There are many ways for urban enthusiasts to benefit from all that URBACT offers. Read on to find out how you can get involved in URBACT activities at European, national and local levels to drive change for better cities.
Do you want to work on a specific urban challenge with peer cities across Europe? Apply to join an URBACT Network alongside other cities that want to make real change in their communities!
As part of a Network, you will embark on a two-year journey with a dedicated URBACT Expert, Ad-hoc Experts, the URBACT Secretariat’s guidance and EU financial support to cover exchange activities – depending on your geographic location. The 27 Member States, the five EU pre-accession countries (IPA) – Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia – and the two Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Ukraine and Moldavia – are eligible to receive funding from URBACT. Cities and partners from Norway, Switzerland and across the world can also participate in programme activities with their own funds.
Calls for proposals are released roughly every year for the following types of Networks:
- Action Planning Networks – cities and local stakeholders co-produce local Integrated Action Plans to tackle their common challenges.
- Transfer Networks – cities understand, adapt and re-use a successful Good Practice in their local context. Only cities that have been awarded the URBACT Good Practice label, following a dedicated call, can lead this type of Network.
- Innovation Transfer Networks – cities create investment plans to transfer the experience from Urban Innovative Actions’ completed projects.
Municipalities, regional and national authorities, metropolitan areas, specialised municipal agencies, districts and boroughs – and other levels of governance that are mentioned in the terms of reference for specific URBACT calls – are eligible to apply to take part in URBACT Networks.
Citizens, civil society, NGOs, academia and private sector who are based in an URBACT beneficiary city can also get involved with an existing Network through the URBACT Local Group. Every beneficiary city has to set up an URBACT Local Group to gather relevant people who have a stake or interest in co-designing integrated local policies. Local stakeholders join these groups as members on a voluntary basis and without financial compensation, nonetheless, they can benefit from transnational visits, trainings and closed capacity-building events.
As soon as URBACT Networks are approved – following the competitive call, the external assessment and the approval from the URBACT Monitoring Committee – the involved partner cities become programme beneficiaries. Under URBACT III (2014 - 2020), 678 city partners joined Networks. The list of beneficiaries under the URBACT IV Programme will be available as soon as new calls are approved (from 2023 onwards).
Experts play a key role in guiding cities through URBACT Networks and providing in-depth thematic and methodological knowledge. You can apply to become a Validated Expert at any given time! The call for experts remains open throughout the whole duration of URBACT IV (2021 - 2027).
There are two types of URBACT Experts, which you can apply to be: Lead Experts, who support a Network throughout its duration and help cities design and implement activities and Ad-hoc Experts, who provide further assistance to Networks’ cities and local groups when needed. All experts can be called out to support Programme-level activities, which might play a role in the availability of experts to take on other Network missions.
Becoming an URBACT IV Expert can open the door to a diverse range of missions to support approved networks and the Secretariat. We need professionals with practical and academic experience in a wide spectrum of fields contributing to sustainable urban development.
The call for experts is officially open for the whole duration of this programme period (2022 – 2027). New candidates, and all experts previously validated in URBACT III, are invited to (re)apply to the new pool. Start by reading the guide for the call (below) and, then, completing the Expert Application Form*. Applications will be assessed by an external panel. Validated Experts have their public profile showcased in the URBACT IV Pool.
*Candidates who are new to URBACT will need to create a login to the website, whereas URBACT III Experts can use their existing login details.
Once you have duly read the document above, you can then proceed to the APPLICATION FORM
No matter if you are involved in an URBACT Network or not, you can always connect with peers across Europe at our events. All year round, throughout the duration of URBACT IV (2021 - 2027) you can take part in open events like the URBACT City Festivals, webinars, seminars, conferences and thematic policy labs.
Mark your calendars for the next event - EU City Lab on Public Procurement for More Local, Seasonal and Sustainable Food on 29-30 May 2024 in Liège, Belgium. Register to attend it here!
Based in Paris (France), the URBACT Joint Secretariat is a group of 15-20 very an enthusiastic and committed team, organised into three units – Projects and Programming; Knowledge and Communication; Coordination and Administration.
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For any other enquiries, you can reach out to us the URBACT Secretariat at communication@urbact.eu