Eurocities, a sneak preview
Reinventing cities –
beyond the urban crises
Eurocities2020 online
Cities have always been reinventing themselves, and this is a quality that is needed now more than ever. But will cities survive these changes, and what will they have to do to reach their goals?
Our very first online annual conference, on 4 and 5 November, will kick off on Wednesday morning with a keynote on the future of cities. On Wednesday afternoon we will have a session with Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič on foresight, and on Thursday morning we will look at green and just transition.
We will close at lunchtime with our online AGM.
Unfortunately, we won’t have our Eurocities awards until next year’s conference in Leipzig, but you can still share your stories in the online speednetworking sessions – a call for host cities will be out soon.
For now, please note in your agendas, and those of your politicians, Wednesday 4 November and Thursday 5 November, Eurocities annual conference and AGM.
nicola.vatthauer@eurocities.eu
Staying Alive
I hope you had a relaxing and safe Summer. The other day I happened to hear the Bee Gees’ Staying Alive on the radio – and its title resonated with me. We live in a time that is forcing us back to basics, and where the fear, we are continuously being exposed to, is changing our way of living and plans for the future. Survival is now also part of the vocabulary of those that are lucky enough to lead a good life.
Survival though does not only concern individuals. Recently I have read a few articles about “will cities survive?” Cities have been and, considering the virus has not gone, still are being the hardest hit by the pandemic and its social and economic consequences. So many sectors are being affected, from culture and entertainment to food and tourism, with already a huge loss of jobs and many more to come in the medium term due to the crisis. And cities are having to face so many other challenges, such as climate change, rising inequalities, a weakening democracy. So, yes, they have a lot on their plate.
But cities have been reacting fast. They have shown a lot of resilience and creativity, and above all, they have demonstrated that they can be the place where all these crises can be differently faced, and things reshaped. It’s in cities that new spaces and opportunities have been emerging, exactly starting from the vulnerabilities that the pandemic exposed. Our economic models, our social and health systems, our relationship with nature and so much more, can be totally rethought in cities for a sustainable present and future. Even better with the participation of people, and, with all parts of society (institutions, businesses, citizens) taking their own responsibility in the process. Easier said than done, but, where it happens, it does give hope.
So, I feel like saying, yes, cities (we) will survive – to continue with the musical game – and we will offer Europe the opportunity to become a healthier place to live, work and play. Today President von der Leyen is delivering her State of the Union address. I more than suspect that she will not mention the role of cities in there. So, let’s do it on her behalf and remind the EU and its member states that cities can be their best allies in setting a new course for Europe. By helping cities to reshape themselves and match the new needs, the developing recovery plans could be extremely impactful. Because, and I will never tire of saying this: if you get it right in cities, you get it right for Europe.
I wish you some wonderful last days of Summer!
New logo, new website, Newrocities – how do you like it?
A fresh set of colours, a revamped logo, a funky saxophone – Eurocities is back from the summer break with a new look and style, brought to life in this short film:
The modern design is there for one purpose: to let our cities shine. Eurocities’ new website, launched on 1 September, puts cities at the centre and tells the stories of their people. With this, we want to inspire urbanites and European policy makers alike and reach out to new audiences.
We are building on the successful experiences from the COVIDnews and the ‘100 days’ campaign and want to be the central place for information from and for European cities.
Now it’s up to you: send us the good examples and interesting news from your city so we can share them. And please complete your city profile: many cities have already sent us wonderful pictures and texts, but some still remain blank – if this is you, please send us images and information we need to publicise your city and its great work. And, of course, also your feedback is most welcome: communications@eurocities.eu
Also the second part of Eurocities’ new digital space will be opened soon: the collaboration platform for members. The construction work of this virtual office and meeting place is making good progress and we are currently inspecting the site for you – please stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
Eurocities AGM goes digital
This year the voting for the executive committee elections and for the approval of the AGM documents will be entirely online, via a platform set up for these procedures, and will take place before the AGM session on 5 November. Below is the schedule – mark the deadlines in your calendar!
- 1 October: all contact officers will receive a call for registering to vote with a detailed explanation of the procedure (only full and associate members who have paid the fee for last year are eligible to vote)
- 8 October: all AGM documents will be uploaded on the members’ area and contact officers will receive a link to download them
- 19 October: deadline for sending questions on the documents
- 22 October: deadline for registering to vote (one person per city)
- 23 October: registered voters will receive the link to the online platform
- 3 November: deadline to vote for the approval of AGM documents and for the ExCom elections
- 5 November: announcement of voting results at the AGM session
To participate in this year’s AGM voting is exceptionally important as members will be asked to approve the changes to the statutes. During the past months, the Brussels office has worked with the executive committee to revise the statutes and the internal rules to update them to the current practice and the new legal requirements. We strongly encourage all members to vote!
Meetings with German Presidency – New Leipzig Charter
Despite COVID-19, the German Presidency of the EU Council have managed to move ahead with their agenda on urban matters, holding the meetings with urban stakeholders and member states on the Leipzig Charter in July and the meeting of the Urban Agenda Technical Preparatory Group (UATPG) in September remotely.
Those meetings were both focused on finalising the New Leipzig Charter and the related implementation document before its adoption at the informal ministerial meeting in Leipzig from 29 November to 1 December 2020. The implementation document confirms member states’ commitment to the urban agenda for the EU and its partnership approach. The German Presidency is also working on a set of Council Conclusions that will provide stronger legitimacy and ownership of the New Leipzig Charter and make the transformative power of cities a key element of change at the EU level.
We took part to all of meetings providing feedback on the documents and calling for an active role in the development and implementation of the Urban Agenda for the EU in line with the strategic principles set out in the New Leipzig Charter. We will participate in the next Urban Development Group (UDG) meeting next 17 September and will continue to follow the steps towards the adoption of this key document.
Negotiations on EU budget
Negotiations between Parliament and Council finally started after EU leaders found a common position on the long-term EU budget and recovery fund on 21 July.
The overall amount of the EU budget agreed by the Council has been slightly reduced by 3% compared to the proposal presented by the Commission in May. While funds for Cohesion and Agricultural policy remain unchanged, some of the centralised funding programmes that are vital to the resilience component of the recovery plan, including Horizon Europe, Just Transition Fund and Digital Europe, have been cut back.
By contrast, the budget allocation for the Recovery and Resilience Facility under the umbrella of Next Generation Europe, which will be directly managed by member states, were increased from €560 billion to €672.5 billion (partly funding, partly loans).
An agreement needs to be reached as soon as possible for the budget to come into force in 2021, but it’s clear that the Council will first be confronted on the need to reinforce specific programmes, introduce a basket of new Own Resources (EU revenue), complete the legislators’ work on the rule of law, and ensure parliamentary involvement in the Recovery Instrument.
Eurocities is closely following the negotiations, and will continue advocating for a stronger involvement of cities in the drafting and the implementation of National Recovery Plans.
EU on data and artificial intelligence
This year started off with the publication of an ambitious, encompassing communication from the Commission: A European Strategy for Data. After a public consultation period of three months running up to June 2020, the feedback on the communication was published here. Covering a wide range of policy fields and many proposed actions by the Commission, our start into autumn provides a good moment to see where we stand.
The popularity and potential of (data based) digital services in response to COVID-19 have underlined the relevance of a new and/or updated policy. As part of the European Strategy for Data, over summer the Roadmap for Common European Data Spaces was published. The proposed new rules aim to make better use of publicly held data for the common good, support voluntary data sharing by individuals and set up structures to enable key organisations (mostly public) to share data. Feedback on the roadmap was accepted until the end of June, while we are now awaiting the public consultation to be opened.
A ‘full-blown’ Data Act is set to complement the work on Common European Data spaces in the second half of 2021, among other topics addressing the issues identified by the high level Expert Group on Business-to-Government Data Sharing. Assurance of access rights and intellectual property are said to play an important role. Prior to the Data Act, a regulation being implemented on Open Data aims to make available ‘high-value’ data sets held by the public sector, providing a quick way to stimulate new information products and innovation. Foreseeing possible impact on local authorities, we will involve our members in the public consultation that is yet to be scheduled.
The White Paper on AI, published together with A European Strategy for Data in February, has received extensive feedback running into June 2020, including Eurocities’ response ‘People-centered Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cities’. On 23 July, a proposal for regulation for ethical and legal requirements on Artificial Intelligence was published, providing a transformation of part of the White Paper and numerous preceding research efforts into policy. Feedback on the Roadmap is welcomed until 10 September. In order to connect policy with practice, it could be valuable to assess your city’s initiatives against the Assessment List for Trustworthy AI. A web-based tool has been put at your disposal by the High-Level Expert Group on AI, available for use here.
The coming months will be full of developments on digital policy and the Knowledge Society Forum remains dedicated representing our member’s interests. Don’t hesitate to reach out for questions or actions related to any policy dossier.
lodewijk.noordzij@eurocities.eu
Meet our new wordsmith, Fraser
Eurocites has a new copywriter for our new projects, Food Trails and USER-CHI! Fraser is a former multimedia journalist who entered the trade in his native UK during one of its most tumultuous periods for news, covering events such as general elections and the Brexit vote. Since moving to Brussels two years ago, he has immersed himself in the world of communications. He has a keen interest in cities and hopes to use his storytelling skills to tell the world about the great work that Eurocities and its members do every day.
Culture is not a luxury, says German EU Presidency
A compromise deal on the massive recovery programme is a priority of the German presidency of the EU (1 July- 31 December), under its motto ‘together for Europe’s recovery’. Monika Grütters, the German Government Commissioner for Culture and media, has prioritised fair conditions of competition and financial stability through policies and funding. “Culture is not a luxury that we can only afford when times are good,” she said.
Freedom of opinion, quality of information, access to reliable news, and the clampdown on hate speech, cyber mobbing and illegal content are other strong points for the presidency-in-exercise. Germany is seeking to make progress in the sustainability of journalism and the European media sector, especially after the Covid-19 crisis has exposed the fragilities of the communication system.
The adoption of Council Conclusions on gender equality in culture and media and the strengthening of culture and cultural heritage internationally have been topics also tackled as part of the German presidency priorities.
Consultation on digital platforms
The Commission’s open public consultation on the Digital Services Act package, which recently closed, was focused on the new regulatory framework, which will also cover a series of topics related to the environment of digital services.
Eurocities contributed, together with other EU stakeholders, drawing up guidelines and recommendation for the inclusion of more stringent obligations for large platforms. Such regulations should address potential market imbalances and lay allow for the ex-ante regulation of ‘gatekeepers’ (large platforms with significant network effects). We have also developed a policy paper on the topic, which will be available soon.
aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Adapting Europe to climate change
The ambitious strategy set by the European Commission to reach climate neutrality by 2050 must be accompanied by an equally ambitious new EU strategy for climate adaptation. Nearly 90% of Eurocities members have already adopted a climate adaptation strategy. As cities are making progress, increased technical and financial support is needed to design, implement and measure the impact of their adaptation plans.
The new EU adaptation strategy should continue to support the development of local strategies and comprehensive sets of indicators to help cities monitor the progress of their adaptation plans. Climate change adaptation must also be mainstreamed into existing and new policies to achieve coherence and synergies, and to avoid counter-productive actions. To make climate adaptation a reality everywhere in Europe, new approaches are needed to involve all stakeholders in efficient multi-level governance and multi-actor cooperation.
Those are the main messages in our new position paper on climate adaptation, which is available here. Following consultations with members, Eurocities has issued its position (see above) on the post-2020 Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change and has responded to the Commission’s consultation. We have also been consulted on a report initiated by the European Parliament and have provided inputs. The Commission is expected to adopt and publish its Communication on the revised strategy at the beginning of 2021.
louise.coffineau@eurocities.eu
The Renovation Wave
The Renovation Wave initiative is a key element for the post-recovery and of the Green Deal. It can trigger new investments to restart the economy, create local jobs, and deliver a just and inclusive transition for European citizens. We are expecting the Commission’s proposals for the renovation initiative anytime now.
Many cities have already committed to climate neutrality targets and are implementing ambitious local building regulations as part of voluntary commitments. Collaboration with city authorities and other key stakeholders will be essential to ensure the Renovation Wave contributes to securing a just and green transition in Europe.
It will need to support cities with programmes at EU and national level, tailored to each building segment (worst performing buildings, schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, residential) and encouraging district level approaches to maximise local potential and carry out deep renovations.
In our new position we explain how fostering district level renovation approaches, smart energy management systems, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, participation and engagement, support to vulnerable groups, and adequate funding and financing will make the Renovation Wave work in practice.
eugenia.mansutti@eurocities.eu
Noise is back
During the COVID-19 crisis, our cities have seen a huge and welcome reduction in noise pollution due to reduced road traffic, but this is temporary. The European Green Deal and post-COVID recovery provide opportunities for reflection at both local and European level on noise pollution policies across Europe and future opportunities for change.
Over 1.6 million healthy years of life are lost each year due to ill health, disability or early death caused by traffic-related noise. European noise levels far exceed those recommended by the WHO, with no significant progress made in the last 10 years and noise levels expected to increase. More than 7 out of 10 Europeans live in cities. As hubs for road, rail, ports and air transport, cities have a central role in reducing noise pollution to improve quality of life for people. However, action is needed at the European level to support local efforts.
Eurocities has developed a policy paper outlining key recommendations for noise policy in Europe. Noise legislation should be revised to lower reporting thresholds following evidence from the WHO of harmful effects at lower levels than previously thought. Shifting focus from measures that mitigate excessive noise to those that prevent noise altogether, such as supporting sustainable modes of transport like walking and cycling, is crucial to realise the significant and long-term noise reduction that is necessary. Additional action is needed to ensure progress in reducing noise pollution, including binding noise reduction targets for member states.
The new Eurocities road noise position paper is available here.
heather.brooks@eurocities.eu
Sustainable and smart mobility strategy
Our Mobility Forum has launched the advocacy on the upcoming Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (SSMS), which aims to ensure the EU transport sector contributes to the goals of the European Green Deal by reducing emissions 90% by 2050. This will set the stage of EU transport policy for the next decade and support affordable, accessible, and sustainable mobility for all Europeans.
A taskforce has been established to identify key city priorities for the future of EU transport policy and agree on a common path forwards in responding to questions posed by the European Commission. More than 20 cities have participated in the taskforce and shared their views on how the EU can support our sustainable and digital transformations, while responding to the immediate fallout of the COVID-19 public health crisis.
The SSMS is expected to be adopted in the last quarter of 2020. To follow the work of the taskforce, please share your interest with: thomas.willson@eurocities.eu
Changing times for European Capitals of Culture
The 2020 European Capitals of Culture (ECoC) Rijeka (Croatia) and Galway (Ireland) have been enormously hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. The impossibility of carrying out the planned programmes has made the Commission decide to give both cities an extension as ECOC until 30 April 2021, without changing their year of designation.
How will future ECOCs be affected by this proposal?
In 2021, three ECoC were supposed to hold the title: Timișoara (Romania), Elefsina (Greece) and Novi Sad (Serbia). While those cities will be ECoC, none will do so during their assigned year. Novi Sad (Serbia) will join Kaunas (Lithuania) and Esch (Luxembourg) in 2022; Timisoara and Elefsina will hold their titles in 2023, together with Veszprém (Hungary).
The Commission proposal does not result in a higher number of European Capitals of Culture over the period 2020-2033 and has no direct budgetary implications. Cities, however, will benefit from extra time to prepare their programmes.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1474
Your guides to upping your smart-city game
Smart cities encompass a large array of measures, from energy efficiency to e-mobility by way of new digital tools. Through Sharing Cities, we help you navigate through all these measures with 10 booklets.
Each booklet presents one measure with the different way they have been implemented in the lighthouse cities (London, Milan, and Lisbon), the benefits, technical options, funding models, as well as the challenges. The short documents provide a clear yet comprehensive overview of the smart city measure, based on the five-year experience of the project.
You can find the free booklets on the Sharing Cities website. In addition, each measure has been presented in a dedicated webinar that you can find on Sharing Cities’ YouTube channel. More detailed information on how to implement the solutions can be found in the playbooks.
The measures covered are: Smart lampposts, electric vehicle sharing scheme, e-bikes, e-logistics, building retrofit (for private buildings, social housing, and public buildings), digital social market, sustainable energy management system, and urban digital platform.
Create less waste and more value
From cycling compost heaps to showing packaging producers where their rubbish ends up, cities are full of ingenious ways to reduce waste and increase reuse and recycling.
The new toolkit which we have produced as part of our work in the European Green Capital Network project, ‘How can your city get to less waste, more value?‘ shows that reducing waste is possible, but it will require a big shift in mentality and increased commitment and cooperation across the board.
Cities must adopt an inclusive resident-focused approach, and engage with other key stakeholders, including tourists, local companies, advocacy groups, industry and other cities, to achieve this vision. The toolkit also highlights the need to consider the environmental, social and technological aspects of waste prevention and minimisation. Check it out at the link below!
Smart cities in EU and Wuhan
One of the greatest challenges facing Chinese and European urbanisation is how to best design and turn cities into intelligent, socially integrative and sustainable environments. Chinese cities need new insights to implement, scale up and transfer these practices in their own operational realities. This can also produce positive learning effects on the European side and will influence the European research agenda on sustainable urbanisation. Our TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA project is to help policy makers, urban authorities, real estate developers, public service providers and citizens in Europe and China to create socially cohesive cities in an environmentally friendly and financially viable way.
In an online living lab with European and China experts, we saw practical tools and mechanisms for the development of sustainable cities for all. We also got some insight from Wuhan stakeholders about how these tools can be applied in Chinese context. Check it out below:
anthony.colclough@eurocities.eu
Digital living lab days – citizen card scaling-up challenge
The European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) is the international federation of benchmarked Living Labs in Europe. It is an open community that provides co-creation, user engagement, test, and experimentation facilities targeting innovation in different domains. The Digital Living Lab Days on 3-4 September was the first digitally-held event in place of the annual gathering for the Living Lab Community.
An important part of the lab days was the Scaling Up Challenges, special opportunities to share, discover, debate, and create responses to challenges and boundaries related to scaling up, internationalisation, and interoperability. The topic of these challenges this year was Connecting people and technology towards a citizen-centred digital future, including a session hosted by ENoLL and Eurocities on the Citizen Card project by the KSF LAB.
The principal aim of this session was to present the results of the Citizen Card Project and validate part of the work. The main aim was to receive valuable input on processes to include citizens and facilitate collaboration in the Citizen Card’s development. For the card, we envision a Citizen centric approach that fulfils the needs and wishes of the citizens to ensure the added value and relevance of the card.
The outcomes of the scaling up challenge feeds into the KSF LAB and the cities involved to continue the work on the Citizen Card White Label for which the first deliverables are expected in Q4 of this year. Stay tuned!
nefeli.iliopoulou@eurocities.eu
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020 starts today!
As every year since 2002, the time has come for European cities to show their commitment to sustainable transport. From 16-22 September, local councils are organising activities to raise awareness on sustainable urban mobility. But this year will be different.
2020 is different; we have learnt many new things. Or maybe not that new… EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK local campaigners have known it for many years: public space is precious, public transport workers deserve our recognition, air and noise pollution from daily transport are (or have been) unbearable.
Taking the brightest side of every situation, the COVID-19 pandemic has come with some insights: respiratory health and an active lifestyle are now more important than ever; 30 km/h speed limits in urban areas will increase safety and quality of life; working from home is an option to take into account if we want to reduce unnecessary trips.
But we also have to keep an eye on new habits: buying online comes with more deliveries, and cargo-bikes have a big potential to reduce the impact of these; digital tools are key for an efficient use of transport systems, but they have to be accessible to all.
And it is this inclusiveness aspect that makes the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020 theme special: ‘Zero-emission mobility for all’. Europe has the ambition to become a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. And it has to leave no one behind.
European towns and cities are aware of this and to highlight their commitment thousands of them are hosting activities (online and offline) during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK: Essen is exploring in a workshop how local business can become bicycle-friendly employers, Gdansk will offer free public transport for car drivers who decide to leave their car behind, Lahti is organising guided walking tours, Cesena is taking the opportunity to get feedback from local residents on their recent Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), Zaragoza is offering technical checks of bicycles and proposing walking tours and games for children and adults.
These are just few examples of what cities can do in such an unusual year to promote ‘Zero-emission mobility for all’. Your city has a last chance to join the movement!
https://mobilityweek.eu/2020-participants/
Back to school for the kids?
From the disruption of their schooling to their social skills and mental health and well-being, the pandemic has had a strong impact on children. Home-schooling has deepened the inequalities in education and training. Child poverty is increasing in cities and the poorest are the hardest hit. These are some of the conclusions from the recent WG Children meeting held online on 10 July 2020.
40 representatives from 27 cities met online for the kick-off meeting of our new Working Group Children and Young People, which is chaired by Leeds. The city experts discussed the social impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on children and how cities are responding to mitigating them. Key trends were identified:
- Cities are mitigating the crisis impact on child poverty by providing food aid, digital devices, pedagogical and play resources offline and online, financial relief and debt counselling for families.
- Active outreach to identify families in need is key.
- Working in partnership with volunteers and NGOs has been crucial.
- Some cities launched household surveys to monitor the needs of families.
To help cities fight child poverty, Eurocities ran a survey to collect inputs and proposals to feed into the upcoming proposal from the European Commission for an EU Child Guarantee – we’ll share the results with you soon!
Barrier-free, disability friendly Europe
We have launched a survey to collect evidence on disability inclusion and accessibility policies pursued at city level.
It will:
- Raise awareness on the needs and challenges for inclusion of people with disabilities in cities
- Identify priorities for EU funding to support disability inclusion at local level
- Recommend key actions to accompany the renewed EU disability strategy 2020-2030 to European decision makers
- Present good practices and identify gaps in implementation
- Build capacity for mutual learning between cities on inclusion of people with disabilities
The survey results will feed into a Eurocities analytical report to be published by the end of 2020. A focus group to discuss preliminary results and upcoming highlights from the renewed EU disability strategy will be organised for members in November.
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Upcoming Events
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Research and Innovation Days
22-24 September 2020
Your opportunity for dialogue on research and innovation is here: European Research and Innovation Days, the European Commission’s annual flagship event, online on 22-24 September 2020.
Cornerstones for economic and social recovery after the pandemic, research and innovation can pave the way to a green, digital and resilient society.
Policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and citizen will develop a renewed knowledge framework on research and innovation policy and funding, through scheduled intensive policy co-designing, thought-provoking panels and matchmaking opportunities.
One city will also receive the coveted European Capital of Innovation Award (iCapital), funded under Horizon 2020. Twelve cities from nine countries are in the final round of the contest, which demands innovation in concepts, processes, tools, and governance models but also the engagement and the empowerment of locals, citizens and associations, in developing and implementing more equitable, healthier and sustainably-oriented projects.
https://bit.ly/2Gwjo6E
aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
KSF week online 2020
21 and 24 September
Confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis, European cities need to show now more than ever how they can recover with the assistance of technology. In the Eurocities KSF week online 2020 ‘Digital building blocks for resilient cities’ between 21 and 24 September, cities will explain how they responded to this crisis.
Driven by the urgency of digital transformation in cities due to this crisis, the focus of this event is to highlight, through cross-forum collaborations and sessions, how technology can facilitate future-proof cities.
A political panel with representatives from Manchester, Barcelona, and Ghent will outline their actions in response to COVID-19 and discuss challenges and conditions for reinforcing the resilience of cities for the future. The results from a survey on the digitalization of public services and future ways of working will be presented, as well as the progress on the KSF LAB Citizen Card. Participants will have the chance to learn more about these issues and also discuss and share their own experiences.
All these are just some examples of what the KSF week will be all about. Click the link below to find out more about the programme and register!
nefeli.iliopoulou@eurocities.eu
Digitalising social services – Join us
22 September
The pandemic is accelerating the trend of digitalisation and virtual delivery of essential services. To minimise the virus spread, cities have been quick to move many social services online, such as healthcare, employment services and social assistance.
SAF and KSF are organising a joint city dialogue to bring together city experts from social services and digital services to discuss the common challenges and opportunities related to digitalising social services during the COVID-19 crisis. We will share know-how and good practices on digital solutions from cities to move social services online and lessons learned for the recovery post-COVID.
Join our city dialogue to discuss:
- digital solutions to deliver and adapt social services online
- innovative approaches from cities to e-inclusion and digital rights
- how to deal with the GDPR law
- how to tackle the digital divide and support the development of digital skills
- lessons learned from COVID-19 on how to build resilience in digital and social services
Eurocities has run a survey to identify trends in digitalising social services, at the initiative of the city directors of social services from Barcelona and Amsterdam. This survey collected inputs from both SAF and KSF members, and we will discuss the findings during the city dialogue.
European Green Capital Network webinars on sustainable urban development
23 September
Experts from the European Green Capital Network want to discuss their policies and strategies for sustainable urban development with you! The most sustainable cities in Europe have been working together over the last two years to share and explore their policies covering five key visions for sustainable cities: future-proof; 100% renewable; less waste, more value; human scale; and how to become a green capital. Following the development of a series of toolkits gathering the insights and recommendations from the EGC cities, they are now keen to discuss these ideas with you! Join us on 23 September for these interactive discussions. Missed the webinars or want to catch up again?! Find all the webinar recordings, including registration details and toolkits here.
https://forumofmayors.unece.org/
Environment Forum – digital autumn
16 September – 25 November
This autumn, we have an exciting line up of digital events for you! From the cross-cutting Healthy, thriving and inclusive cities series, to the European Green Capital Network webinars, and meetings of all our working groups, you can see the whole programme here.
Healthy, thriving and inclusive cities
13-26 October
We are working on a first at Eurocities: A cross-cutting series of online workshops exploring the opportunities for transformative change in cities post-crisis. These workshops, the ‘Healthy, thriving and inclusive cities’ series, will address issues from skills mismatch and circular economy, to healthy mobility and rethinking public space, to affordable and efficient buildings, and community building.
- 13 October: Workshop 1 – Building a resilient, sustainable and circular economy to ensure a better future for the next generation
- 20 October 2020: Workshop 2 – Moving on: Healthy mobility for all in a thriving city
- 20 October 2020: Workshop 3 – Urban design for healthy and accessible public spaces
- 26 October: Workshop 4 – Built to thrive: using, reusing, renewing buildings for the health of citizens and our planet
Building back better: A stronger social Europe
30 September
Eurocities is organising a digital high-level conference to bring together city mayors and EU leaders to discuss how to move social Europe forward and drive a fair and inclusive recovery, leaving no one behind.
The event will take stock of the achievements of Eurocities’ political campaign ‘Inclusive Cities for All: Social Rights in My City‘. Mayors and deputy mayors will present their new pledges to the European Pillar of Social Rights proving their commitment to putting principles into action through dedicated social investments.
We will trigger political dialogue between city mayors and Members of the European Parliament on how to work together on new priorities and proposals for reinforcing social Europe and driving a fair and inclusive recovery from the pandemic crisis. In particular, we wish to discuss the role of cities in the governance of the upcoming action plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
A special focus will be on European policy solutions to address the rising poverty and inequalities in cities, in particular: housing exclusion and the new urban poor. The increasing demand for social services in cities and how the EU can support social investment at local level will also be discussed.
https://eurocities.eu/latest/building-back-better-a-stronger-social-europe/
Culture Forum online in October
Thursday 8 October
Considering the ongoing situation with the coronavirus pandemic, safety measures implemented in several countries, and the importance for our forum of the topic “culture, health and wellbeing” to be discussed in Tampere, the culture forum steering group has decided to postpone the Tampere forum to next year (October 2021, with the same topic).
We will still meet this October, but in an online and condensed format. Please save the date for Thursday 8 October 2020. On the agenda: an interactive thematic session on future perspectives for culture in cities, updates on EU funding for culture, and the election of a new culture forum chair and vice-chair.
Working groups ‘Arts and culture in the public space’, ‘Cultural resources and partnerships’ and ‘Cultural services and culture for inclusive cities’ will meet online on the same day.
Working group ‘Skills, creativity and work’ will take place online on 13 and 23 October. It will be co-hosted by Eindhoven and will focus on links between education and creativity. It will take place alongside the world-famous Dutch Design Week, allowing us to welcome some of their speakers.
Detailed online forum and working group agendas will be circulated soon.
SDG11 Day & Forum of Mayors
5 October
The Forum of Mayors will bring together city leaders from Europe, North America, Central Asia and the Caucasus to address the key challenges of our time. The forum is organised jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Geneva Cities Hub, with Eurocities as a partner, on 5 October in the Palais de Nations in Geneva. The 2020 forum will focus on city action for a resilient future, tackling both preparedness and response to disasters and climate change.
The Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala will deliver the keynote speech at the event, and many other mayors will share insights from their local strategies.
The Covenant of Mayors is partnering with the event, and will present the many successful local actions that European cities are implementing to improve their resilience to climate change, thanks to their local adaptation plans.
eugenia.mansutti@eurocities.eu
Innovation Forum in Nantes
8-9 October
How is innovation faring in these uncertain times, and what will a ‘better normal’ look like for our cities? Join us in an online European Forum organised by Nantes, in partnership with Eurocities, Le Monde, La 27ème Région, and others, on 8 and 9 October.
The considerable economic and social damage posed by an unprecedented crisis like COVID-19 might be the turning point for local innovation ecosystems. From the flourishing of a digital and start-up community (array of business accelerators and SME incubators) to the society-building dialogue with citizens and associations, Nantes will be taken as model to promote social-cohesion and sustainable economic growth.
aleksandra.olejnik@eurocities.eu
Mobility Forum – a digital autumn
13 October – 27 November
Get ready for the Mobility Forum’s digital activities! We have planned several events and meetings for you to exchange and get informed on the trends that are shaping urban mobility.
Don’t miss them and save the dates now:
- 13/10 Joint meeting of the Sustainable mobility planning and Air quality working groups
- 14/10 Webinar: Cities’ approaches to e-scooter sharing (register here)
- 19/10 Mobility Forum Online Event (register here)
- 20/10 Healthy mobility for all in a thriving city; and Urban design for healthy public spaces workshops (As part of the Healthy, thriving and inclusive cities series)
- 17/11 Smart and Connected Mobility working group meeting
- 26/11 Barrier-free City for All working group meeting
- 27/11 Safe and Active Travel working group meeting
More information on the events and meetings can be found at the link below. Registrations will soon open. Stay tuned!
See the full overview: https://bit.ly/2FuA9Pq
Innovative governance models to build climate neutral cities
20 October
How can ‘local climate pacts’ support the objective of the European Green Deal, linking up with the EU Climate Pact and the Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities? This will be the topic of our Covenant of Mayors session at the European Week of Regions and Cities.
This session will host Minna Arve (Mayor of Turku), Charles Fournier (Vice-President of the Centre Val de Loire Region), Mohamed Ridouani (Mayor of Leuven), and Rafal Kazimierz Trzaskowskiu (Mayorof Warsaw and CoR rapporteur on the Climate Pact).
These cities are among the signatories of the Covenant of Mayors, all of whom are implementing participatory models of governance with commitments and actions from different sectors of society.
on 20 October from 11:30 – 13:00. Register before 27/09!
eugenia.mansutti@eurocities.eu
Official launch of the Green City Accord
22 October
The Green City Accord is a European Commission initiative to encourage cities to take further action to protect the environment and thereby to make their cities cleaner and healthier places to live in. In joining the accord, cities will commit to improving air and water quality, advancing the circular economy and strengthening waste management, reducing noise pollution and to enhance the protection of their green areas.
Eurocities is responsible for the overall coordination of the project, identifying and disseminating good practices, and capacity-building and knowledge-transfer activities, such as workshops and city study visits.
The Green City Accord, will be launched virtually on 22 October at the European Week of Regions and Cities from 11.30 to 13.00 CET.
The Committee of the Regions and the European Commission will set the scene and introduce the vision and objectives of the Green City Accord. Several mayors will express their intention to join the Accord by the end of 2020 and encourage your city to follow suit.
To register for the event, you’ll need to create an EU login; this is a short and simple process. More information on this login process can be found here. See you online in October!
Cultural Heritage leading urban futures – ROCK open knowledge week
27-30 October 2020
What is the place of cultural heritage in leading our urban future? You can discover and input during the ROCK Open Knowledge Week, a virtual journey and interactive online experience on this extremely timely topic.
How do you take part?
Participation in the ROCK Open Knowledge Week is open for everyone and free of charge. The event will take place online with sessions and different formats every day. Registration is now open here, do join us!
Who will you meet?
The Open Knowledge Week will bring together local governments, businesses, policy makers, and researchers looking for new ways in which cultural heritage can contribute to the regeneration, sustainable development, and economic growth of cities.
Why attend online?
Despite physical distancing, it is even more important now than ever to meet and exchange with colleagues and partners. During the ROCK Open Knowledge Week, you can count on a high level of interaction and networking. You will be able to engage with other participants in chat rooms, answer polls, raise your questions and concerns in a dedicated Q&A space, leave your ideas on a brainstorming whiteboard, and much more. The programme is developing, watch this space to know more.
This experience is organised by the ROCK project, in which Eurocities is a partner together with 10 member cities. Over the past three years, Athens, Bologna, Cluj-Napoca, Eindhoven, Lisbon, Liverpool, Lyon, Skopje, Turin, and Vilnius have been developing innovative solutions that demonstrate how cultural heritage can be the driving force behind urban sustainability. With service providers and knowledge brokers, they have tested and advanced numerous tools and approaches aimed at shaping sustainable, heritage-led urban futures. At the ROCK Open Knowledge Week, they will share their results, lessons learned, and best practices.
The Open Knowledge Week replaces the ROCK conference, which was originally scheduled to take place on 14-15 May in Bologna but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you have a question?
Please contact Cécile Houpert at cecile.houpert@eurocities.eu for questions related to the event, or directly at conference@rockproject.eu.
https://rockproject.eu/ROCK-open-knowledge-week
Smart Cities Information System
4-5 November
If only the hundreds of smart cities projects all had their results, lessons, key information, insights and stories stored up somewhere so that we could easily learn from what has gone before. They do! The Smart Cities Information System is a project that we have been working on for the past couple of years to make that information easily available to you and bolster your own smart city journey. This 4-5 November, this phase of the project is coming to an end, and we want to share its insights with you. Mark it in your calendar, and be on the lookout for registration links and more information soon.
City News
Antwerp – The Big Link project
Antwerp has introduced innovative governance methods to overcome public opposition to a ring road extension project. The resulting co-created plan to cover over the road not only resolves citizens’ main objection by reducing pollution from the motorway. It also creates new green spaces for communities and a more cohesive and connected city.
In the 60 years since the ring road was built, Antwerp has grown ever-further beyond the ring, which is now in the middle of the city. Used for both passenger and freight transport, the road is renowned for its congestion, pollution and safety issues. These are compounded by the fact that one segment of the ring – the Oosterweel (north west) – is missing. For 20 years, plans to complete the ring thereby improving traffic flow and access to the city’s busy port, were deadlocked. Citizens and action groups made their objections known, including via a local referendum and court proceedings.
Finding shared values and goals
In 2014 a novel idea was put forward by a group of local citizens including architects, engineers and teachers. Their proposal for covering over the ring as a way to improve mobility, promote better air quality and healthy living and create more green spaces quickly gained residents’ backing. After decades of controversy, the city and Flemish government recognised that this was the first solution for closing the ring citizens had ever supported and that it united both parties through a shared commitment to sustainability and liveability. But how could they evolve the situation from confrontation to a co-productive collaboration capitalising on the citizen knowledge and momentum that had been mobilised?
The inspired answer was to appoint a fourth, neutral, party outside the three already involved – NGOs, governments and citizens – to bring everyone together on an equal footing and take the idea forward. This new role, known as ‘intendant’, was given to Flemish architect, engineer, urban planner and mediator Alexander D’Hooghe by the city of Antwerp and the Flemish government. The approach taken by Mr D’Hooghe and his team was to focus attention on what was common to all rather than where differences lay in order to harmonise discussions and achieve compromise and consensus among citizens, governments, urban planners and technical engineers.
Creating a customised governance model
This approach led to an agreed ambition statement for the project to cover the ring road and to develop innovative ideas for the new areas of land created on top of the resulting tunnel. Reaching this point involved 50 workshops, 100 working sessions, 3500 experts and policymakers and 3,000 citizens and organisations. An alliance was then formed that developed a tailor-made governance structure to manage the project. This long term collaboration model for preventing conflict and jointly dealing with problems is enshrined in the Treaty for the Future. The treaty also included funding commitments: €250m each from the city and the port of Antwerp and €1bn from the Flemish government.
Innovation characterised the way communities were inspired to come up with concrete ‘liveability’ pilot projects for their neighbourhoods’ new green spaces. The ring road was divided into six sections, with each one given its own on-site office and design team. These multidisciplinary teams, which had responded to an international call, used participation and co-creation tools to develop and shape input from citizens. Projects were presented and discussed during ring days open to all. An annual ring festival organised by citizen organisations attracted 20,000 visitors, helping to mobilise broad collective interest. This goal was also aided by community workers, information caravans and home and school visits.
Ensuring impact and safety
Of the 31 feasible projects generated, 18 were selected for implementation. From a bicycle bridge connecting river banks to urban agriculture greenhouses with holes pushing polluted air up and away, all these quick-win projects had strong popular support and the capacity to deliver measurable community benefits. The complexity involved with marrying up the projects on top of the tunnel with the safety and traffic regulations applicable within it, was handled in the project’s characteristic collaborative and systematic way. Instead of operating separately as is usual, the disciplines of spatial planning and infrastructure design worked hand in hand throughout.
By turning what used to be a controversial mobility project into a collective urban development project, the big link’ has unlocked and accelerated progress of a vital city strategy. It has also unified the city by resolving the obstructive barriers between the city centre and the 20th century districts and opened up appealing opportunities for communities deprived of recreational space and amenities. The project proved to be so successful that that Mr D’Hooghe has been retained for a further eight years to ensure its principles and insights inform the next phases of the ring road capping scheme.