improving in recent years as well. With every new Iranian city that joins the UCCN, a new opportunity to share and communicate their lived experiences arises.
Creative and cultural inspirations Kermansah can provide to urban recovery post-COVID
In an official letter to the Mayor of Kermanshah Saeed Tolouei on November 17th, 2021, Ernesto Aton, UNESCO Deputy Minister of Culture, congratulated Kermanshah on its membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
In this letter, the UNESCO Deputy Minister of Culture stated: “I am pleased to announce that after reviewing Kermanshah’s application for membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), the city has been accepted to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of gastronomy. I congratulate you on this achievement.”
“Kermanshah, by joining the Network of Creative Cities, now commits itself to paying special attention to the culture and creativity present in the actions the city does in sustainable development,” continued Aton in his letter. “The city’s efforts to actually incorporate culture and creativity into the city’s post-COVID recovery plans are inspiring.”
Aton concludes, “Kermanshah, as a member of the Network, is required to submit a performance report on its activities every four years. This report should show the implementation of UCCN goals both locally and internationally, and I hope that Kermanshah will be actively involved in the network’s joint activities, especially the annual conference of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which is the most important annual gathering of the network.”
Making the city public, safe, sustainable, and resilient
In the letter to the mayor of Kermanshah, the UNESCO Deputy Minister of Culture also noted that “sharing knowledge, innovative initiatives, experiences and appropriate methods” are among the most important goals of the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities. As a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network family, Kermanshah’s expertise as well as its non-cash or financial contributions will play an important role in the continued success of the Network.
Kermanshah has joined UCCN as it enters the last decade of action to achieve its sustainable development goals. The city is expected to focus on its Sustainable Development Goals—especially Goal 11 (making cities public, safe, resilient, and sustainable)—in its future development strategies and plans. The mayor was encouraged to keep in touch with the UCCN Secretariat as well as other network member cities on a regular basis to work together to achieve this goal.
Kermanshah being chosen as a Creative Cities Network member is an opportunity to introduce the culture of Islamic Iran
According to IRNA, the UNESCO office in Paris on Monday, November 9th, selected 49 cities in the world as creative cities for gastronomy with only Kermanshah being an Iranian city present on that list.
The UNESCO Cultural, Educational and Social Organization, which has secretariats in 198 countries, has been selecting cities that are talented in the seven areas of literature, design, crafts and folk art, film, music, media arts, and gastronomy since 2004. Previously, 36 cities from 28 countries were included in the Creative Cities for gastronomy. In Iran, the cities of Isfahan and Bandar-Abbas are members of the crafts and folk art Creative Cities, Rasht is a part of the gastronomy Creative Cities, and Sanandaj is included in the Creative Cities for music.
The Kermanshah province has a wide variety of cuisines that make it worthy of being a part of the gastronomy Creative Cities, with about 80 types of dishes, 11 types of bread, and 20 types of sweets. Foods such as Kermashani oil, sliced stew, and grilled ribs are amongst its most popular.
