Delegates from eight UNESCO Creative Cities from around the world have arrived in Paducah for the annual Crafts and Folk Arts international meeting. It’s the city’s first opportunity to host since it became a UNESCO member in 2013.
KET host Renee Shaw asked the delegates in a forum to reflect on the mission of creative cities amid an environment of ‘arts depreciation.’
Iowa UNESCO City of Literature delegate John Kenyon said from a cultural perspective, the isolationist rhetoric coming from Washington has been frustrating.
“It's very difficult to hate someone if you know someone. One of the best ways to get to know someone, because understandably you can't meet all the other six billion people on the planet, is through the arts, through literature, through crafts and folk art, through film through music...” Kenyon said.
The panel agreed on UNESCO’s mission of “placing culture at the heart of development policies.”
Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless said “we may be small by population, but we think big.”
Paducah is doing so many things right, according to Chuck Fluharty, CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute at the University of Iowa. “We've got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, to build next generation,” said Fluharty.
Fluharty said through Next Generation they have figured out a 'model for change.' Hd said, if Paducah wants to continue its progressive path, it has to keep millennials engaged.
“If you don't build diverse places where young people are given self-expression in government and in the community that place is going to die.” Fluharty said.
If they're not coming, if they are not engaged authentically in the community, Fluharty said to reach out to them. Whether it is at school, church or even the local 4-H, he said.
“Having a young mayor is really really critical. But young mayors can become the object of folks that are concerned about change. Young mayors can also reach out and bridge some generations. And the biggest demographic challenge places have with gentrification is that structural division between the old timers and everything else that's got to be addressed in a community like Paducah.” If a community is headed towards gentrification, Fluharty said it is headed in the wrong direction.
Marry Hammond with the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau said “I believe you have to know yourself before you can offer anything to anyone else. Culture has many words.”
Culture creates opportunities for self expression and identity--from that, Hammond said comes innovation, entrepreneurship and grass roots efforts to promote local heritage. “We are more than just four exits off the highway”, she said. “We have rich heritage.”
UNESCO cities have 17 sustainable development ‘goals to transform our world.’
“Culture is who we are and what shapes our identity. Culture contributes to poverty reduction and paves the way for a human centered, inclusive and equitable development. No development can be sustainable without it. Placing culture at the heart of development policies constitutes an essential investment in the world’s future and re-condition to successful globalization processes that take into account the principle of cultural diversity.” - Sustainable Development Goals for Culture on the 2030 Agenda.
Events throughout the week focus on education, sustainable economic development, and arts and culture revitalization projects.
