How cities can engage corporates in urban regeneration projects, boosting and channeling their CSR towards effective collective actions

The business sector is a thriving force in any city and contribute significantly to its success. But often companies take their investment and CSR decisions without connecting with City’s urban regeneration strategies, aimed at improving disadvantaged neighborhoods. The policy challenge is therefore to improve vision, civic engagement, knowledge sharing and, in the end, common action towards areas where companies are based or on key urban challenges: social inclusion, education, health, innovation, culture, public space, greening, etc. Joining forces would be reciprocally beneficial. Companies seek locations that are pleasant, mixed, lively and safe, and boost a high quality of life and environment, where workers are happy to work and live. Through their CSR, they pay greater attention to social and environmental concerns. Municipalities play a leading role in urban improvement, have a complete overview of needy areas and ongoing issues, plus the actual power to influence decisions and actions in many fields. The project is aimed at exploring how business and municipalities can better work together. The mechanisms include potentially a variety of independent actions by companies - often together with ONGs – calls, campaigns, collective actions, fundraising, sponsoring, awards, public-private partnerships, volunteering, etc. These instruments need to be co-designed, co-developed, well targeted and promoted in a coherent action planning approach