URBACT Capitalisation Work(streams) 2014-2015

After consultation with its ongoing city networks, URBACT has identified the following four topics corresponding to their urban challenges: 

• New Urban Economies, 

• Job Generation, 

• Social Innovation in Cities, 

• Sustainable Regeneration in Urban Areas.

Since March 2014, these topics are being explored by four URBACT workstreams through a constant open dialogue, meetings and debates between “doers” (urban practitioners) and “thinkers” (experts) across Europe, such as urban practitioners and experts from URBACT, representatives from European universities, European Programmes (INTERACT, INTERREG IVC, ESPON) and projects, international organisations like OECD, Energy Cities, CECODHAS, Nesta, and many others. Altogether under the URBACT umbrella, they aim to support the work of urban practitioners and decision-makers all over Europe, through a series of activities and outputs. 

How do they work?

Each wokstream is led by a coordinator in charge of steering the work, outputs and activities. Together with the workstream core group members they frame the scope and content, co-produce outputs and activities. During interactive meetings and hearings, they share and take on board inputs from external witnesses. The URBACT Secretariat with the four Thematic Pole Managers contribute to the smooth operation and delivery of activities.  

As part of the workstream activities, several hearings, interactive meetings, study visits with local actors have been organised as an opportunity for these stakeholders to share their opinions and transmit their expertise. Furthermore, they are involved in several events (i.e. URBACT  Sharing Event on 8th October 2014 in Brussels) and beyond, to share their findings and collect further inputs for their work. 

What to expect out of the workstreams? 

• Articles in the URBACT Tribune 2014, presenting the first findings of the four workstreams. Available online here!

• State of the art papers to be published in November-December 2014, presenting baseline studies of EU and local initiatives around the topic. 

• Eight city projects (case studies) that have been successfully implemented in relation to the four topics (two cases per workstream). The selected cases are Dublin and San Sebastian for New Urban Economies; Leeds and Thessaloniki for Job Generation; Amersfoort and Gdansk for Social Innovation in cities; Hamburg and Vilnius for Sustainable Regeneration in Urban Areas. To be published end of 2014- beginning 2015.

• Mature and consolidated findings of the workstreams will be presented in workshops during the URBACT City Festival in Riga (6-8 May 2015), the final workstream publications and videos in early May 2015. 

• Communication and dissemination of the workstream findings in a series of events, conferences related to the four workstream topics!

Interested in sharing your own perspective and local experience? 

Contact Jenny Koutsomarkou, URBACT Capitalisation Officer, at and get in contact with the workstream coordinators: 

-Willem van Winden, New Urban Economies workstream, Lead Expert of the URBACT EUnivercities network, Founder of UrbanIQ

-Alison Partridge, Job Generation workstream, Lead Expert of the URBACT ESIMEC II network, Director of Aurora European Services

-François Jegou, Social Innovation in Cities workstream, Lead Expert of the URBACT Sustainable Food in Urban Communities network, Director of Strategic Design Scenarios 

 -Darinka Czischke , Sustainable Regeneration of Urban Areas, Director at DCConsulting and Guest researcher at Delft University of Technology

TIPS: Follow us on urbact.eu and on Twitter @URBACT#NewEcons, #YouthInJobs, #SocInn, #SustRegen and on the Social Innovation blog to find out the latest news!