A creative city is a better place in which to live, work and play. It is a city that appreciates the advantage of investing in entrepreneurship and innovation.

The main aim of Creative Cities – an international project that the British Council is launching in the spring of 2008 – is to give young, influential people the tools to transform their cities into better places.

The project will be arranged with partners in various private and public organisations and European cities who understand that innovation is the basis of sustainable development in the modern world.

The project aims to find one or two cities in the UK, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia that have the potential to become creative cities.

The young people will receive leadership and entrepreneurial training, and will acquire the knowledge and skills to enable them to participate in making decisions about public spaces, contributing to arts and social activities and influencing policies that bring more business to the city.

Throughout their involvement, cities will be able to establish a competitive advantage for themselves and attract creative talent to contribute to their cities’ future economic growth.

Among the planned activities are:

• Future City Game – which will be played in several cities across Europe; it has already been successfully used for city planning in Norway and Columbia
• Urban Ideas Bakery – will be organised in many cities; a group of experts in a mobile office will travel from city to city
• an education programme on knowledge economies and innovative city planning – designed with the leading universities in the region
• a branding competition – participants create a logo and a visual identity for the projects and wider audiences will be involved in choosing the winner.

For further information on the project, please contact Ted Matthews