Dundee welcomes major UNESCO event
City of Design representatives from around the world have to come and see what the City of Discovery has to offer
Twenty-four design representatives from around the world are in Dundee this week for a major UNESCO summit.
Delegates from design cities including Detroit, Brasilia, Geelong, Helsinki, Istanbul, Montreal, Nagoya and Wuhan are spending five days in Dundee to discuss how design can help improve lives.
Dundee has been in the spotlight on the design world stage recently, with projects including the 2023 European Capital of Culture bid and most recently, the opening of V&A Dundee one month ago.
It is hoped that by hosting the major event, representatives from the visiting cities will be able to take inspiration from the City of Discovery home to their own communities.
UNESCO’s focal point for Cape Town, Robin Jutzen said: “Funnily enough, I was in Dundee thirty years ago on a school tour and I must say that the changes have been magnificent.
“I can definitely see a different energy about the place, and the link to culture is quite apparent in the architecture.
“Often you have ideas that try to land within in the city, but they are pushed only in certain circles, or in the top layer of city government.
“I think what has been done here, is that it has been pulled through different sectors of society successfully”.
Anna Day from UNESCO Dundee said: “We hope that they will buy the products here, we hope that they will include Dundee design and future design festivals in Helsinki, and other festivals around the world, so we hope that this little bit of Dundee will travel”.