Dr. Nguyen Thi Tam Hanh

Dr. Nguyen Thi Tam Hanh - National Institute of Culture and Arts in Hue made this assessment of Thua Thien Hue this weekend after Hoi An ( Quang Nam ) and Da Lat (Lam Dong) were recognized as members of UCCN at the end of October 2023. In the case of Hue, Dr. Tam Hanh said: "Once becoming a member of UCCN, Hue has the opportunity to put itself on the world map with its cultural assets and vitality, and has more opportunities to connect with global agendas and cooperation on sustainable development".

Dear Madam, after Hanoi , now Hoi An and Da Lat are recognized as members of UCCN. So what are the opportunities and potentials for Hue in the process of becoming a member of this network?

UCCN was established in 2004 with the aim of enhancing cooperation between cities that have been recognized for their innovation, considering this a strategic element for sustainable development in the economic , social and environmental fields.

Not only Hanoi, Hoi An and Da Lat, as far as I know, Ho Chi Minh City has also taken the first steps to join the UCCN Creative Cities Network, an international program that so far has 350 member cities from more than 100 countries.

And, we know that creative cities always take creativity as a driving force for development. There, cultural and creative activities of many different types are an indispensable part of the city's economic and social activities. Hue does not have much financial potential, but Hue has a very special historical position, so Hue has many advantages compared to many other cities in terms of the abundance of cultural capital. Hue is also the educational center of the Central region, a gathering place for intellectuals and artists. In particular, Hue is increasingly open in building policies to encourage innovation and creativity. The most obvious demonstration is that we have had 5 years of implementing the forum "Hue - Creativity for sustainable development", with diverse topics from information technology, green economy, sustainable development, green transportation, cultural industry, creative economy, innovation and human resource development. These are very important foundations for Hue to develop creatively and join the UCCN network.

In addition, Decision No. 1395/QD-BVHTTDL dated April 16, 2021 approving the plan to develop the "Project to develop a network of creative cities within the UNESCO creative city system" of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also identified Hue as one of the potential cities of Vietnam.

To become a member of UCCN, what criteria must be met and what procedures must be followed?

UCCN includes 7 different creative fields: Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Culinary Arts, Literature, Media Arts, Music. The criteria for each of the above fields are not the same. Based on the field that the city intends to register to participate, refer to the criteria set by UCCN. However, regardless of the field, to become a member of UCCN, cities must build a nomination profile to submit to UCCN.

The process of preparing documents that the National Institute of Culture and Arts has supported Vietnamese cities to join UCCN includes the following steps: Establishing an executive board, contact point and professional advisory board (which can be the City's Department of Culture, the Department of Heritage under the Department of Culture, Sports, or the Center for Culture and Information); Researching and mapping cultural assets (overall research and mapping of all cultural, creative and potential assets of the city); Developing a medium-term strategy and a 4-year plan to implement the network's goals.

The strategy also proposes appropriate budgets, funding sources, and the ability to implement the action plan. In addition, an official letter from the City Chairman submitting the application, two official letters of support from major national professional associations in the creative sector to which the city is applying, and a Letter of Support from the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO. It is important to note that in each review round, the National Commission of a UNESCO member state can only support a maximum of two applications in two different creative sectors of a country.

In addition to a complete dossier according to UCCN standards, in order for the dossier to be of quality, the dossier-building process must ensure the active participation of relevant parties, highlight the cultural assets and creativity of the city, and demonstrate a long-term commitment to the missions and goals of UNESCO as well as UCCN...

It is known that Hue's candidacy is aimed at the fields of Crafts and Folk Arts and Cuisine. If you had to prioritize one of the two fields, which field would Hue choose?

Whether it is handicrafts and folk arts or cuisine, it can be seen that Hue has potential. However, prioritizing which field requires calculating many factors with objective research and evaluation and placing it in the overall, strategic development of the city. It should also be noted that a city can participate in UCCN not only in one but in many different fields, and can also change the field it wants to register.

In the process of building the dossier, does Hue need to consult or take advantage of support from 3 cities in Vietnam as well as some other recognized cities in the world?

This is a necessary task and in fact, in the process of building the dossier, cities often organize seminars and conferences at the national and international scale. In addition to consulting not only the local community, the subjects directly related to the registered creative field, the advice of domestic and international experts, representatives of cities in the UCCN network is extremely important. They will point out the strengths and weaknesses of the dossier, the things that need to be supplemented, edited, the experiences they have gone through, including failures. From there, the dossier will be of better quality and this is also a way to gain support, create connections with members of the UCCN network.

So what does Hue need to do now to achieve that soon?

Currently, Hue is in the process of completing the criteria to become a centrally-governed city and is expected to achieve the goal by 2025. It would be ideal if Hue submitted its application to join UCCN in mid-2025. If everything goes well, the review and recognition will fall by the end of October of the same year.

Right now, we need to have a unified policy and immediately implement the first steps. That is, to establish an executive board in charge of building a creative city profile for Hue, conduct research, map cultural assets with the participation of local and national experts, from which, identify potentials and select priority areas. Collecting information and drafting the profile takes a lot of time and requires the active participation of relevant parties. Therefore, if there is a real determination to bring Hue to UCCN, the sooner we unify the policy and initiate the first steps, the more favorable the next steps will be.

Nhat Minh (Implementation)