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The Matrix
18 cities in the Centre Val de Loire Region, in France and in Europe.
18 cities in the Centre Val de Loire Region, in France and in Europe. A matrix convinced that the dynamics of the European territories of the future reside in the median cities located on the outskirts. The Bourges 2028 – La Matrice program is part of the continuity of the process of exchange and capacity building developed during our European conferences during the pre-selection phase. The 18 cities have already embarked on the project.
18 cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants will be able to interact with a low carbon footprint from March 2023. The aim is to discuss the prototypes of Bourges 2028, adopt them for their own city, and share good practices. The Matrix is an informal capacity-building body dedicated to innovating, prototyping and deploying common and bundled solutions. The participants in the quarterly interaction sessions come from a variety of backgrounds and communities: elected officials, government officials, cultural actors, artists, entrepreneurs, citizens, students, retirees, etc.
We have already agreed with 18 cities to work together:
- 5 towns in the Centre Val de Loire Region: Bourges, Châteauroux, Vierzon, Issoudun, Blois
- 6 French cities: Avignon (South-PACA region, CEC 2000), Angoulême (New-Aquitaine region), Guingamp (Brittany region), Béthune (Hauts de France region), Nevers (Burgundy-Franche-Comté region), La Rochelle (New Aquitaine Region).
- 7 Capitals of Culture cities: Matera 2019 (Italy), Bodo 2024 (Norway), Tartu 2024 (Estonia), Bad Ischl 2024 (Autria), Oulu 2026 (Finland), Evora 2027 (Portugal), Ceské Budejovice 2028 (Czech Republic).
We have two specific partnerships with 2 French creative cities:
- Angoulême, a UNESCO creative city of literature, has a complete image ecosystem: an international comic strip festival, 15 higher education schools linked to the image (including the European School of Image), the Cité Internationale de Comics (CIBDI), the Magelis Image Center (more than 80 image-related companies). It is a place of residence and advice for artists thanks to the Maison des Auteurs attached to the CIBDI.
- Avignon, Europe’s leading live performance city thanks to the Avignon Festival, European Capital of Culture 2000, which is developing with the Avignon 2025 Terre de Culture project, an innovative project on the outskirts of Maisons Folies (Lille 2004) updated and adapted to its territory for the 25th anniversary of Avignon 2000.
