Niš City Council adopted the proposal to join Alliance of European Cultural Cities. AVEC is international network gathering 30 cities from 11 European countries among which are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Serbia. The Association was established in 1997. The headquarters are in the City of Arles, France. The main office is in the City of Tours, France. So far, the only AVEC member from Serbia was Niš City Municipality Medijana which joined the AVEC in 2008.

AVEC gathers the cities with the will to build a Europe of Regions based on the respect of the differences and the interactions between cultures, the cities with rich material and spiritual cultural and historical heritages which could serve as base on which to build a sustainable city. Each member city takes part to the construction of a heritage with shared values, through the conservation of the legacies of the past and the development of new creations in accordance with the AVEC Charter. Each City - or Area - of Culture defines and implements, within the limits of its jurisdiction, a detailed plan to put into practice heritage preservation, enrichment and the valorisation of its heritage.

Through the membership in AVEC, the City of Niš will try to apply daily European standards committing ourselves to sustainable management of cultural heritage and obtain quality brand of sustainable cultural cities - QUALICITIES label. Networking with more experienced cities and territories in the cultural event organizations and transfers of know-how in the fields of heritage management and cultural tourism would enable Niš to integrate as harmoniously as possible innovation in what already exists and thus contribute to economic development.

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović together with the president of the Nis City Municipality Medijana Dragoslav Ćirković attended the session of the AVEC Administration Council held in Santarem Portugal on October 30th, 2009. On this occasion Mayor Simonović presented the cultural heritage of Niš. He also spoke about the projects that City of Niš identified as its priorities in the field of heritage preservation: Archeological Park Medijana, Palace with Octagon and Revitalization of Fortress.

The City of Nis presentation was attended also by H.E. Duško Lopandić, Ambassador of the Repubulic of Serbia to Lisbon, who gave his support to the City of Nis accessing to European cultural city network, as well as to Nis strivings to promote its cultural heritage in this way.

The very notion of conservation has drastically changed from preservation to sustainable use. Heritage preservation became the practice of managing change as a factor which balances preserving heritage values and ensuring development. More specifically, in a new developmental context, heritage is recognized as engine of economic development which provides employment, generates income, revitalizes local urban and rural areas and enhances environmental protection.