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The living intelligence of the European Capital of Culture.

411 documents in the Archive and counting178 cities, 1985–2030

Free and public. Answers come from the archive’s bid books and evaluations, each cited to the page.

byCulture Next&Whitelabel

The Archive

173 bid books, 46 evaluations, 32 countries. Ask anything and get an answer cited to the page.

Always live

New strategies, evaluations and member updates are added as cities publish them. 87 member contributions so far.

The Network

See how other cities' plans line up with yours, and get put in touch.

Culture 2030 Goal

The Lab

Maps themes across the whole network against the SDGs and the Culture Goal, ready for the UN Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development (2027 to 2036).

Co-designed with the cities of the Culture Next SDG Lab

  • Brno
  • Larnaka
  • Leuven
  • Novi Sad
  • Oulu
  • Lublin
  • Leeuwarden-Fryslân
  • Chemnitz
  • České Budějovice
  • Cáceres
  • Jerez
  • Faro
  • Debrecen
  • Bielsko-Biała
  • Cluj-Napoca
City teams working together around a table at a Culture Next SDG Lab session
A Culture Next SDG Lab session

The Lab

Cities working it out together

The Culture Next SDG Lab brings city teams into one room to show how culture drives inclusion, wellbeing, livelihoods, governance and a sense of place.

Encore carries that work between sessions: it maps themes across the whole network against the SDGs and the Culture Goal, ready for the UN Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development (2027 to 2036).

Sign up to get our next paper, ‘Culture Counts’, when it launches
Culture 2030 GoalSupporting the #culture2030goal campaign

Explore the Lab’s cities

Brno

Legacy trace pilot

Larnaka

Culture as democratic transformation

Leuven

Culture as radical connection

Novi Sad

Participation and continuity

Oulu

Identity transformation, title year 2026

Lublin

Poland

Leeuwarden-Fryslân

Netherlands

Chemnitz

Germany

České Budějovice

Czechia

Cáceres

Spain

Jerez

Spain

Faro

Portugal

Debrecen

Hungary

Bielsko-Biała

Poland

Cluj-Napoca

Romania

The Archive

Step into the reading room

173 bid books46 evaluations87 member submissions

Enter the Archive
San Sebastián, Evaluation · 2016
San SebastiánEvaluation · 2016
Cross-city (Network of Cultural Cities of Europe), Evaluation · 1994
Cross-city (Network of Cultural Cities of Europe)Evaluation · 1994
Linz 2009 — Evaluation Report, Evaluation
Linz 2009 — Evaluation ReportEvaluation
Liverpool, Evaluation · 2008
LiverpoolEvaluation · 2008
České Budějovice (Budweis), Bid book · 2028
České Budějovice (Budweis)Bid book · 2028
Split, Bid book · 2020
SplitBid book · 2020
Varna, Bid book · 2019
VarnaBid book · 2019
Reggio Calabria, Bid book · 2019
Reggio CalabriaBid book · 2019
Shumen, Bid book · 2019
ShumenBid book · 2019
Cagliari, Bid book · 2019
CagliariBid book · 2019
Cover of Culture Counts

The paper · Coming soon

Culture Counts

What the European Capital of Culture cities reveal about culture and the Sustainable Development Goals. A Culture Next advocacy theme report on culture and the SDGs.

Draft for consultation · Oulu, October 2026 · Brussels, December 2026