EU Monitoring and Advisory Panel to recommend awarding 1.5 million euros to Capital of Culture Turku

On April 28th 2010, the European Capital of Culture Monitoring and Advisory Panel received status updates from the 2011 Capitals of Culture, Turku and Tallinn, regarding the upcoming programme and related administration work.

Based on the information, the panel decided to recommend that Turku is awarded with the Melina Mercouri prize of 1.5 million euros.

The evaluation panel consists of seven members appointed by EU institutions. The panel is chaired by Sir Robert Scott from the UK. The 2010 European Capitals of Culture are the first cities that will be evaluated twice by the evaluation panel after been given the Capital of Culture status.

The progress of the 2011 European Capitals of Culture Turku and Tallinn preparation work was evaluated for the first time at the end of 2008 and for the second time in April 2010. As a new part of the evaluation process, the panel can recommend that the city is awarded with the Melina Mercouri prize, named after the former Greek Minister for Culture. In 1985, Mercouri proposed establishing the European Capital of Culture programme. Athens, Greece, was the first city to apply for the title.

In the event, the status of Capital of Culture Turku was reported by Turku 2011 Foundation CEO Cay Sevón, Programme Director Suvi Innilä and Director Mikko Lohikoski from the City of Turku.

Capitals of Culture are required to both be international and ensure local participation

The purpose of the European Capital of Culture nomination is to promote the richness and diversity of European culture and to highlight the characteristics that Europeans share. The goal is also to increase knowledge and mutual understanding among European citizens.

In the April monitoring and advisory meeting, the programme for the upcoming Capitals of Culture was evaluated with two criteria, "European dimension" and "City and citizens".

The goals for fulfilling the European Dimension category are that the Capital of Culture programme will increase the cooperation between European cultural actors, highlight the richness of European culture and present European culture in versatile ways. The local category emphasises, for example, the participation opportunities that the local and regional residents have as well as the development actions that create long-term local effects.

The evaluation panel gave thanks to the Turku preparation work for its strong and balanced method of organising the Capital of Culture work in wide cooperation with different organisations and actors in the city. According to the panel, the long-term impacts for city development after 2011 are potentially very positive, if the issue is given the focus it requires beforehand. With regard to the European dimension criteria, the panel called for stronger focus on the theme in the future when presenting the Turku programme in public.

Based on the evaluation, the Monitoring and Advisory Panel for the European Capital of Culture decided to recommend that Turku is awarded with the Melina Mercouri prize. The prize sum, 1.5 million euros, will be paid to Capital of Culture Turku in full during early October.