A regional project
Mainly awarded to so-called ‘resilient’ cities that know how to build on their weaknesses and crises to set themselves long-term objectives, this label allows culture to be seen as an accelerator in the service of the transformation of the region. Becoming a European Capital of Culture is a project that serves all those who live in or bring life to an area.
THE APPLICATION AREA
Namur, the capital of Wallonia, is a medium-sized city located at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers. The city is divided into 46 districts and the Province of Namur is made up of 26 towns and communes.
The application will cover not only the City of Namur but also several of its communes. The common thread will be water, and the various projects will be coloured by it. In addition to Namur, 10 of the Province’s 26 other municipalities are crossed by water. Water also links the Walloon capital to the other major cities of Wallonia, Liège and Charleroi, as well as to Brussels, the Ardennes, France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands.
Beyond this territory, other European countries will be involved in our bid, as will several countries outside Europe. All of them will be involved to a greater or lesser extent, notably through our action programme.
CELEBRATING OUR CONFLUENCES
Namur is also, and above all, a Belgian city with the ambition of representing the country in a European cultural year in 2030 to mark its Bicentenary. Celebrating culture and Belgium means celebrating our confluences with Flanders, those of the past and above all those of the future. At the time of writing, threats that must be taken very seriously are undermining the democratic cultural and societal project, unique in the world, embodied by the European Union. The far right is on the rise in many Member States, including Belgium. Because Wallonia seems to have been spared such a surge for the time being, it is important for us to reach out to those in Flemish and European cities who, through art and dialogue (among other confluent strategies), want to stem the tide. What can Wallonia offer them? We want to think about this together and share our practices.
So Namur’s bid is to be rural, urban and river-based; Walloon, Belgian and European. Adjectives to bring us together in a geographical and geopolitical way; axes to develop a coherent and sensitive territory made of our confluences.