Learning about Implementation

Understand how this process can successfully take place in cities and how to tackle the challenges ahead

- INT-HERIT
  
  Innovative Heritage Management
- Discover URBACT's key tools for implementation!
- URBinclusion
  
  Combating poverty in deprived urban areas
- CREATIVE SPIRITS
  
  Boosting creative entrepreneurship through creative-based urban strategies
- Discover URBACT's key tools for implementation!
- Stay Tuned
  
  Boosting the Frequency of Qualification

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AS TRANSFER

Bilbao AS Fabrik Transfer Network, UIA-URBACT Transfer Mechanism, seeks to share the experience of Bilbao in the AS FABRIK project (UIA) with three European cities: Timisoara (RO), Tartu (EE) and Bielsko-Biala (PL), that want to meet the ultimate approaches in the field of the smart specialization in Industry 4.0 and digital economy. AS FABRIK was conceived to increase the competitiveness of the local KIBS sector and prepare them to supply the digital transformation demands of the manufacturing sector (Industry 4.0). An strategic alliance based on knowledge and innovation that aims to improve the local ecosystems of cities, with city businesses, universities, local service providers and entrepreneurs hosted in a tailor-made innovative space.

Ongoing

BioCanteens#2

BioCanteens#2 Transfer Network is about ensuring the distribution of sustainable school meals in participating cities as a key lever towards the development of an integrated local agri-food approach, protecting both citizens’ health and the environment. The project aims to transfer Mouans- Sartoux’s Good Practice in the field of collective school catering, to other highly committed cities across Europe.

Ongoing

Global Goals for Cities

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call of action to protect our planet, end poverty and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. "Global Goals for Cities” is a pilot network and strategic partnership aimed at accelerating progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in 19 cities of the EU, through peer learning and integrated action planning. The partnership is funded through the European Regional Development Fund's URBACT III European Territorial Cooperation program.

Ongoing

NEXT AGRI

The NEXT AGRI UIA - URBACT Transfer Mechanism pilot network builds from the experience of Milan. The city decided to set up an urban coalition with a series of partners to scale up this positioning in the peri-urban agricultural industry, setting up a stable growth and creating new jobs and skills. The project is mainly an urban policy experimentation that follows the place-based approach, focusing on new skills for new jobs in peri-urban agriculture. The project area can be defined as an “urban fringe”, representing the transition zone between the consolidated part of the city and the agricultural lands.This project aims at transfer to other 3 cities the processes and strategies implemented to create a favorable environment to develop new opportunities in the food system transformation in the urban and per urban agriculture sector.

Ongoing

PLAYFUL PARADIGM II

Playful Paradigm increases the capabilities of cities to answer global challenges including those emerged during covid19. It promotes inclusion, intergenerational solidarity, SDGs, resilience, healthy lifestyles. Play is a serious matter and can make the difference for a better urban future of cities. The Playful paradigm helps to re-think the community welfare and it is replicable adaptable to other urban contexts, since play is a universal principle, naturally practiced by every human being.

Ongoing

RU:RBAN Second Wave

RU:RBAN's Good Practice is the Management model of Urban gardens in Rome to be transferred to newcomer cities that are geographically, historically and socio-culturally distant from each other, to ensure sharing of experiences to enhance the capacities of local governance. Transfer efforts will be ensured on the 3 well known and successful components the GP is divided into: 1. Capacity building, 2. Inspiring and training people to manage urban gardens (Gardenisers), 3. Governance & Regulations

Ongoing

VILAWATT

The VILAWATT UIA - URBACT Transfer Mechanism boosts the energy transition process by setting up a public-private-citizen partnership, where citizens and main social actors play a key role. The priority is to increase citizen commitment and sense of belonging to promote a sustainable energy transition process. Main achievements in the Lead Partner city, Viladecans, include: citizens got a saying at the Consortium through the associations linked to it. These associations have been created thanks to Vilawatt’s participatory strategy, as they did not exist before. When it comes to energy supply, Vilawatt pools the demand for energy and provides energy to all association members (100% Certified Renewable Energy) Faster energy retrofitting of private buildings. In addition, three residential buildings (in an underprivileged district) have received 1,4 M€ investment in a process that has been boosted by the city hall, naturally, the neighbours were part of the decision making process of the retrofitting works.

Ongoing

2nd Chance

The challenge of this Action Planning network is the activation of vacant buildings and building complexes for a sustainable urban development by self-organised groups. In many European cities smaller and larger derelict sites, underused premises, so called “voids” can be found in or near the city centre. These sites often have a negative impact on their surroundings, nevertheless they present a great opportunity: they can be used to complete a compact settlement structure, to provide space for needed functions in the city.

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AGRI-URBAN

Rethinking Agri-food production in small and medium-sized European cities is the aim of this Action Planning network. Agri-food production is a mature industry that continues to play an important role in terms of GDP, employment and environmental sustainability. That is why new growth potentials must be activated by means of innovation, new business models and strategies. Our vision is to place cities at the core of a growing global movement that recognizes the current complexity of food systems and the links between rural cities and nearby cities as a way to ensure regional development.

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ARRIVAL CITIES

In September 2015, at what was the height of migration flows witnessed in the Europe since the Second World War, this Action Planning network began its activities. As a result of this global flow, one can observe a rapid change in the population structure and interactions between individuals and social groups: cities of migration are places of inclusion and exclusion. In this sense, Arrival Cities took place against a backcloth of rising discrimination and prejudice against immigrants. The network's cities have had to tackle the new and old challenges to ensure the migrants' integration.

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BoostInno

The work developed by the cities of this Action Planning network has proven that social innovation is not just a trend, but it could also be qualified as a fundamental change in the management of cities, in the management of impact and in the relations cities uphold and develop with their inhabitants. Some would describe this change as an equivalent of the industrial or the IT revolution: up until now, one of the basic assumptions of urban policy was that citizens were to accept what is decided, planned and built. Recent years have shown that it is often the citizens who make the city, in a collaborative perspective.

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CityCentreDoctor

The cities of this Action Planning network were challenged to identify the urban issues relate to their city centre, analyse perceptions and reality of those areas. All cities have a centre which historically and functionally brings residents, businesses, services and a range of social activities together. Thus, the involved cities shared ideas and practices, supporting each other to develop actions to strengthen the revitalisation of their city centres (which is often the nexus for social, cultural and, ultimately, economic local development).

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CityMobilNet

Cities that suffer from congestion, emission loads, social exclusion and, lastly decrease of the quality of life, have gathered in this Action Planning network. The road they have taken to tackle these challenges was the local adoption of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP), a concept for mobility planning that revolutionises traditional planning structures by placing people’s needs, integrated thinking and sustainablility at the centre of future developments. By sharing and addressing challenges of their mobility reality, the cities created a common vision towards identifying suitable measures and actions for the coming years and improving the competencies of all involved stakeholders.

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CREATIVE SPIRITS

The partner cities from this Implementation network have a common need to improve the implementation of their existing integrated urban strategies and action plans by including new approaches linked to creative and cultural industries (CCI) – creative places, people, and businesses. The joint policy challenge for the network is to better facilitate the above 'creative ecosystem' to be able to attract (more) creative entrepreneurs and boost creative entrepreneurship in dedicated urban areas, this comprises activities that create economic value through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. A city is able to mobilise ideas, talents and creative organisations when it knows how to foster a creative milieu by identifying, nurturing, attracting and sustaining talent. Local governments all over the world are increasingly becoming aware of the CCI’s potential to generate jobs, wealth, and cultural engagement.

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Gen-Y City

Over the last decades, younger people have increasingly chosen to live in urban areas, whilst the share of older residents in cities has generally fallen. Nevertheless, the impact of wage levels and different unemployment rates across Europe has lead youngsters to move mainly to big cities. In this, sense this Action Planning network aimed on developing, attracting and retaining young local talent, particularly, the creative talent from the Generation Y - people who were born between 1980 and 2000 - within cities of all sizes.

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In Focus

By mobilising a significant number of stakeholders, this Action Planning network had the mission to rethink the stakeholders’ agendas on business-led economic development and test how the smart specialisation concept might work as a driver. The network pioneered on how the policy concept of smart specialisation applies to the urban environment, more precisely the Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3).

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INT-HERIT

The INT-HERIT implementation network brings together 9 European cities facing challenges related to the revitalisation of their cultural heritage. These cities learn from each other and help each other to develop local strategies in order to make their cities an attractive place to live, work and visit. The network focuses on the implementation of innovative models through integrated and sustainable local strategies. It will increase awareness of strategies and plans, improving the capacity of cities to manage their heritage and enable their social and economic development.

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INTERACTIVE CITIES

This Action Planning network explored how digital, social media and user generated content can improve today’s urban management in European cities, whatever size. This challenge has been tackled in two ways: as an opportunity to redefine and deepen the concept of citizenship and civic engagement today, providing a path to spark cohesion, commonalities and shared value as well as increasing sense of place. As well as a way to improve the quality of public services, in terms of efficiency and transparency, and even widen the current service chart provided by local authorities.

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MAPS – Military Assets as Public Spaces

The Action Planning network MAPS (Military Assets as Public Spaces) was focused on enhancing former military heritage as key elements for sustainable urban strategies, combining both functional and social aspects. Highlighting the potential of the dismissed military areas can be deemed as the new symbols of a more conscious and participatory urban planning.

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Procure

The goal of this Action Planning network was to explore how to harness the spending power through procurement of public and anchor institutions in the partner cities to bring about economic, social and environmental benefits for businesses and people which in turn will have a positive impact on the city and its local economy. The topics to be explored include: the regulations and law at both European and national level, and what cities are able to do around innovative procurement; how to analyse procurement spend and develop a procurement strategy; the use of social criteria and environmental criteria in procurement; and how to raise awareness of procurement amongst local businesses and SMEs.

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RetaiLink

This Action Planning network created strategic plans to enhance the competitiveness of small and/or independent retail businesses, considering them a key economic driver. The project’s scope of work includes areas such as regulation, employment, urban planning, managing public spaces, mobility, cultural and creative industries and citizens participation. The multi-stakeholder approach brings together public sector, private sector, retailers and major commercial operators, consumers or cultural and creative industries.

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SmartImpact

The focus of this Action Planning network was less about technology solutions per se, but more about governance structures, process and business models. The partner cities are specifically worked together to: develop models of how organisations can adapt their structures to deliver smart cities; effectively finance smart solutions and creating new ways of understanding value with co-investment strategies; develop and support innovation ecosystems within cities; explore the role of regulations and incentives, e.g. the carrot and stick approach; better understand how data integration and urban data platforms can support the smart city.

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Stay Tuned

European cities face higher levels of Early Leaving from Education and Training (ELET) than their national averages, meaning that some urban areas have more ELET rates, than the countryside areas - contrary to the national trends of these cities' countires. This represents a serious challenge, as ELET has significant societal and individual consequences, such as a higher risk of unemployment, poverty, marginalization and social exclusion. Tackling this issue means breaking the cycle of deprivation and the intergenerational transmission of poverty and inequality.

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sub>urban

The cities from this Action Planning network searched for a solution to the following challenge: how can we make existing 20th century urban tissue attractive and qualitative again? How can we add a different urban layer? For the past two decades, urban development and planning practice in European cities and regions have focused on the renewal of metropolitan cores and historic inner cities. This has resulted in numerous success stories, but the wave of urban renewal in inner cities has generally coincided with strong population growth and demographic changes. Many inner cities have reached their peak in terms of density, population and mobility. At the same time most of the housing in 20th century (sub)urban areas are in need of renovation. The next logical step is a combined solution to these issues by reconverting this areas, to create a more sustainable and attractive environment.

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TechTown

By exploring how small and medium sized cities can maximise the job creation potential of the digital economy, this Action Planning network examined whether there is potential for spillover from stronger city level digital economies; how clusters can work at city level and look collaboratively at what cities can do to support businesses to access the digital skills and innovations they need in order to start, grow and compete. The city partners further explored the role and viability of digital, content creation and technology clusters and how benefit may be gained from major city or national initiatives to benefit job creation and growth in small and medium sized cities. The project was 'of the digital economy' as well as 'for the digital economy' in that it used digital technologies as much as possible throughout management and delivery.

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URBinclusion

Socioeconomic disparities and other forms of inequalities are a major issue in European cities which are threatened by social polarisation increase. Poverty does not only create social differences between people and groups; it also leads to spatial differences. URBinclusion implementation network focused on the co-creation of new solutions to reduce poverty in deprived urban areas, focusing on some key challenges to be tackled when going from the strategic to the implementation dimension: integrated approach and inter-departmental coordination, involvement of local stakeholders, monitoring and evaluation and financial innovation. Partners cities interchange showed that this requires integrated, cyclical and monitored processes made of recursive actions and feedbacks that produces stable conditions of engagement for continuous improvement.

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CTUR

Cruise activity and the recovery of urban and harbour building heritage: Strong elements of the common interest of sea towns to develop and strengthen the urban tourism sector.

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4D Cities

Promoting innovation and the knowledge economy in health field for the local social and economic development.

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Active A.G.E

Develop an exchange of experience between 9 cities facing an ageing population - in order to develop greater professional capacity and thus identify and develop good practices - and help them to put in place an integrated approach to dealing with this issues.

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Building Healthy Communities

Health is important for the wellbeing of individuals and society, but a healthy population is also a prerequisite for economic productivity and prosperity. The Lisbon strategy underlines the importance of health as a key factor for economic growth. However there is a limited awareness of the contributions that a "healthy" urban policy can make to tackle challenges in health.

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CityLogo

CityLogo is a transnational learning experience on citybranding and -marketing in modern urban politics. It is about a better positioning of cities in the (post) crisis economic arena and reinforcing the communication dimension in urban management.

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CoNet

Exploring current approaches to strengthen social cohesion in neighbourhoods

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Creative Clusters

The starting assumption of the project is that creativity can act as a driving force for economic development of small urban centres and not only of big cities. Thus, the main value-added that the work of the Creative Clusters network can produce is to transfer the “creative city model” (too much focused on big and middle-sized metropolis) to low density urban areas. In other words, to transfer a range of so far considered urban attributes (accessibility, cultural life, technological facilities, competitive clusters, global networking, etc.) to middle-sized and small towns.

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CSI Europe

The aim of the JESSICA initiative is to support “sustainable investment in cities”. Through the implementation of the initiative, Urban Development Funds are emerging as potentially powerful tools to pursue sustainable urban transformation. CSI Europe will build upon the achievements to date to improve the effectiveness of current delivery and future potential.

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Diet for a Green Planet

Food and agriculture accounts for a key part of global environmental challenges including climate change, biodiversity, nitrogen and phosphorus. Diet for a Green Planet is a way for every person who eats food to engage and become part of the solution.

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ENTER.HUB

ENTER.HUB promotes the role of railway hubs/multimodal interfaces of regional relevance in medium cities as engines for integrated urban development and economic, social and cultural regeneration.

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ESIMeC

How medium sized cities can generate new employment opportunities, prepare workers for jobs, and address mismatches between the supply of labour and demand for workers

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ESIMeC II

Explores how demand-led workforce development strategies can be used as instruments of sustainable economic recovery in medium sized cities

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EVUE

Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe focuses on the development of integrated, sustainable strategies and dynamic leadership techniques for cities to promote the use of electric vehicles.

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FIN-URB-ACT

FIN-URB-ACT strives for more efficient local support structures for SMEs' development and innovative economies. The rationale is that such structures on local level - where financial instruments meet nonfinancial assistance - are basic prerequisites for fostering start-ups and business growth.

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