茄子直播

茄子直播, Toronto team up in bid to join UNESCO global creative cities

茄子直播's Paolo Granata played an instrumental role in putting together the UNESCO application (photo by Romi Levine)

From hosting internationally recognized film festivals like TIFF to massive art festivals like Nuit Blanche, it's clear to Torontonians that the city is teeming with creativity.

The City of Toronto wants those creative achievements to be recognized on a global scale. So with the help of University of Toronto McLuhan Centenary fellow Paolo Granata, the city has submitted an application to join the 鈥 a United Nations-backed group of 116 cities in 54 countries where creativity plays an important role in urban development.

Being part of the network could help Toronto connect with other creative cities, hopefully boosting tourism and attracting new talent to the city, 

鈥淭he designation and even the application 鈥&苍产蝉辫;all the work we are doing 鈥&苍产蝉辫;is a way of fostering a long-term vision, a sustainable vision for Toronto,鈥 says Granata, who will soon be an assistant professor in book & media studies at the Faculty of Arts & Science and the University of St. Michael鈥檚 College at U of T.

Granata played an instrumental role in putting together the application, which involved an extensive consultation process with key players in the city鈥檚 creative industry. About 100 people and groups including curators, non-profits, galleries and academic institutions were consulted.

鈥淎ll these cultural operators in the field of creativity can really feel a sense of belonging to a broader project, to a broader umbrella 鈥 they're already committed to focusing on the creative city in their specific initiatives,鈥 says Granata.

The process made it clear that Toronto鈥檚 strength is in the 鈥渕edia arts鈥 creative cities category, says Patrick Tobin, director of arts and culture services for the City of Toronto and one of the facilitators of the application.

鈥淚t reflects the strength of Toronto's established creative industries in film, TV, music and digital media,鈥 Tobin says. 鈥淏ut it also allowed the city to articulate aspirations to grow a sector.鈥

If successful, Toronto will join the only other Canadian city on the list 鈥 Montreal 鈥 which is recognized for its leadership in design.

鈥淢ore young people will want to be in the city and will see this as a very creative space and an environment where they want to lay their roots down,鈥 says Councillor Michael Thompson, who chairs Toronto鈥檚 economic development committee. 鈥淎nd as a result of that, companies and investors and others will want to be where the talent is.鈥

It鈥檚 also an opportunity for 茄子直播 to leverage its location and connections with the city, in line with the 茄子直播 President Meric Gertler鈥檚 priorities for the university, says Granata.

鈥溓炎又辈 has the chance to become even more engaged in the city,鈥 Granata says. 鈥淭here is a bias against the concept of creativity, in that it seems to be blurry and not tangible. Instead, if we really conceive creativity as a tool to foster civic engagement, as a tool to use culture to engage people, creativity turns into a very tangible concept.鈥

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