Matosinhos became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, in the Gastronomy aspect, joining a restricted list of Portuguese municipalities distinguished by the organization for their contribution to promoting culture and creative industries, it was revealed this Friday, October 31st.
The announcement was made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which this year distinguished 58 more cities in eight categories.
In 2016, that municipality in the Porto district had already officially submitted an application to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, but in the Design category, mobilizing schools, companies, associations and local institutions to emphasize its creative ecosystem, architectural heritage and training and business offerings linked to design.
However, to date, Matosinhos was not selected and has now achieved UNESCO recognition in the area of Gastronomy.
According to the official page developed by the municipality for this purpose, the application presented was based on an extensive process of consultation and involvement of the main actors in the local gastronomic sector, with data collected from more than 400 restaurants, focus groups held with sector entities, 14 individual interviews and partnerships with international creative cities being promoted.
The municipality’s objective was to build a robust Action Plan, oriented towards sustainability, valorization of gastronomic heritage and global cooperation, affirming Matosinhos as a gastronomic destination of excellence and reinforcing its cultural and economic identity.
Among the 58 cities that join the network this year are, in addition to Matosinhos, locations on all continents, including Kisumu (Kenya) and New Orleans (United States of America), both in the area of music, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in design, Giza (Egypt) in cinema, Cuenca (Ecuador) in gastronomy, Rovaniemi (Finland) in architecture, Malang (Indonesia) in digital arts and Aberystwyth (United Kingdom) in literature, among others.
The list also includes the Angolan city of Lubango, in the Crafts and Popular Arts category, and the Brazilian city of São Paulo, in Cinema.
This year, UNESCO integrated the theme “Architecture” for the first time into the Creative Cities Network, joining the seven existing domains: Crafts and Popular Arts, Digital Arts, Design, Cinema, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
Created in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network currently includes 408 cities, in more than 100 countries, promoting international cooperation and recognizing the commitment to sectors such as gastronomy, music, literature, design, digital arts, crafts and cinema.
In addition to Matosinhos, Portugal already has Idanha-a-Nova (Music), Óbidos (Literature), Amarante (Music), Barcelos (Crafts and Popular Arts), Braga (Digital Arts), Caldas da Rainha (Crafts and Popular Arts), Leiria (Music), Covilhã (Design), Santa Maria da Feira (Gastronomy) and Castelo Branco (Crafts and Popular Arts) in the Network of UNESCO Creative Cities.
The network aims to promote mutual international cooperation with and between member cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver of sustainable urban development, social and cultural inclusion.
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