In 2018, the creation of the Municipal Council of Art and Culture (CMAC) was formalized with the purpose of having the advice and representation of the government, academia, creators and civil society in the matter of shaping public policies in the field of art and culture. It was through CMAC that the main decisions of our candidacy for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network 2019 were made, including the selection of the creative field and the identification of potential actors and allies to integrate them into the City Advisory Group (GAC ), who gave their feedback to the application project. At that time, the project was led by the Ministry of Education of Veracruz, the City Council of Xalapa and the Universidad Veracruzana, and thanks to this joint effort we were able to obtain the letter of support from the National Cooperation Commission of Mexico with UNESCO to participate in the pageant. Although Xalapa was not selected to join the network that year, the work continued with the alliance between the Xalapa City Council and the Mexico-United States Foundation for Science, with the sponsorship of the Veracruz Ministry of Economic and Port Development ( SEDECOP) with the purpose of creating a joint program that addresses the creative economy as a strategic axis in the economic development of Xalapa, then the Strategic Table in Creative Economy (MEEC) is created, a quadruple helix entity as an independent governance scheme to support decision-making in the creative sector. From then on, the city’s decisions in this matter are made from there. It is worth mentioning that the MEEC has among its members recognized figures of music, laudería, plastic arts, performing arts, cinema, ceramics and members of the cultural sector of the city. Currently, the MEEC formed the Xalapa Nomination Committee to join the UNESCO 2021 Creative Cities Network, made up of members of the MEEC, as well as external advisers with experience in the field of international cooperation and networking, particularly in projects related to UNESCO. In the future, MEEC will promote the creation of the creative cluster Xalapa Creativa Lab to be the instance that carries out the projects related to the application, as well as other projects in the city on creative economy issues.
The Xalapa Nomination Committee to join the 2021 Creative Cities Network is made up of the following institutions:
-Instituto Veracruzano de la Cultura
-Fundación México – Estados Unidos para la Ciencia
-Dirección de Difusión Cultural (Universidad Veracruzana)
-Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa (Universidad Veracruzana)
-Festival Internacional de Música y Laudería
-Red de Espacios Culturales Independientes de Xalapa
-Red de Extensionistas en Economía Creativa de Xalapa
-Artolin – Arte en la Blockchain
