17 May 2023

Community of Practice on Cities

COP-CITIES Newsletter #17

Dear community members,

Welcome to a new edition of the CoP-CITIES newsletter. Besides highlighting some of the key activities targeting urban areas that have been recently conducted within the European Commission, in this edition we have also given significant space to contributions from some of our key members.

Then, as we look ahead this year, we are delighted to share with you that we plan to host our CoP-CITIES plenary event as a side event to the European Week of Regions and Cities, taking place in Brussels in autumn this year. More details will follow in the upcoming newsletters, but we are already looking forward to bringing our members together and seeing many of you in person.

As you know, the CoP-Cities is a shared initiative of DG REGIO and the JRC. Together we form a large community of cities, city networks, academia, NGOs and other urban stakeholders, offering a place to discuss potential future challenges and opportunities for urban areas. That said, please feel free to reach out to us for any issues you wish to raise that you consider relevant to our community.

For now, we hope you enjoy the most recent edition of our newsletter!

The newsletter editorial board

Patrizia Sulis, Sjoerdje van Heerden, Silvia Iodice

Highlights

The Future of Cities Webinar Series

The JRC is pleased to be working with the Regional Studies Association Europe to deliver a webinar series on three recently published policy briefs developed as part of the updating process of the Future of Cities Report. The future of cities is not set in stone and is not easy to predict, but the choices they make now will shape the lives of generations to come. Thus, the main aim is to raise open questions and steer discussions on what the future of cities can, and should be, both within the scientific and policymaker communities.

25th May - Cities fit for the digital age (register here and download the policy brief here)

31st May - Shrinking cities (register here and download the policy brief here)

The Brussels Urban Summit

Together, the cities of Europe stand strong to face urban inequality, the digital divide, migration and diversity, and climate change. As global leaders, mayors are working in concert to champion the needs of local people to national governments and European institutions.

The Brussels Urban Summit (BUS) will bring together three international city conferences on 12-15 June 2023: the 14th Metropolis World Congress, the Eurocities Annual Conference and the sixth OECD Champion Mayors Summit for Inclusive Growth Initiative. It will gather over 300 cities worldwide and more than 1000 politicians, experts and representatives of civil society. The JRC will take part in the summit and participate in a workshop focusing on homelessness and inequality.

To know more about the summit programme and register to participate, click below.

News from CoP community

EUKN Policy Lab Report on Women Navigating the City

According to research shared by Plan International during the EUKN Policy Lab for the Belgian Federal Public Planning Service for Social Integration, 91% of young women in Belgium have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces. This violence infringes on their right to the city and limits their ability to move around freely, safely, and comfortably. Raising awareness of these issues is crucial to make cities not only safer but also more equal.

‘Women Navigating the City’ is the new report on this EUKN Policy Lab, published in December 2022. Click below to know more and download the report.

Keeping up with the digital transition!

URBACT invites city practitioners and interested stakeholders to take the brand-new online course on the digital transition in cities. This self-paced Moodle course aims to build the capacities of city practitioners and policy-makers to understand the main concepts and challenges associated with digital transitions in a few key policy areas.

The training is broken down into 6 modules: Demystifying Tech, Digital environment, Digital Society, Digital Government, Digital Economy and Agile City Leadership. Join the course here

Call for participation

Second call for Innovative Actions: the topics are released.

With an indicative budget of EUR 120 million ERDF, the second call for proposals of Innovative Actions is focused on three main topics: Greening Cities experimenting and delivering tangible innovative solutions on green infrastructure across European cities; Sustainable Tourism supporting the long-term green and digital transformation and resilience of the tourism ecosystem will be funded; Harnessing talent in shrinking cities supporting cities in testing new solutions to retain and attract talent.

The call for proposals will open in May 2023. Register for upcoming applicants’ seminars in Brussels (June 11 registration deadline), Warsaw (21 June registration deadline), and Ljubljana (29 June registration deadline) and visit our website.

European Urban Initiative needs you to build Portico, the gateway to urban learning!

Portico is the European urban knowledge platform powered by EUI and funded by the European Union, to support better urban policy, strategy design and implementation. This platform will be your entry door to the European urban community and provides you with access to the knowledge and skills needed to design and implement sustainable urban development policies.

Portico is designed for urban practitioners from all over the EU and values their feedback. To contribute to the design of Portico, fill in this survey.

Focus on

Enhancing sustainable and circular tourism in small urban areas.

Sustainable and circular tourism can be an important driver to foster the development of European small urban areas, often particularly rich in cultural and natural heritage but less known as tourism destinations. The TRACE Support Programme will provide free, high-level action-learning training and specialised support to 100 ambitious European tourism and culture SMEs in Italy, Cyprus, Romania, Belgium and Spain, as well as a direct Grant of 7,200 Euro, to speed-up their sustainability plans. Click on 'More' to learn all about the programme and how to participate.

Sustainable urban development for small urban areas.

The “Policy Atlas of Sustainable Urban Development for Small Urban Areas” serves as a valuable tool for policymakers, practitioners and academics seeking to gain insight into the unique characteristics of Small Urban Areas (SUAs) in the EU. By offering evidence-based approaches and practical recommendations, the atlas provides a compass for navigating the policy challenges of sustainable urban development in SUAs and facilitates the promotion of strategies tailored to their needs.

This is the bi-monthly newsletter of the Community of Practice on Cities.

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