"URBACT Open Events 'Cities ahead, Cities in charge' : Register now!"

"Cities have a major role to play in facing the economic downturn that has hit Europe: not only are they leading and implementing various stimulus policies in the field, but they also concentrate a large number of the social problems that could be aggravated in the current context. Migrants and populations in deprived neighbourhoods could be the first impacted by these increased tensions. URBAMECO and MILE (URBACT pilot networks), have worked on these issues for two years. Both will be presenting their results in May : URBAMECO in May 14th in Lyon and MILE in May 25th in Brussels. For the occasion, URBACT is organising two "Open Events", which will provide the opportunity to share experiences and to discuss new ways forward.
Open Events are designed to be opportunities for discussions and brainstorming among city professionals and elected officials on key topics in the headlines. They are based on the work of certain URBACT projects, extending this work by gathering together experiences and initiatives from other European programmes and networks, and adding the confrontation of various perspectives from other stakeholders who are directly impacted by the issues. We invite all URBACT partners, city professionals and elected officials from local, regional, national and European levels to attend and actively participate in discussions. They are a rare opportunity to meet with people facing the same challenges and emergencies caused by the current downturn.

• Open Event "Disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the crisis. How can they contribute to the recovery?", May 15, 2009 in Lyon : Information and Registration

• Open Event "Migrants: promoting inclusion during the downturn", May 26, 2009 in Brussels: