The municipality of Caldas da Rainha took part in the 2026 UCCN Crafts and Folk Art Subnetwork Annual Meeting, an annual gathering organised within the framework of the Crafts and Folk Art Subnetwork of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which took place between 16 and 20 September 2026 in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, a city designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art.

The theme of this international event is “Crafting Human Creativity for a Peaceful World” and it brings together representatives from around the world for a global debate on creativity, humour and human skills, and on the role they play in building peaceful and more resilient cities in the age of artificial intelligence.

The Councillor for Culture, Conceição Henriques, represented the municipality of Caldas in this initiative, taking part, on the first day of the event, in the Mayors’ Forum, a session dedicated to the theme ‘Culture and creativity for peaceful and resilient cities’. This forum fostered a debate amongst mayors and representatives of creative cities from around the world, focusing on cultural resilience, human creativity and the role of craftsmanship and humour in contemporary urban life. The discussion addressed five key themes: resilience, technology and human skills, creativity and humour, solidarity amongst cities, and investment in the future.

The programme for the event also included thematic conferences, forums on intangible cultural heritage, creative craft workshops, as well as working meetings dedicated to collaboration between cities and the planning of the network’s future activities.

Caldas da Rainha’s participation in this initiative underlines the municipality’s commitment to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and to promoting crafts and culture as drivers of development, identity and social cohesion.