A streamlined "opening the way" mechanism is urgently needed.

VHO - In the context of Vietnam's efforts to promote the development of its cultural industry and build creative cities, participation in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is no longer just a symbolic title, but has become a strategic choice.

Hoi An joins the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). Photo: B.LINH

This is the path for cities to assert their position on the global innovation map, while also opening up opportunities for connection, cooperation, attracting resources, and promoting sustainable development based on culture.

Allow local authorities to be more proactive.

Therefore, the Government's issuance of Decree 308/2025/ND-CP is an important step, creating a legal framework for building and submitting dossiers to participate in UNESCO mechanisms, including the Creative Cities Network.

However, looking at the practical implementation and the increasingly high demands of UNESCO, it can be seen that although the current regulations have laid the foundation, they still need to be adjusted soon in a more flexible and constructive direction to truly "pave the way" for localities.

A Creative City application, lacking the participation of sectors such as urban planning, education , creative industries, tourism, media, and the private sector, will likely fail to meet UNESCO's requirements. More importantly, even if recognized, implementation will be fraught with difficulties. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate mechanisms that allow local authorities to be more proactive from the outset.

First, it must be affirmed that the Decree has established a strict management process: from the locality's proposal, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's assessment, to the Prime Minister's decision on submission to UNESCO. This approach ensures uniformity in cultural diplomacy, avoiding uncontrolled and widespread proposals. However, the problem lies in the fact that this process still heavily reflects a "nomination dossier" mindset, while the nature of the Creative Cities Network is completely different. Unlike heritage titles, a Creative City dossier is not just about proving "what it has," but more importantly, answering the question "what it will do."

It is a commitment to future development, with a specific action plan, clear operating mechanisms, the participation of the creative community, and guaranteed financial resources. In other words, this is a strategic urban development document that cannot be left solely to a specialized agency like the cultural sector to implement in the traditional way.

It is at this point that Decree 308 reveals a gap, as it lacks specific regulations on the organizational structure for compiling dossiers at the local level, easily leading to a situation where the cultural sector alone has to perform a multi-sectoral task.

A Creative City application, lacking the participation of sectors such as urban planning, education, creative industries, tourism, media, and the private sector, will likely fail to meet UNESCO's requirements. More importantly, even if recognized, implementation will face numerous challenges.

Therefore, it is essential to add mechanisms that allow localities to be more proactive from the outset. The requirement to "apply for permission to prepare the dossier" should not be considered a mandatory procedure before starting the preparation. In practice, building a dossier that meets international standards requires at least one to two years of research, surveys, consultations, and testing. Without allowing proactive preparation early on, localities will always be in a passive position and struggle to keep up with UNESCO's selection cycle.

Design a sufficiently clear "pathway".

Another point that needs reconsideration is the "adherence to UNESCO regulations" regarding the components of the dossier. This approach helps avoid duplication, but it lacks national guidance.

While UNESCO only provides a general framework, each country needs its own criteria to select the most suitable applications. This is because each selection cycle usually limits the number of applications from a country, and even requires a diverse range of creative fields. Without a clear pre-selection mechanism, it can easily lead to undirected internal competition or suboptimal selections.

International experience shows that countries successful in this network all have very strong support mechanisms from the central government: from technical guidance, staff training, expert connections to support in developing application content.

Meanwhile, our current regulations only go as far as the assessment and approval stages, failing to clearly demonstrate the "partnership" role of state management agencies. This is a significant gap, because Creative City applications not only need to comply with regulations, but also need to be "written correctly" and "tell the story correctly" according to international standards.

Another problem is the mindset of "only developing the proposal after approval." In reality, UNESCO thoroughly evaluates the four-year action plan right from the application dossier. Without preparation from the beginning, developing the proposal after approval will be merely a formality and lack feasibility.

Therefore, adjustments are needed so that the Creative City development plan is a core part of the application, not a subsequent step. From the above analysis, it can be seen that what localities need is not just a management process, but a constructive support mechanism. A mechanism that allows them to proactively prepare, receive in-depth guidance, make transparent selections, and be accompanied throughout the entire process from application preparation to post-recognition implementation.

In this new context, as cities like Hue are shaping their development strategies based on culture and creativity, participation in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is not just a goal, but a development tool. However, for that tool to be effective, a suitable institutional framework is needed, one that is not only correct in terms of management, but also correct in terms of the nature of creativity.

In short, if we consider the Creative City initiative as a long journey, then Decree 308 only outlines the "starting point." The next step is to design a "road" that is sufficiently open, flexible, and supportive so that localities can reach their destination—not just be recognized, but truly become vibrant, creative, and sustainable cities.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/can-lam-mot-co-che-mo-duong-thong-thoang-225267.html