Campaigners working on the Cornwall-led European Regions of Culture bid (EROC) are seeking to engage the support of fifty rural regions across the EU. Designed to give areas such as Cornwall similar recognition and benefits as those afforded to cities such as Liverpool under the ‘Capitals of Culture’ programme, EROC is based on the argument that cultural activity is just as vibrant, active and unique in non-urban locations. The campaign has already gathered cross-party backing from a number of influential EU decision-makers, but, in order that the new ‘regional’ designation can be credible additional pledges of formal regional support are needed.
To date, Cornwall has already joined forces with the Polish region of Kujawsko-Pomorskie and also the Finnish region of South Ostrobothnia. As a result, the EROC campaign (which is part-funded by the European Union’s Culture 2007 Programme) has been gathering momentum through 2009, not least with the staging of three conferences in each of the partner regions. Poland held the first conference in Torun back in May with the Finnish leg being held this August before a final event in Cornwall in November. EROC has also had expressions of interest and support from 20+ other regions of Europe including SW Eire, Vidin in Bulgaria, South Denmark, Calabria in Italy, Tallinn in Estonia & Thrace in Greece.
“The bid for this new regional designation is attracting a lot of attention in Europe,” says Campaign Director Miranda Bird. “But there’s still a lot more work to be done. A large number of local and regional politicians from across the EU are onboard but it’s vital that we get these formal pledges of support from other individual regions. Changing or creating new EU policy is no easy task but we are optimistic that it can be done if we get the right amount of backing. It’s time that rural regions like Cornwall were brought into the limelight and given their chance to shine.”
“A lot of hard work has gone into this campaign and already Cornwall has struck up some valuable relationships,” adds Carolyn Rule, Cabinet Member – Economy and Regeneration from Cornwall Council, which is managing the bid. “Given the obvious obstacles of things like the language barrier and the fact that this is something that hasn’t been done before, we’ve achieved an awful lot in a short space of time. The challenge now is to ensure that the momentum is kept up and that the EU regions that could potentially be brought on board are given every opportunity to do so.”
The Cornwall Council managed project is being delivered by the European Regions of Culture Campaign organisation (EROCCO formerly Cornwall Arts Marketing), in partnership with Arts Centre Trust, Arts Council England South West (who are contributing financially to the project), Cornwall Council Creative Unit, Creative Skills, Hall for Cornwall, Tate St Ives and the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO). The bid has also been supported by Cornwall Enterprise and the South West UK Brussels Office.
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