24 On-going Networks, 190 Active Cities – What Are They Doing?

The 15 Thematic Networks of the 3rd Call for Proposals are now in the second half of the Implementation phase. Through the numerous transnational seminars organized, the cities involved continue visiting their colleagues, sharing experiences and reflecting on new sustainable and integrated solutions for their local contexts. Experiences and ideas exchanged at transnational level are a key ingredient for the co-production of the Local Action Plans by the URBACT Local Support Groups (ULSG). With a great variety of compositions and approaches, almost all ULSGs have completed the definition of the main strategies for their plans and are now focusing on the articulation of the actions and the identification of funding sources. The first drafts of LAP are at the centre of the Peer Review sessions currently organized by several networks (e.g. Peer review workshops by Re-Block or Implementation Lab of Eunivercities). The knowledge produced and the innovative solutions developed by the 15 thematic networks are accessible not only to the local stakeholders involved in ULSG but to all urban practitioners and policy makers dealing with similar challenges. Gradually, URBACT networks are publishing thematic reports capturing the good practices identified and the first conclusions and recommendations. Interesting examples are provided by the “Promoting Enterprising Relation to Work” report produced by My Generation at Work, the Guide of Good Practices on parental involvement to prevent early school leaving published by PREVENT, the “Business opportunities of local health innovation” by 4D Cities or the series of Thematic Reports Growing/Delivering/Enjoying published by Sustainable Food for Urban Communities. We invite all readers to regularly check the section “Our outputs” of the networks’ websites. The quality and the richness of the first outcomes are proving of interest to several international organizations that are joining forces with our Thematic networks. This is the case of OECD LEED Programme that is cooperating with JobTown and PREVENT, EUROCITIES working closely with Download oslo_finalprogramme.pdf (312.6 KB) or UN-Habitat that hosted a workshop on social innovation with several URBACT examples during the last World Urban Forum in Medellin. Approved in the perspective of testing new formats for URBACT III, the 6 Transfer Pilot Networks and the 3 Delivery Pilot Networks are now moving onward. The 6 Pilot Transfer Networks have all already organized the first site-visits in the cities where the practice has been identified and already implemented (for the partners of Gastronomic Cities this was a Deep Dive in Burgos!). It’s now the turn of the “receiving cities” to welcome their colleagues and receive suggestions and advice on how the practice can be adapted and transferred in the local context. Both the practice to be transferred and the local contexts of the “receiving cities” are documented in the Baseline reports Transfer Networks have published in their websites. The production of the Baseline report has been particularly useful for the 3 Pilot Delivery Networks. This allowed the cities involved to assess the progresses made so far and to identify the main dimensions of the implementation process (public procurement procedures, monitoring tools, new organizational models, communication, etc.) that will be further explored during the transnational seminars. The Baselines also offer an overview of the methodology designed by networks for the transnational activities as well as the evaluation framework the cities will use to measure the progresses in the implementation of the Local Action Plan. News about the recent and upcoming transnational meetings of the Delivery Pilots are available on their websites. Through their commitment, these 190 European cities are designing new sustainable solutions for their local challenges but they are also providing a valuable contribution for a better URBACT III Programme! By Raffaele Barbato, URBACT Project Officer