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Dublin has been presented with its Award for culture engagement, from the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments.
The World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), has presented Dublin City Council (DCC) with their prize as the winners of the Global Award for Culture Engagement. This international award recognises the work of the DCC Culture Company and their innovative responses to providing creative and cultural opportunities in Dublin.
The award was presented this evening at an event in Mexico City to Her Excellency Maeve Von Heynitz, Irish Ambassador to Mexico at the Award Ceremony, at the Esperanza Iris City Theatre in Mexico City. Ambassador Von Heynitz is also the Irish Ambassador to Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras.
Dublin was awarded alongside Buenos Aires, Argentina for their project “Abasto cultural neighbourhood: economic boost and urban regeneration”.
The prize was awarded as recognition of the investment Dublin City Council made establishing and supporting the Culture Company to focus on work that at its heart is about cultural rights. Dublin City Council provides the funding, infrastructure and support to enable our work throughout the city.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Caroline Conroy said ”On behalf of the people of Dublin, and colleagues in Dublin City Council, I am proud to accept this major global award. The innovative approach of the Culture Company to make culture more accessible to everyone in our city now firmly informs our policies, our development plans and our aspirations for Dublin City. Thank you to the UCLG jury and thank you to the City of Mexico.”
Iseult Dunne, CEO of The Culture Company says “Our mission has always been to engage with people and communities through conversation and culture because we know that when people feel connected to their communities, they feel safer, stronger, and are healthier.
It is vital that cultural actions and cultural policy supports the endeavours of communities, of makers, of festivals and of cultural institutions to make culture and heritage an intrinsic part of people’s lives.
This International award is an important validation of our work and now thanks to this award our people-first approach is now a model for local community cultural engagement on the international stage.
At the heart of this Award are the people involved. And thanks to all of those people, participants, artists and makers, cultural spaces and places and the City Council.”
Dublin won the overall Global Award for Culture Engagement for its AWE programme, a new model of connecting people with culture through ‘Accessibility, Wellbeing and Evidence’. Devised by the Culture Company, it puts the people of Dublin at the centre of cultural policy through direct collaboration.
A statement from the awards Jury includes: “The Jury commends the innovative and resolute work of the Culture Company. Through listening and creating responsive actions to improve accessibility and inclusion, more ways into culture during the pandemic were created. The methodology of‘ AWE’ has not only ensured the cultural rights of citizens during the pandemic and beyond, but it included extensive research that could be considered as a benchmark for other cities.”
UCLG and Mondiacult 2022
The Award is presented by UCLG and occurs as part of the The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – Mondiacult 2022. This International high profile event sees the key decision makers in Cities and Governments around the world discuss the importance of culture to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, agreed by the international community as a common aspirational roadmap.
Agenda 21 is the cultural arm of UCLG. Every two years it hosts and international conference and award in recognition for a City in the area of Cultural Policies and the promotion of Cultural Rights. The work of Dublin City Council Culture Company will be presented at several roundtables and presentations over the course of the conference.
