Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture has concluded a training course on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) as part of a series of courses within its "Experts Program", a joint program between the Saudi ministry and the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). The training was provided by urban and strategic regional planner, Vittorio Salmoni, an expert who worked on adding the city of Fabriano, Italy, to UNESCO's network of Creative Cities. The trainees were introduced to the UCCN program and the various categories that encompass the Creative Cities Network ecosystem, including crafts and traditional arts, design and film, culinary arts, literature, media arts and music. Supplemented by global and Saudi-specific case studies, the course was bolstered with an explanation of the Creative City Network registration process. It gave an in-depth overview of Al-Ahsa's experience in becoming a Creative City in crafts and traditional arts, along with an exploration of Buraidah's registration as a Creative City in culinary arts. The Experts Program aims to train a select group of experts from Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries to support the implementation of five international cultural heritage conventions and two cultural programs. In particular, the training focuses on the preparation of nomination files, periodic monitoring reports, related policies and action plans. The capacity-building workshop was attended by 24 participants and hosted several leading experts and specialists in the field: Cristiano Casa, Eduardo Sego Solis, Federica Forte, Giuseppe Piagini, Ibrahim Al-Shabith, Luca Paraldi, Majid Al-Muhanna, Manfredi Mangano, Rainer Kern, and Suleiman Al-Qafari. — SPA
