This Programme Will Help Introduce Us to the 21st Century
Veszprém has submitted its bid for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023. Broadcaster Dávid Szekeres asked mayor Gyula Porga and Zoltán Mészáros, director of Bakony-Balaton 2023 Plc.
Audiences of Méz Rádió were informed about bid content and backstage secrets of the decisionmaking process in the Bakony-Balaton 2023 magazine programme.
Veszprém mayor Gyula Porga talked about the fact that the city’s bid is based on the use of local potential, regional actors, and members of the wider public who are linked to Veszprém. He said: “The bid is unique in the respect that it covers the whole social spectrum of our local community: it is not exclusively based on cultural institutions, but also on smaller groups, e.g. skateboarders, architects, or university student also play a role.”
The mayor stressed that the ECOC programme is not about urban marketing or urban development, but building communities: the bid has been planned with an emphasis on the demand to strengthen communities. Zoltán Mészáros added: people need to be lured out into public spaces; in turn, public spaces will have to be transformed to suit the demands posed by cultural programmes.
“It is with the help of this programme that the city, this community, and this area will enter the 21st century and lay down the foundations of the 21st century. The manner in which we do this is of key importance, as I believe future generations will have to build this further, and it is of course not all the same to us what the 21st century will be like,” – thus Gyula Poga summed up the significance of the bid.
A major advantage of Veszprém is that it primarily defines itself based on its cultural aspects – it was bid leader Bakony-Balaton 2023 Plc director Zoltán Mészáros’s turn to further explain the project. He stressed that in addition to having obvious advantages, Veszprém is also ready to honestly face the difficulties of its situation, an attitude greatly appreciated by the jury after the presentation.
In order to successfully keep overcoming obstacles we need all our strength and energy, – Zoltán Mészáros finished the talk. Let all of us cheer for the bid and let us be active!
(Photo: Attila Domján)
