The competition was announced in May 2021 and its aim is to support cities in developing cultural development strategies that are in line with the approaches of European cultural capitals. 70 cities from 5 Eastern Partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine) took part in the competition. After evaluating the applications, the following 3 cities were selected from Georgia: Zugdidi, Poti and Kutaisi.

The selected cities will receive a maximum grant of € 30,000 to develop a cultural development strategy. The 6-month period of work on the document will start on December 1. Eventually, one of the three cities will receive funding of up to € 300,000 to implement its own strategy.

EU4Culture is an EU-funded four-year project, which focuses on supporting culture and the creative industries in non-capital cities of the Eastern Partnership countries. The project aims to increase the role of culture and creative industry in the process of economic and social development of the country. The project is implemented by the Goethe Institute (Lead Partner), the Danish Institute of Culture, Czech Centers and the French Institute of Georgia.

The award ceremony will be held on December 1 at 11:00 p.m.