The İzmir Mediterranean Academy invites institutions, local governments, cultural actors, and citizens to sign the Mediterranean Culture and Ecology Cities Manifesto. The Manifesto aims to strengthen culture-based cooperation across the Mediterranean region and contribute to ecological transformation processes.
The Manifesto emphasizes the fundamental role of culture in addressing social inequalities, supporting ecological transformation, and fostering peace. It calls for the integration of cultural approaches into spatial planning policies, ensuring the active participation of citizens in transformation processes, and strengthening culture-based cooperation among Mediterranean cities. It highlights that artists, designers, and local actors can work together to create more just, sustainable, and livable environments. The text underscores the importance of bringing together shared heritage, local knowledge, and contemporary modes of production, positioning culture as an effective tool in transformation processes. Aiming to strengthen cooperation at the Mediterranean scale, the Manifesto also proposes concrete actions such as empowering youth through culture, developing experimental programs through the “living lab” approach, and expanding the Territoires Cultivés (Cultivated Territories) network across all Mediterranean coasts.
The Manifesto was signed within the framework of the Culture and Ecological Transformation for a Sustainable Mediterranean: İzmir Symposium, hosted by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality on 4–5 September 2025, by Dr. Cemil Tugay, Mayor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality; Agnès Rampal, Deputy Mayor of Nice and President of AViTEM; Loïc Gachon, Mayor of Vitrolles; and Jean-Jacques Ottaviani, Representative of the Cultural Department of the Collectivity of Corsica.
Click here to sign the Manifesto.
