A tale of reinventing cities – Eurocities annual report
What a year it has been – everything was different in 2020. And so also Eurocities’ annual report comes to you with a difference. It’s online of course, and we’re also telling a new story: of how we have jointly sought to reimagine cities in the past year. It’s a story that we continue to tell, day in, day out, as we all go about our work of making urban life better, in whatever way we can, for our people.
So, let us take you into ‘Eurocity’, a place made of the best examples from our cities all over Europe. Through the stories of residents, you will hear the tales of the balcony poet keeping culture alive during lockdown. The pop-up cycle path hunt that entertained a father and son. The volunteers eager to look after their neighbours with food distribution. How we sang for joy on Europe Day. And so much more.
Explore the stories of cities and our network initiatives – welcome to Eurocity! And please let us know what you think about the report and send us your ideas for reinventing cities.
Reinventing cities – Eurocities annual report
Fast Forward
We missed you! Here’s what we’ve been up to since Christmas and what we have planned for the coming quarters.
Give me a high (30)five!
My dear colleagues, let me wish you a good and healthy new year! Is it too late? I think not, because the wishes for a happy new year for 2021 have never been so full of positive hopes for the future. Hopes for some safer, healthier, freer, basically better, times than what the last twelve months have been. And hopes that what we have learnt in 2020 will help us face a better-known environment and plan things adequately. So, here we are, all in full transformation: people, organisations, places, frameworks, behaviours, everything. We are rethinking our reality and planning ahead all day, every day. And we are so oriented towards the future that we often lose sight of the past, of our achievements, of where we have come from. In this respect, this week I remembered that this very year Eurocities turns 35. We can count on over three decades of urban cooperation at the European level as an important foundation to sustain our transformation.
These days the resilience of our network has been put to the test, and overall we have come out positively. We are still growing, our members remain active and have even increased their participation thanks to all activities having moved online. Sure, we are struggling to replace those enriching moments of exchange and peer learning carried out in cities across our continent, in person, meeting people for real and experiencing inspiring practices directly. That said, we hope the vaccine rollouts now going on will have a positive impact. Plus, we are reflecting together on how to make the most of this challenging period and equip ourselves at best we can to become even stronger and more resilient in the future.
My point here is that our 35 year old foundations, made of community building and cooperation, are not water. Nor is it built on a swamp! Eurocities is a solid, well-connected community of people that has been sharing the same idea since the start that working together, as cities across national borders, is enriching, even necessary. That it can bring good to local governments, their policies, the people they represent, the places and spaces they are responsible for. And to Europe.
While going through the multiple transformations we face, I find these foundations to be very reassuring. The big community that we built many years ago and that is constantly renewing itself around the same key shared values is a most precious thing. Respect, trust, curiosity, generosity are just a few flavours of how new members are welcomed into Eurocities each year. And it is those that will keep cities together and strong, with a unique voice in Europe, in the years to come.
If today we do well, it is thanks to what we have built and achieved in the past. So, let’s give each other a ‘high five’ and may our collective game in 2021 be constructive, productive and possible good fun!
Cities in EU recovery
“If we act quickly, we can still ensure the recovery funds find their mark to put people’s lives back on track and deliver the twin digital and green priorities locally,” commented Dario Nardella, President of Eurocities and Mayor of Florence, during an event on 22 January on the status of the EU’s recovery, organised by the European Committee of the Regions.
And that’s because, according to Eurocities’ own research compiling inputs of around 50 cities from almost all member states, cities have not been sufficiently involved in the development of their respective national recovery plans. In fact, only one in ten cities responding believed that their contributions have been considered in the current draft plans.
Currently, 70% of the cities responding to Eurocities believe that the consultation process has been insufficient. However, the Italian government appears to be the frontrunner, working with its metropolitan areas and cities to build a recovery plan which fully considers the important role of cities for a sustainable recovery.
It’s a model that other member states can learn from – and luckily there is still time for cities to get their national governments’ attention, as the deadline to submit National Recovery Plans to the Commission is 30 April.
In the past months, Eurocities successfully worked for a stronger role of cities in the recovery which resulted in the legal commitment for member states to consult cities for both the preparation and the implementation of national plans. While we will continue to raise awareness amongst EU stakeholders, it is now time for cities to work directly with national government and demand what they are entitled to.
If you are looking for a say and have not yet received a chance to have a meaningful exchange with your national government, you can find a lot of campaign material that we have prepared to help you make that happen here.
If you have an interesting story to share, contact us and join the Eurocities Campaign #TalkWithCities
Eurocities & UN on poverty rights
The UN Special Rapporteur Mr Olivier De Schutter carried out a mission to investigate the situation of poverty in the EU and how the EU has responded to the COVID-19 crisis to mitigate impact on the poor. As part of this mission, Eurocities was interviewed – together with SAF chair Utrecht and SAF vice-chair from Glasgow – and called for better recognition of the role of cities in the EU’s socio-economic governance and better support for social investments at local level.
The UN Special Rapporteur presented his preliminary findings in a UN Statement and a press conference, during which he referred to Eurocities twice. Firstly, he called for cities and local authorities to be involved in shaping the national recovery plans saying “Municipalities are key actors in the fight against poverty at the local level and they should be consulted much more by States in the preparation of their national recovery plans.” Secondly, he referred to the recent Eurocities report on child poverty and the need to support cities to experiment and develop social innovations that can be later scaled up and replicated elsewhere.
Read a statement from UN Special Rapporteur here.
Covenant of Mayors meet Energy Commissioner
The Covenant of Mayors Board met with the European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson to discuss the future of the initiative and its contribution to the European Green Deal in a meeting on 5 February.
Our representative on the board, Katarina Luhr, Deputy Mayor of Stockholm, together with our members Rafal Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, and Hermano Sanchez Ruivo, Deputy Mayor of Paris, shared their views on the Renovation Wave, the Recovery, and the need for a strengthened dialogue with the EU institutions in the revision of the energy directives that will make the EU fit for the reduction of (at least) 55% of GHG emissions by 2030.
In this fruitful exchange, the Commissioner highlighted the central role of the Covenant to shape EU policies into real projects and to deliver the transition for their citizens. To achieve the new 2030 targets, energy consumption in buildings will have to decrease by 60% in the next nine years, and “the Covenant will be the key to open the front door of the Renovation Wave.”
The Covenant Board will continue to meet and inform the Commissioner on the implementation of EU objectives, and shape together the future of the initiative.
eugenia.mansutti@eurocities.eu
Portuguese EU presidency on inclusive recovery
The Portuguese Presidency started on 1 January at a critical point for Europe’s future. In its 6-month mandate, the presidency will be pushing forward priorities that can bring Europe out of the crisis stronger. Unsurprisingly, many of these priorities of the presidency have a strong urban dimension and will be particularly relevant to deliver our goals. So, what are the key ones?
First, the presidency will be focusing on a sustainable and innovative recovery which will require strong coordination and joint action among all member states. The presidency will work to ensure that everything is ready for EU funds to reach the ground by the summer. As a culmination of that effort, it will organise a high-level conference on recovery, to be held in Lisbon in June, to discuss the economic and financial situation, taking into account the national recovery and resilience plan, and paying particular attention to the economic sectors most affected by the crisis, including tourism and the cultural and creative industries. As this is strongly connected with the challenges faced by cities, we aim to cooperate with the presidency to ensure they include a strong urban dimension in their activities and support a strong role for cities in the recovery plans.
Equally important, the presidency will focus on making the recovery inclusive. The Porto Social Summit, which will take place in May, will give political impetus to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its action plan, emphasising its central role in European recovery and in adaptation to the climate, digital and demographic transitions. Our Social Affairs Forum has already secured involvement, so stay tuned to find out more.
Last but not least, the Portuguese presidency will look at how the recovery will contribute to delivering our ambitious climate objectives and make the EU a global leader in climate action. To increase the capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change and promote the competitive advantages of a decarbonised and resilient economic model, the Portuguese Presidency will organise a high-level event on climate adaptation in March in Lisbon and will build upon the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
And if this was not enough, we will work with the Portuguese Presidency towards a strong post-2020 Urban Agenda.
Full Portuguese priorities here.
Cooperation platform 2021
On your marks, get set, go! Save the date for our annual cooperation platform that will be held on 26-29 May, with three morning sessions, fully online. The event will focus on information, networking and exchange sessions for Eurocities contact officers, providing you with opportunities to learn about the latest policy developments, project activities and getting more out of Eurocities. You’ll also have the chance to contribute to discussions about future events and tools. The programme and registration will follow in March.
Cities in EU’s child guarantee
The European Commission is about to launch the EU Child Guarantee in March this year. This initiative promises to reduce child poverty by making more EU and national resources available to invest in children to guarantee that children in need have free access to childcare, education, healthy nutrition, housing and healthcare. Eurocities formulated a set of policy recommendations from cities to feed into the Commission’s targeted consultation, which we presented during a strategic dialogue held by DG EMPL with stakeholders in late 2020.
We call for the EU Child Guarantee to:
- Support local Child Guarantee schemes to address the specific needs of children at local level through an integrated local plan connecting services for education, childcare, healthcare and housing with employment, social and family services to cover the gaps in access to services at local level.
- Boost local level social investment in children by allocating sufficient resources from EU and national budgets to cities and allowing flexible use of the resources where needed the most at local level.
- Involve cities as key partners in developing and delivering the Child Guarantee. Ensure multi-level governance with joint responsibility and coordinated strategies between local, national and EU levels.
Read our call here.
Social services and COVID-19
The Roundtable of city directors for social services, established at the initiative of Amsterdam in 2020, held an online meeting on 22 January 2021 to discuss new challenges in social services emerging due to the COVID-19 crisis. Eurocities moderated this meeting that was attended by social services directors from 11 cities (Amsterdam, Vienna, Stockholm, Munich, Madrid, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Utrecht, Warsaw, Zagreb, Saint Seine Denis).
The common trends identified in cities due to covid-19 crisis are:
- Increased demand for social support from new groups experiencing vulnerability especially families with children in deprived areas, as well as the visible impact of the crisis on high unemployment, precarious housing, loneliness & mental health impact, risk of ‘losing touch’ with youth especially those in transition from pre-school to primary to secondary and from school to work.
- This crisis impacts the most elderly and young people especially young families with children and cities need to adapt services to address needs of elderly and young families who are on low-income, in poverty.
- Cities are using the crisis to turn into an opportunity for innovative and creative solutions to adapt and digitalise social services.
- More inter-sectoral cooperation across municipal services to map the social impact of covid-19 crisis and more collaboration with private and NGO sector to organise solidarity eco-system
- Social innovation has emerged as a key theme for many cities as an experimental ethos emerging and delivering changes for inclusive and sustainable local recovery post-covid.
EU Parliament and social cities
The EU Parliament has officially adopted the report on access to decent and affordable housing for all! The report proposes policy measures to address homelessness and housing, like increasing Europe’s affordable housing stock, devising an integrated European strategy on housing, adapting European rules for digital platforms, setting a European goal of eradicating homelessness by 2030, fighting evictions and creating inclusive housing markets, and combating housing discrimination.
Eurocities has worked closely with the rapporteur MEP Kim Van Sparrentak and we have reached more than 350 MEPs to share our concerns on homelessness and housing. The report is a success for cities. We are one step closer to ensuring concrete European policy and legislative measures to take on the homelessness crisis and to ensure that housing is decent, affordable, and accessible for all. Read more here.
Eurocities join experts for food legislation
The European Commission will put forward a proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems, in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy, by 2023.
To support this flagship initiative, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre will collaborate with a group of around 30 experts, between February and June 2021, to define the building blocks for the legislative framework. Members of the Eurocities working group food will be able to collaborate and provide input.
The work is carried out jointly with the European Commission departments for Health and Food Safety, for Agriculture and Rural Development, for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and for Environment.
Glasgow on food and climate
Glasgow has been working with global partners to develop a declaration on food and climate, launched on 14 December 2020. Glasgow encourages local and city governments around the world to sign up to this declaration in the run-up to COP26. The Eurocities Working Group on Food is currently working on this initiative which is in line with the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.
Read the declaration here.
We welcome Thomas Lymes to Eurocities
Thomas joined Eurocities in February 2021 where he will advise cities on mobility policy and coordinate projects. Before joining, he worked for an automotive company in Brussels where he focused on EU transport policies and connected & automated driving. A French national, he was born & raised in the coastal region of Brittany before moving to Strasbourg where he graduated with a Masters degree in European Union law & politics. Besides his native French, he speaks English, Spanish and Polish. In his spare time, you might find him doing sport like rock climbing, baking or travelling.
The power of cities – transforming society
It’s already time to look ahead to the autumn to our annual conference and General Assembly, hosted by Leipzig and taking place on 4 and 5 November.
A step towards that will be the call for Eurocities awards, to go out around Easter. While the programme is being developed, we can already reveal that we are preparing some special elements as part of the conference – but no spoilers yet 😊
Expect some calls to actively participate in preparing the event as we do want to make sure to reach out to all our members.
We are certainly looking forward to seeing many of you at Eurocities 2021 Leipzig on 4-5 November – online or possibly in person!
nicola.vatthauer@eurocities.eu
Cities in next EU budget
Are you wondering what are the opportunities for cities in the next EU budget? Then click here and access our funding overview with the main highlights of relevant EU programmes. As information for some of the programs are not set in stone, this will be the working document to look at. We will be updating it on a rolling basis as things become more clear.
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2021 cares about your health
For the last 20 years, EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has been an unmissable date in the calendar of thousands of cities. From 16-22 September, the campaign will focus on ‘Safe and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility’. This year’s theme seeks a shift towards active and sustainable mobility, with a special focus on wellbeing and road safety.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us how important health is. And how an active lifestyle and mobility habits can contribute not only to our physical health, but also to our mental health. Many cities are creating a safer and healthier living environment, and taking a closer look at the importance of improving our health and wellbeing with urban mobility.
Many of these cities will register for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2021 when registrations will be open by spring. Will you city join the movement? Specific guidelines and inspiration about ‘Safe and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility’ will be published soon.
What’s on the cards for electromobility in 2021?
Despite the world being turned upside down in 2020, electromobility continued its steady rise. Record sales in electric vehicles and renewed political commitments on charging infrastructure mean that 2021 could now be the year it all comes together for eMobility.
Partner cities of our new European funded project USER-CHI, Barcelona and Florence say this new year poses opportunities interlaced with challenges for their eMobility strategies. “This year will be crucial to consolidate best practices for an e-future in Florence,” said the city’s Alessandra Barbieri. “There will be challenges, like introducing payment for charging operations without affecting the increase of electromobility,” commented Barcelona’s Rossend Bosch.
Find more expert predictions for the year ahead here on the website of our EU-funded USER-CHI project, an initiative to help cities improve electric charging infrastructure.
matilde.chinellato@eurocities.eu
The New European Bauhaus, for green and cultural deal
The new initiative from the European Commission, the New European Bauhaus, is bringing a breath of fresh air to the Green Deal. The project opens new collaborative possibilities between the Commission, cities and stakeholders.
The programme was first announced by Ursula Von Der Leyen in her state of the union speech, where she explained it as a bridge between the world of science and technology and the world of art and culture. Based on three pillars, sustainability, aesthetics and inclusivity, the design phase was launched on 18 January. In this phase, the Commission aims to co-define the concept of the New European Bauhaus together with people, businesses and organisations. The objective is to share inspiring existing ideas, problems and challenges which it should address.
This phase will collect inputs on three points:
- Existing inspiring examples for the New European Bauhaus
- Challenges and needs that the New European Bauhaus should cater to
- Ideas for the New European Bauhaus action and community
The design phase will lead to the opening of calls for proposals in autumn this year, bringing New European Bauhaus ideas to life in at least five places in EU member states. By then, we will also discover the source of funding for the initiative, although Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has already guaranteed that the Creative Europe budget will not be used.
Eurocities is closely following the development of the initiative and will keep cities posted on how to get involved.
Read more here.
New roadmap for sustainable mobility
The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, published on 9 December 2020, sets the roadmap for transport and mobility in the next 10 years. In 2020, on several instances, the Eurocities Mobility Forum strongly advocated for:
- The need to ensure the full recovery of the public transport sector, while strengthening the sector’s decarbonisation and its resilience
- The need to support and stimulate interconnectivity, in both a physical and digital way
- The need to support cities in the implementation of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) and mainstream them across Europe
- The importance of multi-modality and investments into infrastructure that promotes active mobility
- The need to pursue Vision Zero and keep road safety high on the agenda
The strategy touches upon all the points raised by Eurocities. Notably, the strategy states that “Cities are and should therefore remain at the forefront of the transition towards greater sustainability. The Commission will further engage with cities and Member States to ensure that all large and medium-sized cities that are urban nodes on the TEN-T network put in place their own sustainable urban mobility plans by 2030. The plans should include new goals, for example on having zero emissions and zero road fatalities. Active transport modes, such as cycling, have seen growth with cities announcing over 2300 km of extra cycling infrastructure. This should be doubled in the next decade towards 5000 km in safe bike lanes.”
The strategy also calls for installing 3 million public charging points by 2030 and mentions the Climate-neutral and Smart Cities mission. In line with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the new Mobility Forum strategic priorities for the 2021-2022 mandate are set to support cities in the green and digital transition, with a strong focus on recovery and resilience. You can read the Mobility Forum strategic priorities here.
Nova Gorica, borderless Capital of Culture
The Slovenian city of Nova Gorica will hold the title of European Capital of Culture for 2025, together with Chemnitz (Germany).
The nomination of Nova Gorica brings us an unexpected twist: the Slovenian town, located on the border with Italy, will run its cultural year jointly with Gorizia, the Italian town to which it is geographically, socially and historically tightly connected.
For a long time, obstacles have stopped the two cities from truly becoming borderless, Gorizia remaining ‘a city that once was’ and Nova Gorica ‘a city yet to be’. The two cities, joined in a unique urban reality, intend to raise awareness of their shared common European values and stories. The concept of GO! Borderless is to open a shared cultural space.
Read more here.
Can you dig it? Archive for inclusive city
Rotterdam is renowned for its rich cultural heritage. Despite the large collection of the Rotterdam City Archive – one of the oldest in the country – part of the city’s intangible heritage was overlooked by formal government records. Memories, stories and oral traditions were at risk of oblivion as citizens are not sufficiently involved in heritage collection, preservation and dissemination.
The Rotterdam City Archive teamed up with Dig It Up, a local grassroots cultural heritage organisation that works to preserve people’s memories and memorabilia of local history. Together, they enabled a formalised cultural heritage collection process involving local communities to enrich the city’s historical archives through crowdsourcing. Citizens were able to record, describe, and give context to elements of collective urban culture and identity which otherwise could have been overlooked by formal government records. You can read the full story here.
The project garners international attention, and was recently featured as a good practice in the European Union’s culture project Cultural Heritage in Action, led by Eurocities. Cities, national authorities and other interested institutions will have the chance to learn more about it through an online peer learning visit to Rotterdam courtesy of the Cultural Heritage in Action in May.
Eurocities on transport innovation and multimodality
EU funded projects allow us to work closely with member cities on the ground, designing and testing innovative mobility solutions, strategies and campaigns, collecting and sharing best practices and developing guidance and recommendations for both practitioners and policy makers. They also enable us to better inform and influence EU policy making on strategic topics, including for example SUMPs, integration of urban nodes in TEN-T and alternative fuels infrastructure.
In 2020, we started three ambitious projects, focusing on user-centric charging infrastructure for e-mobility in urban areas (USER CHI), large-scale demonstrations of shared, connected and cooperative fleets of automated vehicles (SHOW) and urban logistics-as-a-service linked to the on-demand economy (ULaaDs). As of this year, three additional projects – and an even wider range of topics – will be added to the Eurocities ‘mobility portfolio’:
FastTrack is a coordination and support action that will assist 23 cities with identifying, understanding and implementing innovative transport solutions across different thematic clusters, addressing for example access regulation and parking policies, advanced traffic management, Mobility-as-a-Service, safe and active travel and public transport organisation, but also looking at cross-cutting issues such as governance, financing and digitalisation. MOVE21 and SCALE-UP, two innovation actions respectively led by the city of Oslo and the city of Antwerp, will explore how multimodal mobility can be improved across the wider urban area, considering the functional role of urban nodes on the Ten-T network. Finally, Eurocities has been selected by the European Commission to continue the coordination of the European Mobility Week campaign, which engaged 2,945 towns and cities during last year’s edition.
We are looking forward to working with the more than 40 member cities that are actively involved in these projects – either as project coordinator, as partner or as take-up city – and we will make sure that even more cities will benefit from the learning opportunities and best practice exchanges that will be organised in the coming three to four years.
Innovative cities – creating a resilient economy
The Economic Development Forum meeting ‘Innovative cities – creating a resilient economy’ organised in partnership with the city of Oulu and Helsinki (forum chair) will be broadcast live from 17 to 19 March. The three-day event will showcase a combination of interactive sessions and peer-to-peer activities, mapping out the role of cities in a new generation of local innovation ecosystems and a resilient economy.
High-level speakers and international experts from the European Commission, city of Helsinki, digital industry (Nokia), academia (KU Leuven) and the Executive Directive of BusinessOulu will take part in the e-panel discussion ‘Cities on the edge – how to create the next generation of local innovative ecosystems?’ They will articulate their views and share recommendations about the role of innovation ecosystems in the recovery. The dialogue will seek ways for cities to engage with other stakeholders and gain the support from the European Commission, which has just launched Horizon Europe.
The second day will be built around study visits, considering the innovation ecosystems developed in the host city. In ‘Get to know Oulu’, BusinessAsema, OuluHealth and Smart Port of Oulu will serve as the cue for learning on best practices.
The last day will be dedicated to digital mutual learning on ‘Wow with know-how. Exploring innovation ecosystems.’ This session will be a major opportunity for cities to focus on the fundamentals of innovation ecosystem operation models (based on Innovation Ecosystems in Europe: First outline of an innovation ecosystem index), their objectives, the main challenges faced in their implementation (based on A Robust Innovation Ecosystem for the Future of Europe) and their role in the recovery process from the Covid-19 crisis. Participants will learn through in-depth exchange on fundamentals for boosting innovation ecosystems, led by high-profile moderators. We will facilitate the transfer of best practices developed in Oulu and other local contexts throughout Europe, by encouraging exchange of know-how and collaboration between cities.
aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Citizen card report
The KSF Citizen Card project is currently in its proofreading phase following several co-creation sessions, workshops, and a list of interviews. The report includes information on the added value and it provides interested cities with an integrated approach to introduce or upgrade a Citizen Card in any European city. It also includes recommendations for interested cities to further develop the Citizen Card white label’. This report will be useful for any decision and policy makers in cities interested in a citizen card for their city.
Some of the topics elaborated on in this report are data portability and GDPR, architecture, and project management. The report emphasises a citizen-centric approach, according to which cities develop public services and products that are most used or needed by citizens and outlines the requirements for a sound strategic approach. It also provides steps to mobilise the necessary resources including a baseline of Citizen Card interventions, tools to collect, process and leverage data and builds on the principles of a continuous evaluation to facilitate a process that is flexible and focused on improvement. For this reason, a culture of data use was created by prioritizing capacity-building and data-use efforts across all stakeholder groups, including the groups whose data are being collected. Finally, the report provides steps to include the Citizen Card in the existing reference architecture and explains the conditions necessary for compliance with the GDPR.
The report is set to be officially published by the end of February. Keep an eye on our website for the update!
lodewijk.noordzij@Eurocities.eu
Economic Development Forum in 2021
It looks like 2021, at least the first quarter or two, will see the trend of online events continue and strengthen. In the Economic Development Forum, we’ll be taking advantage of this, combining our working groups’ online events for cross-pollination of ideas, with a cross-cutting focus on digitalisation and innovation.
Among the virtual events, we have already confirmed a workshop hosted by the working group Long-Term Investment in partnership with European Investment Bank. The European Investment Advisory Hub will clarify the many legislative changes of the past months about their services, such as the planned incorporation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments into InvestEU, especially the financing schemes, and will show a practical experience on how the support has worked in investment projects for social infrastructure.
In the meantime, our working group on Innovation will discuss the new Horizon Europe programme and its support to local innovation ecosystems. WG Entrepreneurship and WG City Branding and International Economic Relations will soon start to coordinate for a joint study visit in Barcelona in November during the Smart City Expo World Congress.
Economy of proximity
The concept of Economy of Proximity is usually associated with geographical distance and physical space. However, proximity can also refer to ‘similitude’ in sharing a common space of references, knowledge, rules or operating routines. In a local context, this concept is shaped in the “15-minute city” vision, where it should be possible for citizens living in an urban neighbourhood to reach their daily needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride, but also in circular activities, green economy and re-localisation of food value chains.
You can read about Paris’ experience with the proximity economy here.
aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Big Buyers future collaboration
“Public procurement is the secret weapon in cities’ climate change arsenal,” says Eurocities’ Secretary General Anna Lisa Boni. The Big Buyers for Climate and Environment is the opportunity to use this weapon! Through this initiative, big buyers can collaborate to implement strategic public procurement for sustainable solutions, and therefore drive the market for innovation.
In January, we led a needs assessment on four themes: Construction, mobility, energy, ICT, and health. The four final working groups are to be decided in the coming weeks. Working group activities may include joint market dialogue, experience, knowledge or best practice exchange, development of joint procurement criteria and strategies… and much more.
There is still time to get involved! Contact Anja at anja.decunto@eurocities.eu or Manon manon.ghislain@eurocities.eu to get more information! Click here to read more information on Eurocities’ website!
Read more about Big Buyers here.
Join Covenant of Mayors exchange
Open now: A chance to exchange, be inspired and learn from cities across Europe on climate and energy. What would help you transition towards sustainability? Want to be recognised as a frontrunner in tackling climate change and connect with like-minded cities? The Covenant of Mayors is offering tailored programmes based on the needs and expertise of applicants. What sort of activities could you be involved in?
- Exchanging ideas on how to adapt to climate change through nature based solutions
- Learning how to co-create a climate pact with citizens and business or to develop a climate neutrality strategy
- Hearing from experts on how to successfully apply to competitive funding opportunities
- Getting tailored feedback and advice on their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs)
Find out more here and get a boost to achieving your adaptation and climate mitigation ambitions or being recognised for your actions, wherever you are on the journey!
Join Green City Accord
The Green City Accord is proud to count 22 signatories to date: Helsinki, Lahti, Turku (Finland); Lille (France); Argostoli, Fyli (Greece); Cesena (Italy); Oslo (Norway); Alvito, Braga, Cascais, Coruche, Guimarães, Penafiel, Póvoa de Varzim, Torres Vedras, Valongo, Vila de Rei (Portugal); Logroño, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Zaragoza (Spain); and Malmö (Sweden).
This fast-growing community of future-facing cities are committing to improve air and water quality, protect biodiversity, and reduce waste and noise in their territories. Eurocities is working through this project to help cities improve the wellbeing of their residents and to design a city-friendly greening framework.
Interested in joining this growing community of ambitious cities committed to a better environment?
Find out how at www.greencityaccord.eu
Apply 2021 Global Mayors Challenge
In January, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the 2021 Mayors Challenge, for the first time going global. The Challenge is an innovation competition that seeks to highlight the most ambitious ideas developed or launched by cities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and help make them stronger and spread.
The Global Mayors Challenge is looking to uncover 50 innovative solutions to transform cities. 15 grand prize winners, to be announced by the end of 2021; will receive $1 million each to implement their ideas.
The themes of the competition address the most pressing global challenges: economic recovery and inclusive growth; health and wellbeing; climate and environment; good governance and equality.
What make a great Mayors Challenge idea? Vision (being bold, creative and tackling today’s challenges), impact (having the potential to change citizens’ lives), implementation (cities are committed to bringing the idea to life), transferability (having the potential to be replicated).
If your city has more than 100,000 inhabitants, apply by 21 March! And join the past European winners Barcelona, Athens, Stockholm, Warsaw and Kirklees.
More information on the website: https://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/mayors-challenge and contacting mayorschallenge@bloomberg.org
European dialogues for sustainable cities
Our very own European Green Capital Lahti is hosting a new series of dialogues on sustainable cities. European Dialogue for Sustainable Cities is a brand-new dialogue series to debate on European cities’ environmental solutions, innovations, and cooperation models amid an ecological crisis and corona pandemic. Discussions will be held once a month on environmental solutions, with panelists including urban experts, researchers, businesses, NGOs and students. Discussions will introduce one of the previous European Green Capitals for 2010–2020. Don’t miss out on these monthly dialogues!
Read more here.
A New Year’s message from Environment Forum
“The world has changed dramatically in the last year. Aside from the previously known great challenges to humanity, we are faced with a new threat with unlimited systemic consequences – the Covid-19 pandemic. It has brought for local governments a new reality, new priorities, new demands, and new challenges.
Today, as we speak, a major vaccination plan is being put in place worldwide. Vaccine after vaccine, there is a hope for us to recover some sort of normality and build a ‘normal’ for the future. Very soon we will have the opportunity to meet in person again, with live discussions and conversations to build a better Europe.
Until then, we must push ahead with our mission. We are preparing a high-level online forum meeting and targeted working group meetings throughout the year. We need to keep collaborating and sharing, using now, more than ever, online tools to improve our common knowledge and to accelerate towards a better environment and quality of life for our citizens.
Our collective recovery requires planning and policies designed to fully reflect and address the urgent crises we face – from climate change and biodiversity loss, to the ongoing pandemic. Together, we will work to ensure our recoveries support the re-building and re-imagining of our cities fit for the future; putting the health and well-being of people and planet at the center.
Thank you for your present and constant collaboration.”
Filipe Araújo, Deputy Mayor of Porto, Chair
Tine Heyse, Deputy Mayor of Ghent, Vice-chair
Migration team e-travelling for integration
Volunteers & the city
The crucial role that volunteering and civil society organisations play in building an inclusive society has long been proven. Our VALUES partners have recognised the added value of such organisations and are working with them in understanding migrants’ needs through the invaluable insight into challenges on the ground. Riga, for instance, is committed to improving cooperation with civil society and finding new ways to engage even more citizens in volunteering activities for integration. Cesena, Madrid and Vantaa in their virtual visit to Riga, learnt about many initiatives aiming at making Riga a more welcoming city, from the Red Cross’ projects to small citizens’ initiatives, such as ‘I want to help refugees’ that started from a Facebook group.
As for Terrassa, its innovative volunteering actions for migrants’ integration inspired Sheffield, Ostend and Zurich. Volunteers, both locals and migrants, are very active in the city and told our VALUES partners about their motivation to volunteer but also the daily challenges they faced. The municipality is very engaged in supporting these associations and in ensuring that all become more inclusive and diverse.
Toulouse, on the other hand, commits to work with young people, and especially young migrants. Several projects implemented by the city focus on the social inclusion of young migrants. La Glacière, for instance, was opened by the city in March 2020 to welcome young migrant men between 18-25 years. These men receive legal and administrative counselling, support for their integration on the labour market, their access to health care or to long-term housing. In addition, young volunteers offer them French classes, and digital and artistic workshops. Toulouse would like to strengthen its links with local associations to better integrate young migrant people, and is planning to work with the programme Melting-Potes of the association Unicités, which pairs one young migrant with one French youngster.
City t(r)ips
Interested in some tips for better integration? Travel with us to our CONNECTION’s cities! Starting an integration strategy from scratch can seem like an ordeal. That is, without Paris’ advice, which was given to cities partners during the online workshop they hosted. Where shall you begin? (1) Find your interlocutors at all levels: state, region, land, province, but also civil societies, citizens groups, and migrant communities themselves. These are important forces to confront and to gather around the table for codesigning in a most participatory way. (2) Go beyond short-term planning and think long term. (3) Integration should be see as a transversal issue and be mainstreamed in all the departments of your city.
What are the other steps a city can take to better integrate migrants? Let’s take a trip to Antwerp and ask what can be done to bridge the gap and integrate newcomers on the labour market. In the workshop they hosted, Antwerp presented how the city is working with two local partners on this very topic in their one-stop-shop. Antwerp would tell you that, for a successful one-stop-shop it is important to (1) share the same building with all partners; (2) get to know the partners’ working processes; (3) have one common approach amongst partners: communication is important; (4) Have one single point of contact for all partners.
You can get more tips or information on both migration integration projects by contacting us: feyrouz.lajili@Eurocities.eu
Sharing Cities digital peer-learning
COVID-19 did not stop cities from becoming smarter together!
Since the beginning of the project, engaging with a larger audience of cities has always been one of the key objectives of Sharing Cities, and sharing experiences through site and study visits has been a very effective tool. As Eurocites’ role within this EU-funded lighthouse project is to ensure replication of results, it is essential to us that we can facilitate access of all our member cities to the project’s insights.
While the pandemic disturbed the prospect of having peer-learning visits and face-to-face mentoring exchanges, it did not curb the enthusiasm of five scale-up cities! Aberdeen (UK), Debrecen (Hungary), Kharkiv (Ukraine), Perth & Kinross Council (UK) and Wuppertal (Germany) followed a 6-month peer-learning programme with partners from Sharing Cities’ lighthouse and fellow cities, and technical partners. After an open call and an initial needs assessment, a tailor-made peer-learning programme was developed to cater to the different needs of the five cities.
Interactive tools were used to gather inputs, an online repository of tools was set-up, and different formats were explored to foster exchange, including public webinars and private peer-learning sessions in formal and informal settings. All in all, the peer-learning programme connected various partners from Sharing Cities with keen scale-up cities, and cultivated exchanges and emulation among them.
The peer exchanges focused on e-mobility (including e-bikes), smart energy management, and communications technologies.
The success of the programme showed that despite a challenging context, peer-to-peer exchange, mentoring, connecting people, is still possible!
How did we do?
So many digital, online, virtual events happened in 2020 – so how did Eurocities do? We would like to have your feedback via a short survey that should have recently landed in your Inbox. Tell us what you thought of our online sessions: what was good, what was missing and what would you like us to do more of.
If you haven’t received the survey email, please click here to respond via the link below. It should take you around five minutes, and we’d really appreciate your participation.
nicola.vatthauer@eurocities.eu
Public procurement and public services split
The WG Public Services and Public Procurement is now working in a more focused way by working separately: the WG Public Services, chaired by the city of Vienna and Nantes and WG Public Procurement, chaired by the city of Haarlem.
The WG on public service will focus on exchanging on new approach of public services through workshops and city-dialogues, and handling case studies and best practices on a variety of issues regarding health and society, as well as digitalisation and broadband, re-municipalisation and sustainable financing of public services. See their work plan below.
Members active in the WG on Public Procurement will focus on how to use procurement more strategically, sharing how to introduce circular procurement and innovation procurement in cities everyday work. It will also continue cooperation with the Urban Agenda Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement and the Big Buyers for Climate and Environment initiative. See their work plane below.
If you want to be more active in one or both of these new working group, please fill the quick survey here.
You can find the working plans approved for 2021 enclosed here.
Public services: aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Public procurement: anja.decunto@eurocities.eu
Our forums work in 2021-2023
Forum chairs shared the priorities of their communities for the year during the first joint ExCom and forum chairs officers’ meeting on 3 February. All forums will focus on recovery and resilience, and on green and digital transition.
Knowledge society
- Digital inclusion
- High-quality infrastructure for all citizens and better digital skills.
- Multidisciplinary and multi-level sharing of good practices in inclusive digital citizenship.
- Dialogue on digital citizenship digital tools for participation and equality.
- Emerging technologies
- Responsible AI and big data for personalised services from proactive administrations.
- Ethical algorithms and AI in public services.
- Connect emerging technology with sustainability and climate neutral cities.
- Digital rights
- Collaborate with European institutions on data governance for public benefit, promoting open data standards and business to government (B2G) data sharing.
- Develop ‘Common Data’ as a public infrastructure for the common good.
- Promote reuse of public data to evaluate the management and evolution of the city.
Chair and vice chair: Barcelona and Rotterdam
Coordinator: federica.bordelot@eurocities.eu
Meeting: September, hosted by Rennes
Environment
- Low carbon and climate resilient cities:
- Advocate on EU energy and climate policies, especially the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, the Renovation Wave, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive.
- Energy efficient building and renovating, climate governance and citizen participation.
- Circular and resources efficient cities:
- Legislation for a circular economy – including the New Circular Economy Action Plan and rules on Packaging and Packaging Waste, mobilise industry.
- Moving to a circular economy.
- Green, blue and healthy cities:
- EU Biodiversity Strategy – including nature restoration targets and Urban Greening Plans; Farm to Fork Strategy, with a focus on food procurement, food waste, and food security; the Bathing Water Directive and the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.
- Zero pollution environment:
- Zero Pollution Strategy, Directive on Ambient Air Quality, EURO 6 and EURO 7 standards, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the Environmental Noise Directive.
- Good practices on low-emission zones and measures and policies to reduce noise pollution in cities.
Chair and vice chair: Porto and Ghent
Coordinator: heather.brooks@eurocities.eu
Meeting: End of April, hosted by Porto and Guimaraes
Social affairs
- Build back better together – social recovery through reducing inequalities
- Poverty reduction and social inclusion through local and national recovery plans, The European Pillar of Social Rights action plan, the campaign ‘InclusiveCities4All’ and the EU Social Summit in Porto.
- Rising unemployment, especially youth unemployment; Local Pacts for Employment in quality jobs; decent working conditions for all, including on platform work, and inclusive labour markets. Build capacity of cities to implement local Youth Guarantee schemes, especially through ESF+.
- Up-skilling and re-skilling, using the EU Green Deal for new jobs based on green and digital skills; EU Skills Agenda and the new EU Pack for Skills.
- Boost the social economy in the recovery. Contribute to the EU action plan for social economy.
- A home for everyone
- Long-term investment for affordable housing; Work with European Parliament on affordable housing in the EU and European Semester, and Renovation Wave.
- Integrated approach combining housing support (e.g. Housing First) with social care and health services, and active inclusion (access to work or training). Contribute to the new EU initiative on fighting homelessness with policy input from cities.
- Welcoming everyone in our cities – diversity and social cohesion
- Social inclusion of migrants and refugees and access to essential services;
- Cities’ role in Roma inclusion national strategies under EU Roma Framework 2021-2030.
- Fighting child poverty and breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle.
- Age-friendly social and health services.
Chair and vice chair: Utrecht and Glasgow
Coordinator: bianca.faragau@eurocities.eu
Meeting: November, hosted by Berlin
Culture
- Smart, sustainable and future fit recovery strategies; new funding and partnership models and demonstrating the economic, social and environmental impact of local culture.
- Culture and social inclusion
- Studying cities’ research needs on culture & social inclusion, action 11 of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Culture & Cultural Heritage, led by Eurocities & Urbact.
- Link between culture, health, and well-being.
- Community projects and social inclusion around local cultural heritage through Cultural Heritage in Action peer-learning visits.
- Participatory approaches and citizen engagement in culture
- Co-design of long-term strategies
- Working with locals to maintain and promote cultural heritage
- Crowdsourcing culture with digital tools
Chair and vice chair: Dresden and Ljubljana
Coordinator: julie.herve@eurocities.eu
Meeting: 29 Sept-1October, hosted by Tampere
Mobility
- Green transition:
- Towards zero emission mobility: low emission zones, parking regulation, priority to active modes, air quality management, alternative fuels directive (including hydrogen), charging infrastructures deployment and multimodality.
- Climate resilient cities, Mission 100 climate neutral and smart cities.
- Digital transition:
- Input on the revision of the ITS Directive
- Capacity building on data management, automated vehicles, urban air mobility and Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
- Recovery and resilience:
- Financing urban transport systems and freight management with built-in resilience principles.
- Healthy and safe cities and well‐being in urban areas: developing culture and nature in urban public space.
- Sustainable mobility beyond city boundaries:
- Leveraging Eurocities involvement in new H2020 projects such as MOVE21 and SCALE-UP to offer input to revision of the TEN-T regulation and – together with Fast-Track and ULaaDS – mobilise members around the topic of urban logistics and last-mile distribution through knowledge-sharing.
Chair and vice chair: Toulouse and Madrid
Coordinator: arianna.americo@eurocities.eu
Meeting: 7-9 June, online hosted by Madrid
Economic development
- Local innovation ecosystem for urban recovery
- Exchanging good practice, build local capacity.
- Advocate at EU level for cities’ role in driving local innovation ecosystems and channelling of EU funds to cities (i.e. Horizon Europe).
- Green, digital and fair transition of urban economy – Supporting cities in building strong knowledge and accessing finance to invest in urban economy transition.
- Political round table on local recovery plans and EU recovery fund.
- Awareness of and access to EIB schemes for investing in urban economic transition.
- Knowledge exchange on trends and challenges to recovery and transition
- Circular economy in construction and skills development to drive transition
- Knowledge-exchange on circular construction sites, exploring synergies with Big Buyers for Climate Change and Economic Development Forum.
- Knowledge-exchange in skill development in emerging economic sectors, exploring synergies with Social Affairs Forum.
Chair and vice-chair: Helsinki and Valladolid
Coordinator: aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Meeting: 17-19 March, online hosted by Oulu
Upcoming programme of events
You can also visit our online calendar of meetings and events
