Networks and cities' news

Catch up on the latest updates from cities working together in URBACT Networks. The articles and news that are showcased below are published directly by URBACT’s beneficiaries and do not necessarily reflect the programme’s position.

Want to learn more about the projects that are featured here? Discover the URBACT Networks.

 

 

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    Women and the City: Be Bold For Change on International Women’s Day

    8 March is International Women’s Day (IWD) and the campaign this year is #BeBoldForChange. IWD is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements –from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality.  The day is marked around the globe with performances, talks, rallies, networking events, conferences, marches and even strikes.

    Gender equality is a fundamental value of the European Union, enshrined in the Treaty of Rome. It is one of the cross cutting themes to be taken into account by all the Urban Agenda for the EU thematic partnerships. Gender equality and empowerment of women is also one of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015.
     
    What needs to be done to make cities more gender-equal? What are the key challenges? The actions and solutions required will vary in different parts of the globe, but there are many threads that relate to urban governance, and that are particularly linked to the integrated and participatory approach promoted by URBACT. Here are just a few.
     
     

    Sally Kneeshaw

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  • How the food sector can help reduce youth unemployment in European medium-sized cities

    V Lizboni se bodo 13. in 14. septembra na URBACT Festivalu mest srečali izvoljeni predstavniki, urbani praktiki in strokovnjaki iz vse Evrope, kjer bodo sodelovali, razpravljali o ugotovitvah 20 akcijskih omrežij ter proslavili 15. obletnico programa in vse večji vpliv mest kot nosilcev sprememb v Evropi.

    Miguel Sousa

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  • Turin: A European success story with URBACT and Urban Innovative Actions

    Three of the cities selected in the first call of Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) are working or have worked within URBACT on topics similar to their UIA bids: Turin, Bologna and Rotterdam. 

    We decided to try to understand what made these cities successful at being involved in those two European programmes and whether there is – for these cities - something like a trajectory from URBACT, in which integrated action plans are designed, to UIA, which provides the framework and the support to implement those innovative ideas locally.
     
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    This article is the first of a planned series of three articles on the topic.
    It is based on an interview with Fabrizio Barbiero, public manager at the unit of development of economic development and innovation and European Project, at the Municipality of Turin.
     
     

    s.pruvot@urbact.eu

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  • Specific approaches needed to implement policies for the creative sector

    CREATIVE SPIRITS is a network of nine European cities, funded by the European Union in the frame of the URBACT III Programme. The nine CREATIVE SPIRITS partner cities have a common need to improve the implementation of their existing integrated urban strategies/action plans by including novel approaches linked to creative and cultural industries (CCI) – creative places, people and businesses. The joint policy challenge for the network is to better facilitate the “creative ecosystem” to be able to attract (more) creative entrepreneurs and boost creative entrepreneurship in dedicated urban areas.

    Hen Gerritse

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  • Here Come the JobTowns

    JobTown 2 is about youth employment in Europe.

    Ian Goldring

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  • Health in Public Spaces: The challenge of inactive citizens for cities

    One of the main challenges for cities in the coming decade is how to make their citizens become physically active again.

    Physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles have become a leading risk factor for health. Cities are affected by the dramatic increase in the frequency of chronic diseases related to physical inactivity amongst their citizens. These chronicle diseases like coronary heart and respiratory diseases, colon cancer and obesity are resulting in high and early morbidity, loneliness and social exclusion. Collectively physical inactivity has substantial consequences for direct health-care costs but also causes high indirect costs due to increased periods of sick leave, work disabilities and daily care. With decentralising tendencies of tasks like (un)employment, social care and basic health care from national levels to local levels, cities have become a key player in keeping their citizens active.
     
    This article offers an overview of this challenge  advocating this theme as an integrated part of sustainable urban planning in Europe. 

    Twan De Bruijn

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