Obtaining the status by 2020 is the target of Anna Loporcaro, member of the Creative Industries Cluster task force Olivier Minaire

Obtaining the status by 2020 is the target of Anna Loporcaro, member of the Creative Industries Cluster task force Olivier Minaire

Obtaining the status, which is already held by 22 other cities, is the wish of Anna Loporcaro, member of the Creative Industries Cluster, which launched at the beginning of February in Luxembourg.

“It’s a two-year process doing the application and gathering stakeholders together. Afterwards, we have to be aware of the fact it’s not just a label we have to be a real creative design city and make actions,” Loporcaro told Delano on Tuesday saying that it was far from being a fait accompli.

Eberhard Schrempf of Creative Industries Styria told attendees of the cluster kick-off meeting on February 1 about the process of transforming Graz, Austria, into a Unesco City of Design.

He is a member of the jury for selecting new cities and has consulted with the Luxembourg cluster task force on how this can be achieved in the Grand Duchy.

“He also says we’ve a lot of good points to enter this network,” Lopocaro said, explaining that Graz was a good model for Luxembourg City to follow since both had Unesco World Heritage status but managed to fuse old and contemporary elements in one city.

“All the actions he mentioned in his lecture we’re doing a lot…The only part missing in Luxembourg is the educational part. We’ve no academy or university for design.”

Anchoring design concepts in the education system is one of the cluster’s eleven goals. 

Though Loporcaro recognises it will take years to achieve, she said there is already a basis with the Lycée des Arts et Métiers.

The one big unknown in the application process will be getting the backing of the capital’s mayor, who must sign the application. This will not be easy since the next mayor will not be known until after communal elections this autumn.

“In October, we will know who will be the next mayor and we will have two years to apply. Fingers crossed,” Loporcaro said.

Check out the April print edition of Delano for a longer version of this article.