Damaged (by) goods? The case for sustainable urban freight logistics

"Viaggio tra le esperienze di riuso temporaneo realizzate a Ravenna, punto di partenza dell'azione di rigenerazione creativa del territorio al centro del network URBACT Creative Spirits"

"Today I was woken up at 6am by a loud rattling noise. I looked through the window; two men were carrying crates of beer to the new bar downstairs. I tried to go back to sleep but half an hour later, my doorbell rang. “A package for Ms. Schneider!” Ms. Schneider lives upstairs from me and since her grandkids introduced her to the wonders of online shopping, the packages have been coming non-stop.

I leave the house sleepy and in a bad mood. It doesn’t help that I have to navigate my way through overflowing trash cans standing on the curb, weren’t they supposed to be emptied this morning? On the way to a bus stop, I stop by my favorite bakery. “Can I have a chocolate croissant, please?” “Sorry, they will not be delivered before 12 today” Seriously, who eats chocolate croissants for lunch?

I get on the bus and start reading a newspaper. “Food prices on the rise due to increased transport costs” Annoyed, I put the newspaper back in the bag and look through the window. A giant lorry exiting the construction site has totally blocked the road and I will most certainly be late. As I run to the office, I can hear the wheezing in my breath again. My asthma has gotten so much worse since I moved back to the city a few months ago!"

The CityMobilNet project

Interview with Mr Olaf Lewald, project coordinator of CityMobilNet, Lead partner City of Bielefeld and Mr Gregor Moss, elected representative of the city council of Bielefeld, Lead partner City of Bielefeld interviewed by Claus Köllinger, lead expert of CityMobilNet project

CHANGE! Social design of public services

Our scope: people-powered public services
Interview with Ms Yvonne Blankwater, Strategy Department, City of Eindhoven interviewed by Ferenc Szigeti-Borocz, lead expert of CHANGE! Project

There is broad consensus that public services will look very different in the close future, since not only are public services to meet increasing public expectations and grand (let’s say never seen) societal challenges, but they are also constrained by significant financial shortage. On the other hand, a new generation has emerged that does not want to wait for ineffective top-down solutions and reclaims the right to act in the city. Opening public services towards more collaborative ones is the future and the first attempts are now being experienced in the U.S. (e.g. cities of service), U.K. (e.g. community right to challenge) or Scandinavia, and the WeEindhoven experimental programme, launched by the City of Eindhoven fits to this global trend as well. The first (sub) results are promising: people-powered public services can make social services more effective, cheaper and at the same time increase social capital and inclusion.

The Vitalcities project will prove that there are new pathways to invite citizens

“ The Vitalcities project will prove that there are new pathways to invite citizens to become physically active through turning public space into low threshold facilities”

Interview with: Hugo Nunes is the Vice Presidente of the Câmara Municipal de Loulé (vice-mayor) interviewed by Twan de Bruijn, lead expert of Vitalcities project

For the City of Loulé it is the first time to step on board in an international EU-funded project of this kind, while also taking the role as lead partner. Hugo Nunes is the Vice Presidente of the Câmara Municipal de Loulé (vice-mayor). He has professional experience in healthcare management, while also having been involved in national politics as a member of the Portuguese parliament for 4 years. He has background in strategic planning, business planning & strategy.

The Urban Green Labs project

The Urban Green Labs project set up models on how empowered civil eco-conscious groups and top down interventions can mutually reinforce each other to make cities more resilient and healthy.

By now it is clear that cities have a role in combating the impacts of ecological crisis. Urban Green Labs will tackle the issue by matching Municipalities’ physical infrastructure and public services development activities with bottom up initiatives of local communities and in the process develop new forms of governance, support eco-localism and raise the level of residents’ environmental awareness.  Increasing the number of people involved will generate a critical mass to support local initiatives that improve the effectiveness of environment-friendly interventions in line with municipal strategies.

RetaiLink: Ready for the learning and planning

Ve výzvě pro příklady dobré praxe OP URBACT III bylo podáno 270 žádostí. Děkujeme všem městům z celé Evropské unie, která nám žádost poslala!

InteractiveCities: Social media for relational urban governance by the Interactive Cities Partnership

With today's European cities hosting most of the continent’s population and urban areas being the stage for many of contemporary conflicts such as social inequality, environmental threats or economic crisis, collective action must be taken immediately.

Opening the jewellery box in Sopron

Interview with:  Edit Bognar, City Development Office of Sopron Municipality, Dr. Tamas Fodor, Mayor of Sopron and Emoke  Zacs, Grants Europe Kft in Budapest interviewed by Wessel Badenhorst Lead Expert of the City Centre Doctor project