2003

• February 2003: Publication of the First URBACT I Call for Proposals

• September 2003: Approval of the 5 First URBACT I Thematic Networks:

REGENERA Project

Focussing on integrated approaches to sustainable urban development
Lead Partner: Lyon (France)
Partnership: 15 cities from 9 countries
Read its final publication available here

Partners4Action Project Focussing on how public-private partnerships can be used in urban regeneration projects.
Lead Partner: Liverpool (UK)
Partnership: 15 partners from 11 countries.

2004

• May 2004: URBACT Welcomes the 10 New EU Member States:

  Young Citizens Project
  Focussing to empower young people to contribute to civic life in their cities.
  Lead Partner: Bristol (UK)
  Partnership: 9 cities from 6 countries
  Read its final publication available YCP_Toolkit_ENG.pdf.

  • October 2004: First URBACT Annual Conference in Noordwijk (Netherlands):

    The first Annual Conference of URBACT Cities is held in Noordwijk (Netherlands), after the Summit of European Cities organised by the Dutch presidency and the Commission. The conference provided an opportunity for partners of all the URBACT projects to meet, find out about the topics and work of other networks.
  
  

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  2005

  • March 2005: Approval of 3 URBACT I Thematic Networks:
     

  SURCH_report_draft_large_margins.pdf.

  • April 2006: Closure of first 13 URBACT I Thematic Networks & Publication of first URBACT I Project Results & Recommendations:

    2006 see the closure of 13 URBACT I Thematic Networks. These projects hold their final conferences and produce URBACT I first final results, including case studies, recommendations, tool boxes, and more, available to everyone who is involved in city policy throughout Europe.

  Securcity Project
  Lead Partner : Rotterdam (Netherlands)
  Final Conference held on 15 June 2006 in Rotterdam (Netherlands)
  Read its final publication compiling experiences and good practices available SecurcityFinalReport.pdf.

  
  
  

  • July 2006: URBACT I Impact on European Policies:

    The European Commission publishes a report entitled "Cohesion policy and cities: the urban contribution to growth and jobs in the regions", which is based on feedback from URBAN and on the work achieved under the URBACT I programme, particularly on results furnished by the projects.
    

    The thematic results of URBACT are used extensively outside the URBACT Programme. For example, URBACT products have an impact on national and European policies, by contributing to the drafting of the European Commission Communication 11807/06 Strategic Guidelines on economic, social and territorial cohesion 2007-2013 and to the drafting of some National Strategic Plans and Operational Programmes.

  
  

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  2007

  • 1st January 2007: URBACT Welcomes Bulgaria and Romania

  • June 2007: Closure of last 7 URBACT I Thematic Networks & Publication of Project Results & Recommendations:

    These projects hold their final conferences and produce project final results, including case studies, recommendations, tool boxes, and more, available to everyone who is involved in city policy throughout Europe. By the end of 2007 all of the 20 approved URBACT I Thematic Networks had held their final conferences. A total of 250 exchange meetings were held over the programme period. Nearly 500 case studies produced. 274 partners have participated in exchange activities under URBACT I from 29 countries.

  • June 2007: Approval of the Two Pilot Fast Track Networks Mile and URBAMECO:

    Within the framework of the Commission's initiative "Regions for Economic Change", two pilot projects are launched in order to experiment the organisation and working processes of the Fast Track initiative before URBACT II.
  
  URBAMECO Pilot Fast Track Network
  Focussing on the urban, social, economic and cultural regeneration of public housing estates in urban areas.
  Lead Partner: the Greater Lyon (France)
  Partnership: 9 cities from 8 countries
  URBAMECO mini-site

  •  October 2007: Publication "The URBACT I Programme Bilan":

    A Summary Booklet in French and English, compiling the main results from URBACT I and from the projects available Download The URBACT programme 2002-2006 BILAN (4.21 MB)URBACT_GB_01.pdf.
     

  • 2 October 2007: Approval of the URBACT II Programme by the European Commission:

    Following URBACT I (2002-2006), URBACT II (2007-2013) becomes the European exchange and learning Programme promoting sustainable and integrated urban development.
     

  • November 2007: URBACT I Final Conference and Launching of URBACT II in Berlin:

    URBACT holds its final conference in Berlin on 4, 5, 6 November 2007 in partnership with URBAN. This major event has a threefold objective: it is the final conference of both URBACT I and URBAN Programmes and it also launches the URBACT II Programme. Around 450 people representing 110 cities attend the event. Those present include many high ranking figures including the Commissioner for Regional Policy, the French Minister for Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of State of the Berlin State.
     

  • December 2007: Publication of the First URBACT II Call for proposals

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  2008

  • November 2008: 24 First-Call URBACT II Projects Approved for Implementation Phase:

    24 projects (19 Thematic Networks and 6 Working Groups) from the first Call for proposals are approved to move on Implementation Phase and start implementing exchange and learning activities.
     
  My Generation Project
  Focussing on Promoting the positive potential of young people in cities
  Lead Partner: Rotterdam (Netherlands)
  Partnership: 12 cities from 10 countries
  My Generation mini-site and final results available here.
  
  
  
  LC-FACIL Project
  Focussing on implementing integrated sustainable urban development according to the Leipzig Charter
  Lead Partner: Leipzig (Germany)
  Partnership: 7 cities from 7 countries
  LC-FACIL mini-site and final results available here.
  
  
  • May 2009: Closure of the Two Pilot Fast Track Networks MILE and URBAMECO & Publication of Final Results and Recommendations
    URBAMECO holds its final conference in Lyon on 14 May 2009.
    MILE holds its final conference in Brussels on 25 May 2009.
    Both events are the occasion for all the partners to present their Local Action Plans as well as the final reports including general policy recommendations.
  • June 2009: Publication of the Second URBACT II Call for Proposals
  • October 2009: Launching of the activities of National Dissemination Points:
    URBACT National Dissemination Points provide local-language information on the URBACT programme and projects across the EU, and act as national relays for information on sustainable and integrated urban development.

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  2010

  • April 2010: Closure of 6 First-Call Working Groups & Publication of First URBACT II Project Results and Recommendations

    These projects hold their final conferences and produce project final results, including case studies, recommendations, tool boxes, and more, available to everyone who is involved in city policy throughout Europe.
     

  • June 2010: 9 Second-Call Projects Approved for Implementation Phase

    9 projects from the second Call for proposals are approved to move on Implementation Phase and start implementing exchange and learning activities.
  
  
  SURE Project
  Focussing on socio-economic methods for urban rehabilitation in deprived urban areas
  Lead Partner: Eger (Hungary)
  Partnership: 9 cities from 9 countries
  SURE mini-site and final results available here.
  
  
  Within the URBACT community all cities are, in one way or another, hit by the economic crisis. As a reaction, URBACT decides to ask its partner cities about the impact of the crisis and the responses cities developed to face the situation. This publication provides a summary of the 2 major packages of the study: the results of the survey which was addressed to all URBACT cities at the end of 2009 and a series of in-depth case studies completed in 2010, highlighting the responses developed by some URBACT cities. The publictaion is available Crise_urbact__16-11_web.pdf.
   

2011:

• March 2011: Closure of 19 First-Call URBACT II Thematic Networks and LC-FACIL Working Group & Publication of Project Results and Recommendations:

  These projects hold their final conferences from March 2011 and produce project final results, including case studies, recommendations, tool boxes, and more, available to everyone who is involved in city policy throughout Europe.

UNIC Project
Focussing on promoting innovation in the ceramics sector
Lead Partner: Limoges (France)
Final Conference held on 30 May and 1 June 2011 in Delft (Netherlands)
Final Publication: ”Beat the crisis with UNIC”
UNIC mini-site and final results available here.

The URBACT Programme organises its first Summer University dedicated to URBACT Local Support Groups members gathering more than 300 stakeholders from 29 countries. The event is a unique learning and training experience, primarily aimed at strengthening individual skills and capacities to develop participative action-planning in urban policies.

• November 2011:  Publication of the Third and Last URBACT II Call for Proposals
   

• December 2011: First URBACT Results Brochure:

  ESIMEC Project
  Focussing on Economic Strategies and Innovation in Medium-Sized Cities
  Final Conference held on 7 November in Brussels (Belgium)
  Final Publication: ESIMeC Cookbook
  ESIMEC mini-site and final results available here.
  
  
  CityLogo Project
  Focussing on Innovative City Brand Management
  Lead Partner: Utrecht (Netherlands)
  Partnership: 10 cities from 10 countries
  CityLogo mini-site available here.
  
  
  URBACT launches a wide training initiative to support its beneficiaries and to help them deliver better results at local level with:
  - National Training Scheme in national languages to help members of URBACT Local Support Groups
  - Training Seminars for Elected Representatives

• May 2013: New Series of URBACT Thematic Reports: Cities of Tomorrow – Action Today:

  here

• August 2013: Second URBACT Local Support Groups Summer University in Dublin (Ireland):