Our Outputs

In this issue is an overview of the OPENCities project and information about last month's ULSG Summer University in Krakow

this issue includes an update on the OC Closing Conference last month in Brussels, highlights from selected Case Studies, information about the upcoming ULSG Summer University in Krakow and a welcome to the new Lead Partner Manager and also the new Lead Partner Finance & Communications Officer

Final Report from the OPENCities Workshop in Nitra 16th-17th February 2011

OPENCITIES and Economic Recovery

Why City Openness Matters During Recession.

As presented at the OPENCities Closing Conference in Brussels on the 25th May 2011

The 3rd edition of the OPENCities Newsletter provides an update on the LAP consultative event in Belfast, an overview of the URBACT Annual Conference in Liege in November and details of Dublin City's Peer Review where case studies were presented on the city's approach to attracting international students.

March's Newsletter provides an overview of the OPENCities project so far, looks at the STEP IN to Nitra projects and information on the thematic workshop in Nitra.

An introduction to the OPENCities Monitor tool.

The case studies present in this report offer insights into what is required and possible at the local level to support the transition to becoming an open city. The cities involved in these projects have focussed attention on the local initiatives that have been implemented in their cities.

The Fact Sheet published in April 2011 outlines the broad background, goals, outcomes and outputs of the OPENCities Project.

The OPENCities Final Report published in April 2011 includes partner cities' experiences, the lessons learnt, conclusions and recommendations. Also included is an introduction to the Local Action Plans.

TBC

Opencities partners submitted casestudies which relate to the theme of Integration and Inclusion. Summaries of these are attached.

The conference report details guidance provided by the OPENCities Lead Expert on what an effective LAP should contain including feedback to project partners. It includes an overview on the OPENCities Monitor which enables cities to compare their Openness' against other cities. Developed as a working tool, the Monitor offers practical case study examples and ideas that can be easily adapted by cities. The content is grouped under the projects three themes; Leadership and Governance, Internationalisation, Diversity Integration and Inclusion.

The 2nd edition of the OPENCities Newsletter provides an update of the 3rd thematic workshop, interviews with two of the project partners, details of OPENCities in the media and some policy and research information.

The 3rd theme of the OPENCities project is Integration and Inclusion.  This conference report provides a summary of the discussions and learning that took place at the associated workshop in Poznan, June 2010

The attached presentation was written by Greg Clark and presentated to OPENCities Partners at the 3rd thematic workshop.  The paper summarises the key messages and challenges as well as good practice examples from International cities.

The 3rd theme for the OPENCities Project is the role in Integration and Inclusion. 

Frances Dowds, Project Manager, and Robin Ramsey, MA for Belfast, gave a presentation at the last Regions for Economic Change Conference on 21st May 2010 in Brussels to the European Commission and DG Regio.

The conference included a high-profile political event with keynote speakers, politicians and practitioners discussing the future of European cohesion policy within the new EU2020 framework.  Specific thematic workshops examined the challenges, opportunities and policy responses for each of the three main themes of the conference. 

The first of six OPENCities newsletters was published in March 2010.  Further editions will be available after each of the thematic workshops.

To subscribe, download the first edition and follow the links.

The second conference report based on the theme of Internationalisation is now available.  The report summarises the thematic paper, the learning from the workshop in Dusseldorf (November 2009) and good practice case studies submitted by project partners.

OPENCities partners submitted 7 case studies which relate to the theme of Internationalisation.  Summaries of these are attached.

This presentation summarises the findings which are contained within the conference report (currently in draft form) and may be useful for Local Support Groups.

The second theme focuses on Internationalisation.  This paper was presented to partners in Dusseldorf in November 2009.

The case studies discussed within the thematic paper and conference reports are attached.

The conference report contains the main learning points from the thematic paper and the workshop which took place in Cardiff in June 2009.

A thematic paper will be produced for each of the 3 topics that the OPENCities project will focus on.

The first of these papers focuses on Leadership and Governance.

This paper provides the background, objectives, funding, outputs, challenges and benefits of being part of the OPENCities network

The British Council and the OPENCities project commissioned BAKBASEL to undertake a feasibility study on whether it is possible to measure the openness of cities (Index of Openness) and if so, how best to go about doing it.

The attached report explains this process and the tool developed. 

The summary report of the Bak Basel study is available for download

The OPENCities project has established a thematic network which aims to explore the underlying factors which are necessary to attract, retain and deal with the return of economic migrants across the European Union.  It fits with the European Commission priority under the Regions for Economic Change (REC) Initiative which seeks to deal with issues related to managing migration. The exchange of best practice will be focused around three organising themes:  

LEADERSHIP and GOVERNANCE: understanding what contribution effective leadership makes to helping to create a more open city and what factors leaders need to manage to create OPENCities.

INTERNATIONALISATION: to consider what are the benefits of a city having an international population and look at examples of successful cities where having a diverse international population has made a positive contribution.

INTEGRATION AND INCLUSION: to better understand what measures do cities have in place to support the integration/inclusion of economic migrants and to what extent do integration and inclusion factors in cities impact upon their attractiveness and openness to international populations. What is the link between integration and openness?

The baseline was compiled by our lead expert in collaboration with each of the city partners.

The report is attached

Frances Dowds as manager of the OPENCities project, attends quarterly thematic pole meetings.

The attached presentation explains the purpose of these meetings, the URBACT programme and where OPENCities sits within it.

The baseline was complied by our lead expert in collaboration with each of the city partners.

The summary report is attached

A short summary of the programme, project and partners responsibilities.