Every year, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism designs a “Capital of Culture” with the aim to support and enhance the cultural activities of the Italian cities. Last Friday 16^th February  2018, the UNESCO’s Creative City of Parma was designated Italian Capital of Culture 2020. The city will have the unique opportunity to showcase to national and international public its urban cultural life and development.

The designation represents a prestigious recognition for Parma and its effort to combine the great historical urban value of the city and the rural development of the surrounding territory through gastronomy, art and music. The successful results of these attempts, bolstered by the city’s membership to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, demonstrated the ability of Parma to foster creativity and sustainable development beyond the geographical and historical boundaries of the city.

This idea of culture and creativity is expressed by the motto that Parma proposed for the designation, "Culture beats time": culture marks the lifetime of the city, it favors the demolition of historical and social barriers and creates new platform to share experience, enhance participation and strengthen the identity of a place.