Partner project

The City of Rijeka and strategic partners

The City of Rijeka is the holder of the title of European Capital of Culture.
The strategic partners of the City of Rijeka in the implementation of the European Capital of Culture project are the Government of the Republic of Croatia, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the University of Rijeka and the Rijeka Tourist Board.

In addition to RIJEKA 2020 d.o.o., the main programme partners and organisers include the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc of Rijeka, DeltaLab – Centre for Urban Transition, Architecture and Urban Planning (the University of Rijeka), Drugo more, Rijeka, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, the City Museum of Rijeka, Art-kino, Rijeka, the Rijeka City Puppet Theatre, the Rijeka City Library, the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral, Rijeka and the Croatian House of Culture in Sušak. As well as the main partners, there are 250 other organisations from Croatia and abroad listed as co-organisers, co-producers and partners in the organisation of the programme.

A large number of cultural associations and organisations, which have proposed a total of 380 cultural features for 2020, are also involved in the project after submitting an application for the proposal of additional cultural programmes in 2020. Out of all the proposals, 55 programmes by various cultural associations, art organisations, companies and individuals have been earmarked for funding and carrying the ECoC programme designation, thus becoming an integral part of the European Capital of Culture project.

The European Capital of Culture project also instigated the foundation of the PartneRI Business Club, with entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, companies and freelancers participating in all economic activities and willing to finance cultural events in Rijeka and the region eligible for membership. Numerous people and organisations submitted 37 cultural programmes and features after the PartneRI Business Club invited citizens to submit cultural programmes for financing. The PartneRi Business Club will use the funds to finance the implementation of 6 programmes.

So far, 32 training programmes in the area of culture and cultural event organisation, including 15 workshops, 7 seminars, 1 international conference, 3 international projects and 6 continuous training programmes comprising 32 workshops with 312 mentorship hours have been held as part of the Classroom flagship of the European Capital of Culture project. The Classroom training programmes have involved 122 national and international lecturers, as well as 1455 attendees from Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Croatia, who have acquired a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience in cultural management, audience development and the utilisation of space and technology in culture.

As part of the ECoC project, two Participate campaigns have been conducted in order to invite the citizens of Rijeka to propose small-scale greening projects or to organise smaller culture and art events in the neighbourhoods. The invitations also included applications for the Citizens’ Council, which evaluates the quality of the submitted projects and selects the best for inclusion in the ECoC programme and financing as part of the project. A large number of individuals and civic groups responded to the invitation and became involved in the campaigns by submitting a total of 141 projects, while 155 citizens applied to participate in the Citizens’ Council.
RiHub has hosted 57 different public events, such as workshops, lectures, panel discussions and project presentations concerning environmental protection, civic activism, solidarity development etc. A total of 64 speakers, mentors and panellists and 872 civic attendees participated in the programme.
The Co-working Space that was opened at RiHub as part of the ECoC project has been used by 215 people, who have spent 2,758 working hours there. The co-working space has 35 users per month on average.

A number of volunteers are also participating in the project and the invitation to join the ECOC project will remain permanently open because the noble and proud energy of volunteers is an important cog in every large organisation. The project volunteers are a touch away from large-scale plays, concerts, exhibitions and an array of other events taking place in Rijeka in 2020 and will have the chance to meet new people, programme participants and visitors to Rijeka, as well as to cooperate with producers and artists, organisers and stars, and be the first to open the doors of new cultural institutions in Rijeka.