As part of our Good Practice campaign, we investigated in a previous article what makes an URBACT Good Practice ‘good’. Two distinguishing features are ‘local impact’ and ‘transferability’, which can take many forms and contexts – as evident in the 97 URBACT Good Practices awarded in 2017. 

This article focuses on one practice in particular and its transferability and local impact: the Playful Paradigm. Find out how one city in Ireland adapted an URBACT Good Practice, developed by an Italian city, and transferred it at a national level. Your city could experience similar benefits if you send us your good practice! 

Defining ‘transfer’ in the URBACT programme  

In the context of the URBACT programme, a ‘good practice’ can be transferred through a specific model of ‘understand-adapt-reuse' supported by transfer networks. In the Playful Paradigm Transfer Network, as Lead Partner, Udine found a way to make the city landscape playful, officially recognised as an URBACT Good Practice. Awarded by URBACT in 2017, Udine’s experience with modes of play provided a template for not only reanimating underused, car-dominated public spaces but also to improve social inclusion and initiate community-led placemaking.

Through the URBACT Playful Paradigm Transfer Network, Cork (IE) developed a host of play actions in line with Udine's Playful Paradigm practice. “We went for something that was very pioneering in terms of trying to create a ‘playful city’…what does this actually mean?”, explains Kieran McCarthy, Lord Mayor of Cork (2023-2024) and an independent member of Cork City Council. ‘It’s really about re-thinking how we use our public spaces: closing off streets and creating playful areas’. 

Cork was inspired by the Udine example to develop a variety of play actions, including:

- The re-pedestrianisation of the Marina walkway, a historic walkway dating back to the 19th century.

- Getting permission to temporarily open streets for play (for example every Sunday for a month).

- Promoting the concept of Play Streets which at its core is the repurposing of the street for free play (setting up tug-of-war stations and big Connect 4 stations).

- Playful Cultural Trail of cultural institutions (including museums, art galleries, community centres, etc.).

According to Lord Mayor McCarthy, “These spaces were playful areas in the past, so it’s great to see families engage and discover these streets, their origins, and even their own neighbours.” As a transfer partner city, Cork also embraced the power of the practice (of play) to address other urban challenges (e.g. public health, environment, place-making, etc.). For instance, play packs and place-making training helped to reduce social isolation of Cork’s elderly population during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cork’s application of the URBACT Good Practice proved its transferability, not only to other European cities but cascaded at national level. 

Continuing the transfer from European to national scale

Starting in 2021, the Cork URBACT Local Group spearheaded URBACT’s National Practice Transfer Initiative (NPTI) in Ireland – one of five intra-country transfer pilots reinforcing best practice exchange and URBACT’s added value in different European countries. With the support of the Irish National URBACT Point and a national URBACT expert, Cork helped to transfer the Playful Paradigm practice in 5 Irish towns:  Donegal, Portlaoise, Rush, Rathdrum and Sligo. “The different groups and town representatives came to Cork”, remembers Lord Mayor McCarthy. “I had the chance to speak to them about the impact of URBACT, and why they should engage with the URBACT programme.”  

Inspired by the Cork example, the five Irish partners got to work imagining how they could make it work in their own municipalities. The partner towns developed and implemented transfer plans, involving a variety of actions based on Cork’s experience with the Playful Paradigm Project. These plans were different, depending on the local context, but all focused on liberating streets and public places to the public – not just children, but all generations and groups.  

In Donegal Town, for instance, the Diamond town square was turned into play areas, and residents young and old were invited to have fun and connect with each other. Just north of Dublin, in Rush, the URBACT Local Group (ULG) created a Play Street. An area typically occupied by cars, this space became ‘open for play’. The Rush ULG members also created a storytelling trail involving the local library and community centre. Local community organisations in Portlaoise prioritised involving disadvantaged or vulnerable communities; in particular, the town got the Ukrainian refugee community involved. Sligo reanimated its town centre with new pedestrian sidewalks and cycle lanes as well as improvements to benches and street furniture. Play events, where busy retail streets in the centre were temporarily closed for car traffic, were well received by residents and businesses alike. Some of the successful elements that Sligo decided to implement following the Cork visit included installing the first parklet in the town (taking out two parking spaces and creating a seating area where residents and visitors can meet and linger) as well as a space for colouring chalk on the street. They are now partner in a new European network called Cities@Heart, to create a healthy and harmonious heart of the city. 

In a quirky turn of events, different communities decided to use recycled materials to play. Deep in the woods of Rathdrum in County Wicklow, locals took part in ‘snowball fights’. Instead of waiting for snow, old (washed) socks were used to kick off play activities. The town’s new library provided a perfect location to adapt a variety of play actions, including a community play bag loaning system. This system has been expanded to all libraries in County Wicklow. 

Exceeding expectations:  making play a priority in Irish towns 

Throughout the URBACT National Practice Transfer Initiative, Cork was able to delve deeper into its own recognised playful practice based on engagement with Udine and other European partner cities. Cork also took a hands-on role in offering material support and guidance to the partner municipalities (e.g. a manual for incorporating playfulness, Let’s Play Cork brand guidelines, etc.) 

Looking closer at the impact of the national transfer, it is clear that the learning exchange went both ways between the Lead Partner and partner cities.  

Irish partners answer Cork’s call to action 

Feedback has been positive across the local partners, according to Wessel Badenhorst, the URBACT Lead Expert who accompanied the transfer process. Partners in the five transfer towns and cities brought fresh perspectives to the conversation with Cork on the Playful Paradigm, pushing the boundaries of what playful spaces, events and engagements could look like in a specifically local, Irish setting.  

“It is worth noting that all partners in the Ireland transfer initiative reported that the impacts of their play activities and interventions exceeded their expectations,” stated Wessel. The most telling endorsements were that residents are requesting more play activities and that funding for play activities are being secured from national and municipal sources. All partners implemented their transfer plans, hence proving the value of the adapted and re-used actions first observed in Cork (the transfer city). And, although most people instinctively know that play makes everyone feel better, the national initiative helped the partner towns to observe and understand how, over time, the opportunities for free play in public spaces in Irish towns have been reduced for example by allocating too much space for the exclusive use of cars. With practical low-cost play activities, the partner towns demonstrated to their residents that a more liveable alternative is possible.  

Cork finds its playful calling 

According to Martha Halbert, Social Inclusion Specialist in Cork City Council: “Showcasing the work to our colleagues across cities and towns in Ireland represented not only a unique network building exercise for local government colleagues, but it encouraged us to look at the local factors which made the work unique and transferable.” Lord Mayor McCarthy can attest to this: “I’ve seen the joy my team gets from telling the story of Cork and the Playful Paradigm.” 

In addition to the types of connections and exchanges, the national transfer component has also helped to boost staff training: not just keeping staff skill sets up to par but also informing them of developments in the playful paradigm in the EU context.

Stepping back even further, the URBACT Playful Paradigm kick-started Cork’s investment in restoring public spaces as ‘playful places’. They secured Healthy Ireland funding to employ a Play Coordinator for Cork City, who is dedicated to increasing the profile and value of play in communities as well as at strategic policy level. Martha adds, “Play learnings are firmly embedded in the policy and structural landscape in Cork City now”. It also provided a stepping-stone for the city to get involved in other EU-level initiatives such as Horizon projects, and the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, of which Cork is one of the 112 selected laureates.

Children playing in activities of the Playful Paradigm initiative.

URBACT’s call for Good Practices: Cork’s advice

URBACT has a legacy of recognising specific methods, approaches and tools for making cities green, just and productive. These URBACT Good Practices are part of a legacy of positive change, not just at European but also at national and local levels.

"My call to any local government is to submit your good practice!” encourages Lord Mayor McCarthy. “Some of the world’s largest challenges exist in urban areas, and every municipality across the European Union is working on some important nugget that can help other cities and towns. Don’t leave it to others to write up the good practices!”

We hope that Cork’s experience inspires you to share your good practice. 

Interested in applying to the new URBACT Call for Good Practices (open until 30 July 2024)? 

All you need to know can be found on urbact.eu/get-involved.  

Thanks to Wessel Badenhorst, URBACT expert and the six URBACT local group coordinators for the materials provided: Joy Herron (Donegal Town), Aoife Sheridan (Rush), Martha Halbert (Cork City), Leonora McConville (Sligo), Ann-Marie Maher (Portlaoise) and Deirdre Whitfield (Rathdrum).
 

Food systems are a primary cause of environmental degradation and contribute to climate change, health inequalities and waste. With half the global population living in urban areas, cities are tuning in to the role they play in building more sustainable food systems and helping their residents eat a healthier diet. 

On 21 and 22 March 2024, around 50 city practitioners from 9 European countries gathered in Mouans-Sartoux (France) for the EU City Lab on Changing Food Habits for a Healthy and Sustainable Food System.  

This article condenses the rich exchanges that took place there into 5 ways cities can get onto – or further explore – the food transformation path.  

If you like what you read here, have a look at the EU City Lab #2 programme on using public procurement for more local, seasonal and sustainable food on 29-30 May in Liège (BE).  

1. Take a Food Systems Approach 

Roxana Maria Triboi, lead author of the ex-ante assessment of the “Food” thematic area under the Urban Agenda of the EU (UAEU), emphasised citizens’ “disassociation with food production”, i.e. a general lack of awareness of  food production processes and their social, economic and environmental impacts. For instance, many ignore that food production is responsible for around 26% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By taking a more proactive approach to food consumption, citizens can work towards reintegrating food as a focus of political engagement and help build more sustainable local food systems.  

On their end, policymakers need to stop looking at food policies in a silo, and instead start associating them with broader economic and social goals, such as re-dynamising the local territory or building food security through shorter and fairer supply chains. Thanks to their flexibility, smaller cities are especially relevant to develop synergies and integrated approaches. 

The ex-ante assessment of the Urban Agenda’s “Food” thematic area conducted in 2023 embraced this holistic perspective, building on a conceptual framework developed by IPES-Food. The same conceptual framework also inspires the approach of the three EU City Labs on Local Food Systems. 

2. Navigate the EU landscape on food 

In recent years, EU food policies also witnessed a progressive shift towards a more systemic and sustainability-oriented approach. The 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy, for instance, attempted to introduce an holistic perspective to the food production chain, from the producers to the consumers (and beyond, in the context of a circular economy) and to put sustainability at the core of food systems transformation.  

Yet, there is still a long way to go to transform these ambitious goals into reality, as many critical voices are being raised. “Europe is witnessing a growing push to shift the perspective “from fork to farm”: that is, emphasizing the political legitimacy of the citizens-consumers to decide what they wish to eat” recalled Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of Mouans-Sartoux. As EU legislators work to fill the gap, cities keep playing a key role as drivers of change.  

Initiatives such as the UAEU Partnership on Food, launched in January 2024, put cities at the heart of local food policy transformation. As explained by Elisa Porreca, Food Policy Officer of the City of Milan and coordinator of the partnership, it gathers 21 stakeholders from all sectors of the urban food chain, to build both a shared vision and the necessary tools for its sustainable implementation. For the coming years, the goal is to improve the funding, regulation and knowledge in relation to local food systems.   

3. Get inspired by cities across Europe… 

Organic food in school canteens in Mouans-Sartoux 

Over the years, the city of Mouans-Sartoux has turned into a key source of inspiration for urban food policy practitioners across Europe. Why?  

Because of its three primary school canteens serving 100% organic food since 2012 – all cooked on-site by the canteens’ chefs, with 85% of self-produced vegetables all-year round and diversification of proteins through 50% of vegetarian meals for all. 1,100 meals are served every day by the school canteens to 97% of the total number of pupils in Mouans-Sartoux. The local supply of vegetables is ensured by the municipal farm – a 6-hectare plot pre-empted by the municipality in 2010, with a yield of 25 tons per year. Three full-time farmers work there as civil servants – a first in France.  

Mouans-Sartoux’s practice and know-how has been customised and transferred to 9 European cities through two URBACT Transfer Networks called Biocanteens and Biocanteens#2 from 2018 to 2022. Many other French cities have followed Mouans-Sartoux’s example. 

A key strength of the city’s practice is the progressive buildup on projects, leading to a systemic approach. EU City Lab’s participants got to discover the different building blocks of this approach through city visits and dedicated discussion sessions.   

“The Municipality played a key role in initiating this policy, yet it has focused since the beginning on fostering citizens’ implication,” recalled Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of Mouans-Sartoux. Since 2016, the MEAD (Centre for Sustainable Food Alimentation) supports this ambition through training and education initiatives. Most recently, the city’s participatory efforts led to ‘The Citizen Feeds the City’ initiative, which saw the creation of seven community gardens – initiated by citizens and managed in autonomy by a group of them. 

To tackle the inclusiveness challenge, since 2011 low-income or unemployed citizens may benefit for a few months access to a social grocery store, where they can get healthy and sustainable food at a very low cost. A step further? Scaling up to more categories of citizens who don’t have the chance to properly consider the food they consume. As explained by Caroline Monjardet, Project Manager at MEAD, the city currently works with local companies and restaurants to propose healthier and locally-sourced meals to their employees or customers. 

Group visit to one of the 100% organic school canteens in Mouans-Sartoux (FR) -- with Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of the city. 

Food Study with Irish Traveller women in Cork, Ireland 

Around 2015, a network of traveller women approached Denise Cahill, Healthy Cities Co-ordinator in Cork, concerned about the rate of obesity in their community. Rather than spreading once more food recommendations, as they had multiple times without success, they built together the framework for a food study exploring the social determinants of traveller’s women health. Driven by their experiences, especially facing structural racism and hostility, this research was built with and owned by those traveller women. “Nothing about us without us” is the new motto in Cork.. 

“Cork is now trying to become a trauma-informed city.” As Denise explained, this study did not have such an impact on the obesity rate, but that was never the main goal. Going beyond the scope of food, the study became an advocacy tool for social services to understand the struggles and trauma that vulnerable communities battle with, and ultimately build more positive exchanges with them.  

 “The thinkers and the doers must find a common space.” Denise explained how creating this dialogue is a motor for the city’s action, to give room for everyone’s voices, from the farmers to the elected representatives, including the planners, and the grassroot movements. 

UIA TAST’in FIVES in Lille, France 

Perrine Dubois, project manager at the City of Lille, shared a story of transformation. A former industrial city throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Lille witnessed in 2001 the closure of one of its last industrial factories, “Five Cail” (straddling the neighbouring commune of Hellemmes). What to do with this 15hectare brownfield site located in the heart of the Lille metropolis? In the context of a broader project to turn this zone into an eco-district, the city applied in 2016 to an Urban Innovative Action (UIA) call for the financing of Tast'in Fives, a space dedicated to sustainable food. 

At the heart of the brownfield, a central food hall of over 2,000m2 was therefore renovated to host an innovative combination of activities: a “community kitchen”, a professional kitchen hosting an incubator, an urban farm, and a food court. The first three structures opened in 2021, while the food court, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, opened in March 2024.   

The project – today called “Chaud Bouillon!” – involved many actors, including residents, neighbourhood associations, universities and private companies. Although its main focus is on strengthening social linkages, attention is also paid to food sustainability aspects – i.e. encouraging shifts towards more sustainable food habits. For example, the incubator’s projects must adhere to sustainability criteria, like the recovery of unsold goods from supermarkets.  

School canteens solutions in Milan 

In Milan, the municipal food provider Milano Ristorazione supplies about 80 000 meals per day, mainly served at schools. Milano Ristorazione is one of the main public stakeholders in the implementation of the Milan’s Food Policy and is a place to experiment with good practices, including menu changes and other enabling measures. 

“The city started monitoring the impact of school catering services more closely in 2015 and has since then managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, mainly by cutting down on red meat and serving more fruits and vegetables” explained Chiara Mandelli, from the Food Policy Area of the Municipality of Milan. The city also achieved significant waste reduction through several measures, from shifting the times when fruits are served at schools, to offering “doggy bags” for children’s leftovers. To challenge the taste of children – often used to processed food and lower vegetable consumption – an educational campaign was launched, featuring booklets and games.  

As Chiara also explained, Milan recently participated in the European Food Trails project to renovate school canteens; and in the EU project “School Food for Change” to create educational programmes for children on local food heritage. Finally, a recent partnership with the University of Pavia seeks to bridge the scientific assessment gap and learn how to best use existing data to inform future policy choices.  

The Circular Food Hub in Roeselare 

The Circular Food Hub in Roeselare (Belgium) extends beyond just providing affordable food. It includes a social grocery store; an eco-café serving low-price meals made with local products; a shared kitchen for workshops on cooking cheap, healthy and sustainable meals; and other amenities.  

Designed as a space for inclusion and for strengthening social linkages among different groups, the place opened in 2020. It quickly succeeded in attracting a variety of users – from the beneficiaries of the social grocery store to participants in food workshops and other training initiatives.  

The Circular Hub is in a former post office owned by the city. “The building features large meeting spaces available to residents and the city administration for future projects, including around food” explained Bo Vanbesien, expert in subsidies and external relations from the City of Roeselare. 

Sharing cities' experiences in Mouans-Sartoux (FR). 

4. Show the impact of your actions 

For Thibaud Lalanne, MEAD Coordinator, impact assessment forms the foundation of the practice of sharing that Mouans-Sartoux has championed. Evaluation is important in two regards: first for internal legitimacy, as public spending is involved; then to advocate and spread good practices to other cities. 

In 2022-23, Mouans-Sartoux’s good practice underwent three assessment exercises: first, the 2022 survey conducted by the Municipal Observatory of School Canteens, focusing on changes in families’ food habits; second, a comprehensive study (in French) based on the a specially-developed evaluation framework for sustainable food projects (Syalinnov method), touching upon a variety of dimensions; and third, a study on environmental impacts conducted by PhD researchers from Nice University. Thanks to these efforts, Mouans-Sartoux is able to quantify the impact of its food policies: a 92% reduction of its carbon footprint according to the Nice study. 

What is main challenge when it comes to evaluation? “The lack of resources” says Thibaud. “There is a contradiction between the necessity of evaluating the policies and the reality of carrying out the surveys.” Evaluation exercises take time, involve many people, and cities can lack the technical competences. To cope with these challenges, “get support to conduct assessments, narrow down the scope of research, and allow yourselves some flexibility, as there is no ‘one size fits all’”. 

5. Check out the next URBACT / EUI networking & funding opportunities 

As Gilles Perole recalled: “the transformation that took place in Mouans-Sartoux can happen in other European cities, whatever their size.” The experience of the URBACT network Biocanteens #2 clearly demonstrated this, by enabling the transfer of Mouans-Sartoux’s good practice to cities like Liège, Wroclaw and more. Cities that vary in size and features of course, but with some key characteristics in common that made the transformation possible: awareness about the stakes related to local food systems; political ambition to change things; and willingness to promote healthier food to the citizens. 

- Download the presentation made at EU City Lab on Local Food Systems #1

- Interested in learning more on the sustainability transition of local food systems? Join us in Liège on 29-30 May 2024 for the next EU City Lab on Public Procurement for More Local, Seasonal and Sustainable food. Register now! 

- Does your city administration have a good practice on this or other topics? Then tell us about it from 15 April to 30 June 2024, during the URBACT Call for Good Practices which seeks good practices that bring positive local impact, that are participatory, integrated and transferable to other cities. More information about this Call will be available on urbact.eu/get-involved 

Additional resources:

- Portico knowledge resources

- Lab speakers/cities or any other urban pratictioner with an interest on food in cities can be contacted via the Portico community 

This article was authored by:

Chiara Petroli, Events Officer at URBACT.

Eva Timsit, Ben Eibl and Nicola Candoni, Students at Science Po Paris.

How may girls and women feel free to move in streets and spend time in squares and parks without feeling discomfort or fear? How does city planning have an impact on gender equality and social inclusion? Ileana Toscano, URBACT III Expert, takes a deeper look into gender equality in cities and how the programme is contributing to a just transition.

Drawing inspiration from the Gender Equal Cities report and the activities done under the URBACT Knowledge Hub umbrella, both the Erasmus plus project “PART-Y - Participation and Youth: Lab for Equal Cities” and the URBACT Playful Paradigm Second Wave Transfer Network reflected on the gender sensitive approach to design and use urban public spaces.

On one hand, PART-Y focused on public spaces as experimental places of democracy by introducing the methodologies of Placemaking, Design Thinking and the Gender Equal Cities approach to foster the “generation equality” goal promoted by UN Women. On the other hand, the Playful Paradigm Second Wave, building on the successful experience from the first round of Playful Paradigm, focused on play as a tool to re-think cities. It took “play” beyond playgrounds to give children, girls and boys and all citizens the "right to play" and drive change for more inclusive and liveable cities.

PART-Y developed a series of products to call young people to action for equality in public spaces by testing placemaking experiences: a Handbook and a Toolbox “to build gender sensitive placemaking projects”. These provide a practical guide to transform urban public spaces into beautiful and comfortable places to live. It consists of a new methodology that enriches placemaking techniques, linked to the creation of community-led urban places, with elements taken from design thinking –  an approach to produce analytical and creative solutions to solve complex problems mainly used for the development of innovative products. Adding to this mixed methodology the gender equal perspective, it was built a new effective tool that guarantees equal access and use of the city in particular for girls and boys.

Led by the Italian association Kallipolis and co-implemented by a consortium of seven entities from different European countries, including local authorities and associations as the Municipality of Trieste (IT), an URBACT II beneficiary; the Cork City Council (IE), an active partner from Playful Paradigm 1, which had the great opportunity of later on sharing its successful experience with other Irish cities; and Umeå Kommun (SE), URBACT’s lighthouse city when it comes to gender, the city was awarded an URBACT Good Practice Label in 2017, then it proceed to lead the Genderedlandscape Action Planning Network (2019 – 2022) and was at the heart of the very first Gender Equal Cities report. All three cities are highly committed to placemaking actions for their citizens.

The experience of Umeå brought a sound inspiration for the PART-Y Handbook and for the whole project development. Since the 80s, the city has had the overall goal to foster gender equality by creating the conditions for women and men, girls and boys, to have equal power to shape society and their own lives. The Genderedlandscape Network bears witness of the commitment of the municipality to this cause: this was the first European network focused on “gender and city”. Among others, Umeå has applied the gendered approach concept to the design of a new urban park called “FRIZON - Free zone”.

The FRIZON was created by involving just girls in the co-design process, through the methodology of “inclusion (of girls) through exclusion (of boys)”, which offered the possibility for girls to share freely their wishes for this new space. One of the most important wishes expressed by girls was that they wanted a space free from expectations, where they could hang out with their friends and just be, without having to perform. A zone free from expectations, hence the name “free zone”. This particular experience was an inspiration also for the Playful Paradigm Transfer Network Second Wave, a spin off Network led by the Municipality of Udine (IT) that focused on gender sensitive approach for playgrounds and urban public spaces.

Indeed, the redesign of play places like school yards, playgrounds and recreational spaces through a gender sensitive approach can provide an important contribution to deconstruct of gender stereotypes and the inequalities starting from early age. A motion graphic called “Gender sensitive playgrounds & Urban Places” was created to raise awareness about the importance of considering the needs of girls and boys when designing places for them.  While, both editions of the Playful Paradigm Networks draw attention of cities to “play, which is essential for children’s health, physical-and emotional growth, and intellectual and educational development.

Through play, girls and boys learn about democracy, respect, and solidarity. Spaces for playing that reflect those values have a huge importance in education. Evidence has shown that there is a disproportion in the use of playgrounds and schoolyards: football pitches are often positioned in the central space hosting few athletic boys, while girls and un-sporty boys are pushed to the fringe. The redesign of play places should prioritise multiple play ‘worlds’ and gender-neutral colours, rather than a single central one, encouraging interaction between girls and boys and multiple uses of space. It should also foster creativity and engagement with nature, as well as sports and active games. This allows children to choose how to interact and play without the pressure to conform to stereotypes.

The most recent experience from Playful Paradigm also had the opportunity to follow up on the importance of “gender planning and play” by meeting the Municipality of Barcelona (ES), in July 2022. Barcelona has developed an innovative City Play Strategy that also embraces gender approaches principles. The city shared an important lesson for the Playful Paradigm’s partners, dealing with the creation of local policies and city planning strategies able to embrace play, gender and the regeneration of urban public space to guarantee the right to the city to children and the most vulnerable ones.

So, back to the question: can urban public spaces foster equality in cities? We can answer YES, they can and they should. The way public spaces are designed and managed have a huge impact on spreading democracy and embodying the inclusion of diversities, as well as considering gender needs. The #UrbanGirlsMovement, promoted by the Swedish think tank Global Utmaning shared the motto “plan a city for girls, and it will work for everyone”.

To position girls' needs at the top priority of the policy agenda, especially when focusing on low-income areas, can provide an important contribution to improve the living conditions not just for girls and women, but also for all vulnerable groups, all citizens. Guaranteeing free access to public spaces at different times of the day and night by making them beautiful and comfortable, makes everyone feels safer. Embedding the gender sensitive approach into urban planning activities can drive European cities towards inclusivity and respect for diversity, making these places where all can feel represented.

Gender is at the centre of URBACT IV activities. The current open call for Action Planning Networks is a unique opportunity to rethink how diversity, inclusion and equality can be an underlying response to wider urban issues. Check out all the gender-related proposals for networks at the Partner Search Tool and learn more about the call.

How do towns and cities maintain the momentum for collaborative actions and innovation created in their URBACT Local Groups (ULGs)? And what structures can be put in place to continue the ULGs’ role after URBACT projects end? Answers to these questions are crucial to consider with the end of another cycle of Action Planning Networks in the URBACT programme. Anamaria Vrabie, Eileen Crowley and Wessel Badenhorst unpack three possible strategies that each ULG can consider, stemming from their practitioner experience and a ‘fireside chat’ workshop they organised together with the URBACT Secretariat at the 2022 URBACT e-University.

Before we begin, please also consider using these additional resources, complementary to this article:

• Watch the video of our fireside chat during the 2022 URBACT e-University.
• Read the innovative governance models handout we compiled.

And now, let us share with you some of the transformative stories we have generated, witnessed and supported in the cities of Cluj-Napoca (RO), Dublin and Cork (IE). We reference these cities, not as overall good practices of innovative governance models, but rather in an effort to make things as concrete as possible, in order to understand the structure, context for emergence, and expected impact of such innovative models.

Strategy #1: formalise your ULG work into an innovation lab

In the last 15 years, there has been a strong development of innovation labs connected to public administrations. These labs can take a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on their governance model. Some operate at governmental level, some at city level. Some are mandated to specifically improve the delivery of public service, while others are tasked with prototyping solutions for emerging challenges or with the support of emerging technologies. It is useful to think about these labs as a quadruple helix living lab at the intersection with a research and development department specifically linked to a public authority. Each lab can opt to use one or more innovation methodologies, from human design thinking to behavioural insights.

For an overview of some of the most active labs at global level, this survey and this report can be useful places to start as, like ULGs, such labs convene a wide array of city stakeholders.

In Cluj-Napoca, Romania’s second largest city with a population of around 400 000 people, it was actually a failed attempt to win the title of a European Capital of Culture (ECoC) that proved a catalyst for the emergence of their innovation lab. The Cluj-Napoca Urban Innovation Unit (UIU) was a programme proposed in 2017 by Cluj Cultural Centre, an NGO comprising at the time around 60 cultural organisations and public authorities, that had prepared the ECoC strategy.

Designed in partnership with the Cluj-Napoca municipality, UIU would actually have a limited lifecycle of four-five years, in order to test what innovation approaches would be best for Cluj, while building more innovation capacity locally. If successful, the unit would be fully transferred in the local municipality. This aspect is quite relevant for towns and cities facing either a low trust in public sector actors or insufficient capacity. It allows a state or non-state actor to break the vicious circle of questioning how such a complex structure should be governed, by proposing a test-run for a limited period.

Two pilot projects of the Urban Innovation Unit: temporary use of public space in a residential neighbourhood (left) and engaging artists to promote the use of public transportation for youth (right).

So, how can URBACT cities use an innovation lab structure as a vehicle for the governance and implementation of their Integrated Action Plan (IAP)?

Building on the city’s strategic documents, similar to URBACT Integrated Action Plans, the Cluj-Napoca Urban Innovation Unit (UIU) was mandated to develop pilot projects in three thematic areas: future of work, urban resilience and urban mobility. The three themes were chosen as the most relevant for emerging challenges of Cluj as a growing city. In addition, all three topics required collaborative solutions and coordination – a sole city actor such as the public administration, universities, NGOs or businesses, would find them hard to develop alone. This report describes the 15 lessons learned of the unit between 2017-2021, as well as pilot projects in each thematic area.

Early on in the existence of the Cluj-Napoca Urban Innovation Unit, their proposal for future of work, co-produced with the municipality and other key stakeholders, won the Urban Innovative Actions third call for funding, making Cluj-Napoca the first city in Eastern Europe to receive this type of European grant. This brought considerable funding and legitimacy for the lab, but narrowed down the type of pilot projects it could engage in. Nevertheless, reflecting on the emerging legacy of the unit, there are already a few tangible results:

• Concrete solutions found at city level on how to better support cultural and creative industries as an emerging sector of the local economy;
• Supporting academics to make their research usable for evidence-based policy;
• Develop new funding mechanisms that can allow community groups to work with the public administration as peers;
• Strategic partnerships and new sources of funding accessed by the city;
• Consolidated capacity for the public sector to use risk-prone methodologies such as prototyping;
• Successful transfer of tested innovation practices in a newly established department in the municipality starting from May 2022.

Thus, an innovation lab may provide a useful governance model to monitor the implementation of the URBACT IAP, being tasked to implement pilot projects together with ULG members. These pilot projects are not necessarily the comprehensive actions described in the IAP, but rather Small Scale Actions for each of them. This enables continuous engagement and a refinement of some of the big ideas planned by cities to accomplish their ambitious vision.

Strategy #2: keep a stable relationship among key city stakeholders, even if informally

In Ireland, a partnership model was initiated in the city of Cork with the aim of regenerating the city centre and reinvigorating the city space. Located in the south-west of Ireland, the city of Cork has achieved some success in taking a partnership approach to the revitalisation of its city centre in recent years. The council was rewarded for their innovative governance model in 2021 when they won the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards.

Cork city has a population of about 220 000 people. For a period, the city centre was losing population, and businesses in the area noticed a decline. In 2014, coinciding with a changeover in city management and the appointments of the city’s first female chief executive, a study was commissioned to kick-start transformative actions to revitalise the city centre in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders. The study made two key recommendations: create a cross-sectoral partnership to drive change; and employ a city centre coordinator – someone to act as the human face of the council, to liaise with businesses, broker relationships and facilitate action.

Weekend morning yoga on the board walk in Cork City centre

The city implemented these recommendations and set up two key groups. The first consists of approximately 20 cross-sectoral representatives, including local politicians, business owners and representatives, public transport representatives, members of the Gardaí (police) and some council staff. The second group consists of members of the city council senior management team, with one manager together with an urban planner, responsible for a designated area within the city centre. Action plans and progress reports are revised each year to help realise the aims of these groups.

Change came about slowly in the city, one step at a time. Early years were focused on forming relationships, building trust and some small quick wins. The council focused mainly on showing their support for businesses by trying to animate the public space and attract people into the city centre. This was done through a variety of soft catalyst-type projects such as chalk workshops, street theatre and street art, all proving very popular and helping to animate the space and to build trust between partners.

Over time, seeing the benefits and enjoyment to be gained by public space animation, momentum started to grow with several businesses undertaking their own initiatives in this area. Examples include weekend morning yoga on the boardwalk instigated by a local coffee shop owner and the city’s infamous long table dinner which started in 2017. This was led by 12 restaurants in the city centre, feeding 420 guests in one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

Cork’s long table dinner feeding 420 guests (left) and one of the newly pedestrianised streets in the city, catering for an increase in outdoor dining (right).

Of course, there were stumbling blocks too, and some initiatives met with great resistance. As the famous motivational author Louise Hay says however: “resistance is the first step to change”. The City Council’s attempt to pedestrianise the main street in the city for several hours a day initially met with great opposition. In spite of this, the City Council held firm and increased their commitment to work in partnership with stakeholders to find solutions and support the continued reinvigoration of the city centre. The cross-sectoral stakeholder group met 13 times over the summer of 2019, intent on co-creating solutions to the city’s challenges. In the end, these stumbling blocks proved to bear great fruit, and working together through these challenges served to strengthen and solidify vital relationships across sectors and between stakeholders.

These strong partnerships and cross-sectoral structures in place in the city are what enabled the city to respond dynamically and quickly to the shock circumstances brought about by the pandemic.

Together, city stakeholders worked quickly to develop a response plan and to rapidly roll out activities to ensure the city centre remained an attractive and inviting space for people in the midst of the pandemic. The city quickly set in train the pedestrianisation of 17 streets within the city centre, the development of cycle lanes across the city, increasing cycle parking, creating attractive outdoor spaces with public parklets and street cleaning and supporting the development of streets for outdoor dining.

So, how can an informal partnership structure become a vehicle as a post-project structure for governance and implementation of actions in the IAP?

The post-ULG structure can aim to become a go-to forum for other emerging challenges of the city.

An example of some winter-proofing measures on one of the city quays

For example, in Cork, thanks to the highly effective and innovative governance models in place for the management of the city centre, the city has been hugely successful in accessing national funding for the winter proofing of many of its newly pedestrianised streets, enabling year-round outdoor dining even in the often inclement Irish weather!

From small soft measures in the beginning to a visible increase in momentum, the city today is truly transformed. Cork showcases a city offering that competes on par with some of the most well-known and magnetic cities across Europe. This is the power of partnership and taking a collaborative approach to city development.

This approach is highly replicable and transferable even across varying contexts. Investing in a partnership model can lead to effective and positive transformations of an area, the time and commitment involved does pay off. People, partnerships and leadership are essential. Motivating factors including some soft measures, quicks wins, awards and the showcasing of inspirational good practices can all drive momentum. A clear vision, dedication and commitment however are all vital links to connect a vision to reality. An important lesson we can learn from Cork is that their partnership journey is just as important as the destination. While the city’s physical transformation is impressive, it’s the embedding of this collaborative culture and the institutionalisation of cross-sectoral governance models within the city’s practice that is truly valuable and surely heralds only the beginning of this city’s transformational journey.

Strategy #3: consider business-led governance structures such as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)

In countries like Ireland and the UK, legislation was introduced in past decades to enable businesses in a defined commercially zoned area to form a company that will take on aspects of governance and carry out certain actions. The legislation allows for a business community to form a Business Improvement Districts (BID) company after holding a plebiscite in the ‘BID Area’ where more than 50% of businesses voted to form the company on the premise of a proposed five-year strategy. If the vote is positive, then a board of directors is constituted with the representation of the local authority ensconced.

Typically, the BID Company will then set up a few working groups that involve local stakeholders focusing on needs identified in the strategy. The BID Company is funded through levies paid by all businesses in the BID area, i.e. the Business District, which are collected by the local authority and then transferred to the BID Company. This amounts to a ‘tax’ paid by businesses in addition to the annual rates owed to the local authority. It also means that businesses have an interest to secure the best return for their contributions. This drives the dynamic of the BID Company as a place-oriented governance structure.

So, how can a BID Company become a vehicle as a post-project structure for governance and implementation of actions in the IAP?

Key stakeholders involved in a Business Improvement District

The aim of the post-ULG structure can be summarised with the following main features:

1. A structure that coordinates the alignment of stakeholder needs in the designated area;
2. A structure that provides and supports leadership in the designated area;
3. A structure that can facilitate delivery of actions and the measuring of impacts.

In the case of business districts, the stakeholder interests that should drive future development are not only those of landowners or large employers. An interesting case study is the former large industrial estates that have transformed into mixed use business districts, i.e., with new clean manufacturing, office, education, retail and residential uses. One example of how this can work is the Sandyford Business District in Dublin, Ireland.

More than 20 000 people work in Sandyford and 6 000 people live in Sandyford. There are approximately a thousand businesses in the district, ranging from multi-nationals like the Microsoft European HQ to many SMEs. Six years ago, the businesses voted to form a BID Company. Last year, the mandate for the company was renewed with a second plebiscite.

Poster for the Sandyford BID Company

The Sandyford BID Company developed a comprehensive strategy with actions for the next five years covering not only the marketing of the district, but also greening of the district; significantly increasing active transport infrastructure for walking and cycling; increasing permeability and access to the district; and using new technologies to make the district ‘smarter’.

The BID Company’s approach is to work in collaboration with local stakeholders, including the local authority and residents, with the aim to build a sense of place and community.

The statutory BID structure ensures that the BID Company has a steady funding stream for the next five years to implement its strategy. The BID Company has however learnt from the previous five years that it is even more important to build the trust with key stakeholders to create a culture of collaboration. This in turn will ensure synergies in the use of resources and a collective responsibility for the future development of the business district.

There are significant elements from the structure of BID Companies which cities could transfer to their own governance structures for their commercial areas or business districts. The attraction is the certainty of sufficient resources for action implementation together with an approach to build relationships with key stakeholders, thus creating a vehicle for ‘distributed’ place leadership which also involves the business leaders in the city.

And a bonus, #4: let’s keep the conversation open!

We acknowledge that there are numerous other governance models to be considered. Our purpose was to start this conversation and make use of the incredible knowledge resources that exist in the URBACT programme – URBACT cities pioneering new ways of governance, lead experts with core expertise in innovation and governance, decades of work by URBACT Secretariat members to design capacity-building activities to make collaborative work in ULGs and beyond possible, just to mention few examples. Several workshops within the URBACT City Festival in June 2022 highlighted the continuation of ULGs’ work in many Action Planning Network cities. Whether they live on as legally-binding structures, or informal meet-ups, we look forward to watching these local URBACT-sparked connections keep on thriving!

This article was first co-produced by Anamaria Vrabie, Eileen Crowley and Wessel Badenhorst in April 2022.

Anamaria Vrabie is the Lead expert for the URBACT Tourism-Friendly Cities network. She is a behavioural-informed economist and leader of urban innovation practices with over 15 years of international experience. Since 2017 she has co-designed and managed Cluj-Napoca Urban Innovation Unit.

Eileen Crowley is the Lead expert for the URBACT Resourceful Cities network. She is a project designer and planner. Having worked for almost 20 years in local & regional government, as well as the research sector in Ireland on a broad portfolio of EU funded transnational projects she now works in the private sector as a consultant.

Wessel Badenhorst is the Lead expert for the URBACT iPlace network. He previously worked as the Economic Development Officer in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, one of the Dublin local authorities. He also was the interim CEO of the Sandyford BID Company and helped develop its new BID Strategy.

The New Leipzig Charter highlights three forms of the transformative city which can be harnessed in Europe to enhance people’s quality of life: the Just City, the Green City and the Productive City.

URBACT’s latest publication is packed with sustainable solutions to address these three dimensions – all tried, tested and transferred between EU cities, with adaptations for each local context.

To give a taste of the full stories in ‘Good practice transfer: Why not in my City?’, here are nine examples of local actions for Just Cities. We hope towns and cities of all sizes will be inspired to ‘Understand, Adapt and Re-use’ these ideas for working with communities to fight exclusion and help drive a just transition to a green economy.

1. Boost social inclusion through music

One way Brno (CZ) is tackling social exclusion in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and encouraging children to stay in school, is a music programme inspired by the innovative Municipal Music School and Arts Centre in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (ES). Brno is one of six EU cities in the ONSTAGE network, which have adopted l’Hospitalet’s inclusive approach – with groups including a symphonic orchestra, big bands, pop-rock, and jazz groups. Working with teachers and parents, Brno launched its own group music activities in deprived areas, bringing people together, facilitating cultural exchanges, and even improving school results in maths and other subjects.

2. Encourage volunteering

Pregrada (HR) has found a way to awaken its volunteering potential and encourage more young people to get involved in helping others. Forming a diverse local group to connect relevant associations, council staff, and citizens of all ages, they introduced a new governance structure around volunteering, part of a participatory model for solving local social problems. The town, which already had many active volunteers, and close links between relevant boards and the council, based its new framework on the well-established Municipal Council of Volunteering in Athienou (CY) while also exchanging with six other EU cities in the Volunteering Cities network.

3. Commit to inclusion and tolerance

Hamburg’s Altona district (DE) has launched an anti-discrimination strategy, with a set of principles known as the ‘Altona Declaration’, co-developed by political leaders and residents: “We in Altona,… stand for a free and democratic society; like to encounter new people; represent diversity and engage against discrimination; encounter every person with respect and tolerance; believe in the equality of all people; recognise the chances that come with diversity and encounter every person openly and without prejudices.”

Inspired by Amadora’s (PT) ‘Don’t feed the rumour’ initiative, through the RUMOURLESS CITIES network, Altona appointed local campaign ambassadors, and asked residents about community, democracy and equality – confirming a common desire to live in a society where people take care of each other.

4. Celebrate local heritage through storytelling

A movement to celebrate the built environment, promote active citizenship and fight urban isolation is growing up around a former radio station in a 1950s suburb of Pori (FI). Working with the city’s cultural department, an arts collective based on the site formed a local group and asked neighbours and radio enthusiasts to share their stories, in person and online, sparking new events, interest in local heritage, and the re-use of abandoned space in the old radio station. Pori based the initiative on good practice from Budapest’s annual ‘Weekend of Open Houses’, thanks to the Come in! network.

5. Co-manage city assets

The Belgian city of Ghent has a long history of policy participation, with council-appointed ‘neighbourhood managers’ supporting a variety of citizens’ initiatives. The Civic eState network helped Ghent learn from urban commons legislation in cities like Naples, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Gdansk, further boosting cooperation with residents – and bringing the city’s policy participation, real estate, and legal services to work together. Ghent applied these learnings in the re-use of the decommissioned Saint Jozef Church. Commoners, citizens, and nearby organisations formed a local group to jointly assign a local coordinator to ensure the building’s management and activities take into account the needs of its diverse neighbourhood.

6. Empower neighbourhood partnerships

A new initiative in the French metropole of Lille identifies local associations and their potential synergies in deprived neighbourhoods, in order to empower communities to propose and build their own joint social projects – such as linking up a retirement home with a neighbouring school. The idea is to support these projects on the road to self-sufficiency. Lille based their initiative on learnings from Lisbon’s (PT) Local Development Strategy for Priority Intervention areas, thanks to the Com.Unity.Lab network. Lisbon’s scheme tackles urban poverty and empowers communities by providing micro-grants to thousands of local projects, many of which become autonomous and create permanent jobs.

7. Engage with citizens through play and games

Cork (IE), is taking a ‘playful’ approach to improving the city for all, steered by a local group ‘Let’s Play Cork’ which includes the City Council, public bodies and associations across health, education, culture and sports. Applying good practice from Udine (IT) and other cities in the Playful Paradigm network, Cork’s actions so far include: pop-up play areas in the city centre, parks and libraries; play-based resources for festivals; toy-lending in libraries; and providing ‘street-play packs’ for neighbourhood events. This approach has been a catalyst for local groups and residents to start tackling societal challenges together, such as co-developing playful ideas for public spaces, including the permanent pedestrianisation of certain roads.

8. Build municipality-NGO cooperation

The ‘NGO House’ in Riga (LV) is a place for civil society organisations to hold events, develop sustainable cooperation with the municipality; and receive educational, technical and administrative support. The model inspired cities across the EU to boost their own synergies between NGOs, citizens and institutions – with support from the ACTive NGOs network. The Sicilian town of Siracusa, for example, has developed three new public spaces with local associations: Citizen's House on an abandoned floor of a school in a disadvantaged neighbourhood; Officine Giovani in a historic centre; and the Urban Centre, a recovered space, bringing the administration and community together in planning local policies.

9. Welcome international talent

Home to several multinational companies and a university, Debrecen (HU) is expanding support for professionals and students arriving from other countries to feel welcome and stay on as valuable members of the community. Debrecen is one of six cities in the Welcoming International Talent network, inspired by Groningen (NL) where a multidisciplinary team provides international residents with active support in housing, work, city living and communication. With improved stakeholder relations convincing local leaders to see social aspects of economic development, next steps include support for affordable accommodation, and encouraging local companies to recruit international talent.

Find out more about these, and many more, sustainable city solutions – in the new URBACT publication ‘Good practice transfer: Why not in my City?’.

Visit the Good Practice database for more inspiration.