Bengaluru Becomes 1st Indian City to Join World Cities Culture Forum

Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka became the first Indian city to be part of the World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF), a global network of cities that share research and intelligence to explore the role of culture in future prosperity. Bengaluru became the 41st city to join the forum and the network currently includes 40 cities across six continents. The forum includes cities like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Dubai. 

Bengaluru’s way to WCCF:

• The participative project called Unboxing Bangalore is established to create a new narrative around Bengaluru through multimedia properties and they have been representing the city and leading the discussions.
• WCCF will work closely with Unboxing BLR Foundation, a not-for-profit initiative cofounded in April 2022 by Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner of Accel India and Philanthropist, and journalist Malini Goyal.

About WCCF

• It was founded in 2012 by Justine Simons, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture & the Creative Industries. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire(OBE) in 2015 by Queen Elizabeth for her Services to Culture in London.
• WCCF partners share the belief that culture is the key to their future as sustainable urban centres.
• The WCCF undertakes comparative research to assess the impact and significance of culture and creativity and shares its findings with the Forum so that partner cities can make evidence-based policy decisions.
• Forum partners collaborate through a series of events that includes themed symposia, regional summits, and workshops and These activities contribute to the yearly World Cities Culture Summit.

About Bengaluru cultural aspects

• Bengaluru is commonly referred to as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ because of its role as the nation’s leading information technology exporter.
• Bengaluru is home to more than 30 government and private museums that showcase the city’s rich history, art and culture. India’s first interactive music museum opened in 2019.
• As the “Garden City of India”, it has many green spaces including two nationally recognised botanical gardens, Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park that act as green lungs for the city.
• The variety of festivals and cultural events takes place including The Bengaluru International Film Festival, The Bangalore Literature Festival, Bengaluru Design Festival and Future Fantastic Festival.

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