Did you know that in Turku, audiences can be nudged towards low-carbon travel through a joint ticketing system that links cultural events with public transport? Or that in Bologna, civic museums are rolling out “cultural prescriptions”, partnering with the regional health service to use cultural participation as a pathway to wellbeing and inclusion, including for vulnerable groups?
These are just two of the 100+ local initiatives featured in Culture for sustainable and inclusive cities, the new Eurocities catalogue showing how the cities who have signed the Eurocities Lille Call to Action are making culture a driver of both ecological transition and social inclusion.
The publication also acts as an open invitation to join the Eurocities Lille Call to Action for low carbon and more inclusive culture, a political commitment launched by Eurocities in 2022. Now signed by 60 European local authorities, the Call to Action offers a shared framework for cities that want cultural life to be part of the solution, cutting emissions while widening participation and strengthening belonging.
As André Sobczak, Eurocities Secretary General, explains: “Cities are at the forefront of the fight against climate change, the push for more inclusive societies and towards systemic change. These challenges converge in cities, and it is at the local level that innovative and practical solutions emerge, close to people’s everyday lives.”
