Since Athens 1985 it is said that this concept to designate each year one or more cities (in 2000 there were nine) to become the European Cultural Capital has been one of the most successful projects of the European Union. The network of European Cultural Capital Cities and Months (ECCM) has attempted to overcome sustainability issues by sharing experiences between past, present and future Cultural Capital Cities and in so doing realized this concept is being imitated by now world wide e.g. Volga Region in Russia, Canada, Amerikas, Catalonia and Mediterranean Countries. As a result the ECCM is transforming itself into a Network of Networks to include a global view on urban based cultural policy. A key spirit in this dynamic network has been Spyros Mercouris who was the coordinator of Athens 1985. He plans with the ECCM Network to organise the Second Symposium about "Productivity of Culture" in Athens, Oct. 18 - 21, 2007, and has responded to the Report on 'Culture and Economy' published by the European Commission, DG Culture and Education with a discussion paper to inform the symposium. Topics on the symposium program include: • Economy and Culture • Methodology: Culture as epistemological orientation / terms in use • Cultural identity and Cultural Rights • Cultural Planning and Cultural Impact Studies: cultural sustainability • Cultural heritage • Culture and Civilization • Urban based cultural policy • Monitoring and evaluation of cultural policy in cities • Cultural Capital Cities • Productivity of the Culture For a full programme of this year's symposium, CLICK HERE