With a vote of 20 in favor and 5 against, the Helsingør City Council decided yesterday to immediately launch a feasibility study to identify the potential benefits and consequences of becoming the European Capital of Culture the next time the title comes to Denmark in 2032.
The preliminary study is scheduled to be completed in May 2024 and will serve as the basis for the political debate and decision on whether Helsingør should proceed with the project. This means that a final decision on the long-term project is expected to be made in 2024.
As shown in the video coverage of the City Council meeting, the majority of the City Council argued in favor of following the recommendation of the administration and the Culture Committee. This includes a collaboration with Elsinore 2032 to move forward with the process. The association has been invited to help design the preliminary study, and the municipality has approved a cash grant of 50,000 kroner for the work.
In doing so, the municipality is adhering to its adopted cultural policy, which remains in effect until 2030. The cultural policy was developed following an extensive consultation process in which associations, cultural institutions, and the business community were thoroughly consulted and invited to contribute suggestions, ideas, and perspectives.
Today, Helsingør ranks among the leading cultural municipalities in Denmark, and in the long term, perhaps also in a European context.
Excerpt from Helsingør Municipality’s Cultural Policy
The ambition of this policy is for cultural life in Helsingør Municipality to remain trendsetting and innovative, and to ensure that new initiatives and measures can be implemented in the coming period that are noticeable and make a difference for individual citizens and for the municipality’s overall development.
Helsingør Municipality cannot achieve this alone. It requires thinking in terms of new forms of collaboration and financing. And it presupposes active participation from civil society, the municipality’s many and strong cultural actors, the business community, and external involvement from the state, foundations, etc.
At Elsinore 2032, we look forward to our upcoming collaboration. If you’d like to support the association—whether as an individual or through your business, organization, or cultural institution—it’s easy to join. Please feel free to contact us with any ideas or suggestions.
