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| EDITORIAL |
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In the past few weeks, I attended four events that echoed one another: a meeting of the general directors responsible for urban policy organized by the EU Spanish presidency in Madrid, the URBACT Programme Monitoring Committee meeting during which we presented the initial conclusions of the “Cities and the Crisis” study, and the final conferences of two URBACT projects, HOPUS and LUMASEC. Four meetings among so many others. I missed, for example, the REGI Commission Euro-MP visit to the north of Paris disadvantaged municipalities.
European bodies are working on the concrete implementation of the European Commission document Strategy 2020, and discussions are multiplying among the various players involved.
I met a lot of dedicated, involved people who are convinced of the pressing need to promote integrated, sustainable urban development and better governance. In the same week, I encountered local elected officials, professionals who everyday are struggling with the very real realities generated or aggravated by the global financial, economic and social crisis.
I was struck by the difference of words and concepts between those we use in European meetings and those that convey the difficulties local officials are facing. What is considered to be an obvious necessity, recognized by everyone at European meetings is (still) very far from the discussions, objectives and above all the practices found on a local level. European and national bodies certainly need to make serious efforts to educate and persuade local officials. Yet at the same time, we need to ensure that new policies correspond to needs and that there are local capacities to implement them. There is a very large gap to fill, which globalization and the crisis seem to be deepening.
Jean-Loup DRUBIGNY
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| 1. NEW INTERACTIVE MAP OF URBACT PROJECTS NOW ONLINE |
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| URBACT has 16 new projects. It means that dozens of European cities joined URBACT network. Big or small, rainy or sunny, you can find them all on the updated interactive map on URBACT website, as well as information on the new projects. |
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| 3. REGIONS FOR ECONOMIC CHANGE CONFERENCE & URBACT WORKSHOP |
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| The 2010 Regions for Economic Change Conference deals with “Building sustainable growth”. Actively involved in the event, URBACT is in charge of a specific workshop that will be held on May 20th in Brussels. Participate in 2010 Regions for Economic Change conference. |
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| 2. HOPUS FINAL CONFERENCE: HOUSING FOR EUROPE |
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| After two years of relentless work on designing coding for sustainable housing stock, URBACT project HOPUS completed its programme of exchange with a final conference organised in Rome. If interested in “Strategies for quality in urban space, excellence in design, performance in building”, have a look at the outputs of the event. |
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| 4. EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL: 4 URBACT CITIES OUT OF 6 FINALISTS |
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| URBACT is proud to announce that 4 of its partner cities have been shortlisted as finalist to be the European Green Capital 2012 and 2013. Barcelona and Vitoria-Gasteiz from Spain, Malmö from Sweden, and Nantes from France are now entering the final stage of the contest. |
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LIVE FROM |
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| EVUE: “enabling electric vehicles to prove themselves in the street” |
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With the progress made in terms of battery life, electric vehicles will soon be a reality in the urban environment. Matthew Noon, who has a background in public transport planning, is Lead Partner for the EVUE project. Here, he discusses what cities need to consider before implementing an electric vehicle strategy. The challenge is to go from a test phase to an economically viable long-term industrialised solution.
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BEST OF THE BLOG |
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| FAIRTRADE CITIES IN SWEDEN – MUNICIPALITIES TAKING A STAND |
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| They are more than 700 in the world. 700 Fairtrade cities with their Fairtrade “diploma”, a mark of quality originally introduced in the UK in year 2000. In 2006, the City of Malmö became the first Fairtrade city in Sweden. They are now 29 in the country: read more on this successful initiative. |
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IN DEPTH |
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| CITIES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE ECONOMIC CRISIS |
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| In a period of crisis, universities have a major role to play in driving competitiveness and innovation at a local level. How cities can harness the capabilities of universities is a key point to address. Clive Winters, Lead Expert of the URBACT RUnUP project, is answering the question. |
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