Bergen has since 2015 been part of the UNESCO Creative City Network, designated a “City of Gastronomy” to work with now 49 other cities to cooperate and promote sustainable local food culture and gastronomy. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The UNESCO Creative City Network is closely linked to the UN Sustainable Goal Agenda, read more here.

But Bergen has several other UNESCO connections.

The most famous UNESCO site in Bergen is the Bryggen wharf, on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. For several hundred years the export of stock fish from Bergen was the driving force for a vibrant trading centre with close overseas connections – in periods it was even the most populous town in the Nordic region and an important part of the Hanseatic leagues nettwork.

Bergen is also the gateway to the West Norwegian fjords, several of the fjords are also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Throughout the ages, people have subsisted on a combination of fishing and farming in this beautiful and dramatic cultural landscape.