České Budějovice successfully completed the first monitoring meeting!

11. December 2024

On November 12, 2024, a meeting of the international panel of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) under the European Commission took place with representatives of the České Budějovice 2028 team, led by Mayor Dagmar Škodová Parmová.

The aim of this meeting, held every 1.5 years, is to evaluate the current direction of the ECoC project based on a pre-submitted 50-page report followed by a two-hour discussion.

During the discussion, the expert panel was presented with the current status of the ECoC project. Since June 30, 2023, when České Budějovice were awarded the title of European Capital of Culture for 2028, the team of the registered institute and its partners have managed to:

  • implemented 36 public events, including the South Svéráz Theater Festival, discussions, and workshops for the public as part of the Womenpedia project, as well as the historic first joint concert of music ensembles from České Budějovice, Ode to My City,

  • organized 15 full-day workshops for cultural organizations under the name Audience Gym to prepare a high-quality program for 2028,

  • engaged the population from various parts of the South Bohemian Region through community projects as part of the Kul.turista initiative,

  • reached out to students in České Budějovice and connected them with their international peers through the Young Creators project,

  • established the Creative Minds program for creative education and piloted it in schools,

  • ​​​​​​anchored České Budějovice in prestigious international networks such as Culture Action Europe, Culture Next, and the European project CreArt,

  • set up the registered institute, which was established by the statutory city of České Budějovice,

  • created a system of indicators to measure the impacts, outputs, and results of the ECoC project.

In addition to these specific successes, the panel was also presented with the progress made by the statutory city of České Budějovice and the South Bohemian Region in preparing infrastructure projects.

Based on the submitted materials, the presentation, and the discussion, České Budějovice received the monitoring report from the expert panel (First Monitoring Meeting Report by the ECoC Expert Panel). In the report, the panel praised the commitment and dedication of the České Budějovice 2028 team in carrying out the ambitious ECoC program.

The presentation and subsequent discussion confirmed the systematic and planned approach to fulfilling the application, the innovative methods of implementing the program, and the adherence to the vision on which the city was awarded the title.

The panel further highlighted the detailed development of the application into the implementation plan, the development of European partnerships, and the involvement of local residents. Key recommendations for the upcoming period include:

  • continue implementing the ECoC with a focus on results in all priorities (program, capacity building, resident engagement, monitoring and evaluation, marketing, etc.),
  • conduct research studies to measure the impacts of ECoC by 2029,
  • intensively involve disadvantaged groups of the population through educational and community activities,
  • deepen cooperation with European partners,
  • develop a comprehensive marketing and communication plan,
  • stabilize the team in key positions and ensure the organization's personnel growth,
  • continuously monitor the status of infrastructure projects and prepare a contingency plan in case of delays,
  • implement an effective communication and feedback system with ECoC partners.
These recommendations, along with the overall direction of the project, will be evaluated during the second monitoring meeting in the spring of 2026 and the final third meeting in the fall of 2027. Based on the results of the third meeting, the panel will issue recommendations to the European Commission on whether to award České Budějovice 2028 the Melina Mercouri Prize for fulfilling the concept of the winning application, which is accompanied by a financial reward of 1.5 million euros.