Last week Australian and New Zealand UNESCO Creative Cities came together in Launceston, City of Gastronomy to share and discuss priorities for the coming year.
The conference was a great opportunity to meet our counterparts from across Australia and New Zealand, form new initiatives, discuss the up coming federal cultural policy, and to talk about opportunities across the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Joining Adelaide in Launceston were representatives from Melbourne (Literature), Bendigo (Gastronomy), Ballarat (Craft and Folk Art), Geelong (Design), Dunedin (Literature), and co-hosts, Hobart (Literature).
Delegates were welcomed to Launceston the Premier of Tasmania and the Lord Mayors of Launceston and Hobart and enjoyed two days of presentations, workshops, and tours.
A true city of gastronomy, Launceston showcased their world class credentials. Presenting a strong sense of purpose and cross sector commitment and strategy, Launceston and its surrounding councils are well on their way to leveraging this prestigious international recognition and developing a regional powerhouse of food, design, tourism, and industry development.
The conference provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with our colleagues from across the country and New Zealand, share successes and struggles and be inspired by new directions or developments.
Cities gave presentations about their key objectives and successes and discussions were held regarding a new federal cultural policy, the benefits of cross city collaborations, and the Victorian cities joint policy pitch to their state government.
Design Tasmania provided a wonderful presentation about the potential and role of design in supporting the city of gastronomy, and the development and evolution of the Queenstown Arts Festival – the Unconformity. The presentation highlighted the transformative effect of the festival on the town, embracing the environment, and high level of community engagement.
Delegates were taken on tours of food initiatives, a new food industry cluster, FermentHQ, and a food security program supporting community gardens and food literacy.
FermentHQ supports new small to medium food businesses with research and testing facilities and business development support. Levering quality primary producers, science and business mentoring and training, the UCCN brand and networks, the facility will have wide ranging benefits for the region and its people.
Food security is a growing concern across the country and a key priority for Launceston. A network of community gardens has been set up providing training and access to affordable, seasonal fresh food. Delegates were take a on tour and introduced to garden and program managers.
And of course, what visit to a city of gastronomy would be complete without a tour of world class restaurants, producers, tastings, experts, and spoken word.
Setting a high bar for the next conference host, Launceston and the team at the Gastronomy Northern Tasmania are to be congratulated on a successful event and for being world class hosts. If you haven’t been, Launceston has to be top of your list for your next visit to Tassie.