4D Cities Project, 2-Year Road Map for Promoting Health Innovation

4D Cities project objectives are to develop integrated policies in health innovation, create a new productive sector that contributes to diversification and competitiveness and increase the citizens' quality of life. After 6 months of development, this URBACT project has been approved last January by the URBACT Monitoring Committee to enter phase 2, the implementation phase of the project.

The methodology of the project was explained during the first Implementation Phase meeting taking place in Igualada, Spain. During next two years, partners will analyse the interaction of the various actors operating in the fields of health and innovation oriented to economic growth such as universities, healthcare system, business and city to determine current patterns and provide new and better solutions to be implemented. The project will provide new and useful tools for cities so that they develop their own Local Action Plan, a well-defined program about the subject ready to apply.

The design of this plan will be the exchange of experiences and results obtained together by all the partners inside the project as well as the own context of each city thanks to the contributions of their Local Support Groups.

Igualada representative, Lead Partner of 4D Cities Project, explained that "the exchange of knowledge between partners is a key point within the URBACT philosophy, but the European programme for the development of cities also gives a decisive role to the citizens so they can detect their weaknesses and propose solutions. Thus, the project is a participatory process which involves the citizens of all the 4D Cities localities to provide their views on the subject."

Igualada, who has already held two meetings with its Local Support Group, has shared with the rest of the partners during the meeting  its experience detailing which entities and institutions has been involved and how the first contacts have been developed.

The next meeting of 4D Cities will take place in Eindhoven on 28th and 29th May and will focus on business, economic growth, job creation and other issues related to this sector. Meanwhile, all the partner cities will study their relation with this subject in order to come next meeting with their best practices and also put on the table their shortcomings and concerns.

Read more:

• 4D Cities - URBACT website