MAYOR of Liverpool Joanne Anderson will tomorrow (Friday 1 October) address the Eurocities culture forum on culture and recovery.
The culture and creative economy across Europe lost about 31 per cent of its turnover in 2020, making it one of the hardest hit sectors. Mayor Joanne will be sharing Liverpool’s experience and approach to culture at the online political exchange, hosted by the city of Tampere, Finland.
Other speakers include the mayors or deputy mayors of Arezzo, Lille, Chemnitz, Brno, Stockholm, Bergen, Munich and Leeds. Cllr Harry Doyle, Liverpool’s cabinet member for culture and the visitor economy, will also be taking part in the event.
The mayor will speak about the legacy Liverpool has enjoyed since its time as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and how culture and the arts have underpinned its visitor economy since.
Attendees will hear about how Liverpool’s success has been built on making sure that both high-profile events and grassroots activity are given equal weight. And this has continued not only through a decade of austerity, but also as the city emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The city moved quickly to support the culture and hospitality sector in 2020 with its innovative Liverpool Without Walls approach that became a blueprint for other UK cities and was also asked to lead the government’s Events Research Programme opening the first nightclub, the first festival and the first business conference since lockdown restrictions were put in place.
In 2020/21, Culture Liverpool supported 125 companies and organisations, and directly supported 55 artists. But plans stretch far beyond this year, and this is set out in its cultural vision – Developing a Cultural Strategy – that reaches 2030.
Mayor Joanne will also address the other post-pandemic challenges that all cities face including the importance of arts education, how culture can drive footfall into hard-hit city centres, and how cities in the same country must work together as they increasingly compete for the same visitors.
Said Mayor Joanne: “I am an internationalist and a European and the relationship with Eurocities is needed more than ever. Liverpool was the only UK European Capital of Culture and we will never underestimate the word European as we move forward.”
