Community of Practice on Cities

On 18 January, the Commission launched the design phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative, announced by President von der Leyen in her 2020 State of the Union address. It is an environmental, economic and cultural project, aiming to combine design, sustainability, accessibility, affordability and investment in order to help deliver the European Green Deal.

The core values of the New European Bauhaus are thus sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness. In the design phase, you can help shape the concept through a co-creation process. Let’s connect, explore ideas, and identify the most urgent needs and challenges together!

Launched in October 2020, the Green City Accord is a movement of European mayors committed to safeguarding the environment. By signing the Accord, cities will take ambitious action in five areas: air quality, water quality and efficiency, noise abatement, urban biodiversity, waste management and the circular economy.

Mayors across the EU can join the initiative at any time by signing the Accord’s commitment document.

The JRC Disaster Risk Management Unit just released the 2020 edition of the Atlas of the Human Planet 2020 – Open Geoinformation for Research, Policy and Action.

Population ageing is becoming a significant problem in the most developed countries. More than 35% of EU citizens will be over 60 by 2050. Age-associated diseases and dependency severely impact health care costs and the promotion of healthy ageing has become a key objective. Science, technology and innovation are widely perceived to provide the means for solving this demographical and social challenge. This work analyses the impact of European funding research programmes on the topic of Ambient Assisted Living by considering its status, future context, and the implications for prospective knowledge management.

Citizen Science evolved from a long tradition in fields such as biodiversity and meteorology, into almost all scientific fields. It is now not only prominent in research and civil society, but also well recognised in political agendas and increasingly relevant at a municipal and neighbourhood level. Recently, the Citizen Science team of the JRC Digital Economy Unit published their activity report summarizing the results of their related work of the past five years.