KUCHING: A diverse group of 120 participants attended the UCCN Kuching’s Open Forum in preparation for the forthcoming Kuching Festival.
The forum featured the future of food, the aims of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network internationally and UCCN Kuching’s own response to the city’s designation in terms of its four-year action plan.
Head of UCCN Kuching and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng said they are seeking to grow and develop the creative economy in gastronomy and across six other creative fields.
“The Council and UCCN Kuching have their role to play but this project is much bigger than that. This project involves all our gastronomic and creative players in the city working as one.
“We want to hear from you, the people who drive our city. We want you to shape this programme with your opinions and ideas.
“We want you to tell us how best to support you and we want you to meet each other and to develop new relationships,” said the mayor in his opening speech at the forum today.
Debates were conducted around the room on the eleven priority areas of collaboration identified by the UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy – Academic/Scientific; Communications; Creative Economy; Cultural Identity; Economic Development; Education; Food Security and Food Justice; Policies; Sustainability; Tourism and Traditional Knowledge.
UCCN Kuching Strategic Director Karen Shepherd stressed the collaborative nature of the project going forward.
“We have been competing with each other for a domestic market. We cannot continue to do this. Now, we have the chance to collaborate with each other so we can compete on a global stage.
“Only then can our Sarawak gastronomic and creative economy grow. Today’s forum is our launch, and it is not our final destination. There is a long journey ahead of us and there will be many more public engagement sessions,” she said.
She also mentioned public engagement is the only way this project will become meaningful to the city.
Karen added the UCCN Kuching is a bridge, which must built together so, “we all can cross to an international network and all it has to offer.”
“We want you to share your ideas on how we can move forward from here, together as a whole city.
“With your input, we can create programmes that really serve your needs. We can go to this network with your issues and connect you to other cities which share them,” added Wee.
