Montreal Designated as a City of Design by UNESCO

Montreal Designated as a City of Design by UNESCO
"The Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity has designated Montreal as "UNESCO City of Design" as part of the Creative Cities Network," announced today Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal, and Benoit Labonte, member of the executive committee responsible for culture, heritage and design.

With this honour, Montreal becomes the first North American city to join the recent UNESCO City of Design network after Buenos Aires (August 2005) and Berlin (November 2005), in addition to other cities recognized by UNESCO in other fields of excellence, including literature, music, food, cinema, folk art and digital arts.

Through this award, UNESCO recognized the effort and enthusiasm of the public and private sectors, Montreal civil society, as well as the city's potential for economic and social development in the field of design.

With the participation of the design community, Design Montreal, applied for this honour at the request of Benoit Labonte and the Montreal executive committee.

The certificate will be presented by Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization as part of a visit to Montreal scheduled for the month of June.