URBACT City Festival set to inspire urban actors from European cities

Set in Telliskivi – a former factory complex now buzzing with creative start-ups and NGOs – the festival will showcase integrated, sustainable urban development from towns and cities across the European Union.

All 97 newly recognized URBACT Good Practices will take part in this fully-booked event. Their representatives will be ready to meet other participants, share ideas on improving cities, and see how to pass their tried-and-tested solutions on to other cities through URBACT’s new Transfer Networks.

URBACT, a European funding programme for city exchange and learning, will run its first call for the creation of Transfer Networks from 15 September 2017 to 10 January 2018. The objective of these networks will be to adapt and transfer selected URBACT Good Practices to municipalities that have similar challenges, but less experience.

Every moment of the URBACT City Festival is designed to inspire urban practitioners and provide very practical examples of how to solve a city’s problems.

See the full event programme here.

Here’s a quick glimpse of what the 460 participants can expect:

- 3 October: Before the official opening, URBACT Fest starts “Getting Ready” – with study visits, a press conference, a Good Practice City award ceremony attended by the Mayor of Tallinn, and a special dinner for elected officials and Member States representatives.

- 4 October: Day one is all about “Discovery”. After a welcome from Jaanus Juss, Founder and CEO of Telliskivi, participants will start exploring the 97 URBACT Good Practices.

URBACT Programme Expert Sally Kneeshaw, who helped plan the festival and will be there as an MC, says: “The discovery sessions on Day 1 will be really dynamic and interesting. There are several ways to meet other cities, see what they are doing, have a quick exchange, think about what their practice means for your city: by browsing the Good Practice Gallery; one-to-one networking; listening to speed presentations; or in small group chats.

“It will be intense and rich, as long as you dive in and get involved in the exchange!”

- 5 October: Day two focuses on “Diving deeper”. Featuring URBACT Good Practices, thematic discussions will investigate main challenges that cities face today – such as housing, jobs and skills, migrants and refugees, environmental factors... Day two also includes workshops on building Transfer Networks.

Find out about all the URBACT Good Practices here – and share your favourites!

Of the 183 local authorities taking part in the URBACT City Festival, about 100 are new to the URBACT programme. Together, the participants represent all 28 EU countries, as well as Switzerland.

A last word about the upcoming festival from Sally Kneeshaw: “The setting itself is amazing. Telliskivi is a fascinating place - urban regeneration in action, and full of character. And where else would you have the chance to encounter 97 European city good practices in one spot? You won’t forget it!”

We hope cities everywhere will benefit from the URBACT City Festival, whether in Tallinn itself or – with the help of our onsite reporters – via facebook, twitter and youtube and the URBACT website!

#URBACT_GP  #URBACTFest

To find out more…

• URBACT City Festival
• Telliskivi – an exciting venue, ever evolving creative village
• URBACT Good Practices – with details of each one including contact information
• Call for Transfer Networks (deadline for applications: 10 January 2018)