ILOILO City has submitted its bid for the Creative City of Gastronomy to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
Mayor Jerry Treñas is hopeful for strong global promotions once the city is included in Unesco's coveted citation, one of seven creative fields that also include Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Literature, Media Arts and Music.
“Iloilo City is a gastronomic hotspot waiting to be explored, experienced, and enjoyed. The City of Love is passionate to offer its culinary assets to suit every discriminating palate. Our affection for cooking arouses the sense of pride of our people, culture and heritage,” Treñas wrote Unesco Creative City Network (UCCN) Secretariat based in Paris, France.
“Our flair for food stirs our strive toward self-sufficiency and sustainability, especially now that we are fighting the pandemic. We are closely working together with both public and private sectors in moving as one towards healing and recovery,” he added.
There are two Philippine cities in UCCN's prestigious titles, Baguio for Crafts and Cebu for Design.
Ilonggo cooking tries its luck to catch the interest of Unesco, citing its rich cuisines and food security.
As part of the proposal, various plans have been identified for advocacy awareness and appreciation, innovations and initiatives for implementation to boost the gastronomy industry.
“The Ilonggo community is confident that by clinching the Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy, this will continue to guide us in achieving our goals of growth, progress and sustainable development. We look forward to more collaborations with UCCN,” said Treñas.
Created in 2004, UCCN fosters international cooperation within and across cities that have invested in culture and creativity as an accelerator of sustainable development.
They have a common mission: placing creativity and cultural industries at the core of their development strategies to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, according to its website.
As laboratories of ideas and innovative practices, recipient cities bring a concrete contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda through policy-making and grass-root projects promoting the participation of all stakeholders, including women, youth and vulnerable groups.
A city may be designated as such based on the contents, impact and outreach of its proposed action plan and its potential contribution.
It is in conformity with the procedure set following internal technical pre-screening and an external evaluation with Unesco-designated independent specialized experts and other sectors. (PR)