Networks and cities' news

TOWARDS A PAN EUROPEAN MODEL OF SOCIAL INNOVATION

Interview with the Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz and Magdalena Skiba – coordinator Boosting Social Innovation, interviewed by Peter Wolkowinsky, lead expert of Boostino network

Boostinno is a new URBACT network coordinated by the city of Gdansk, which has taken on the challenge to try to identify a Pan European Model of social innovation[1]. This model will be based on the experience of the initial partner cities  Paris (FR), Milan (IT), Turin (IT) and Braga (PT) working together with all the partners of the network which are in addition Strasbourg (Fr), Skane county (S), Baia Mare (RO), Barcelona Activa (S) and Wroclaw (Pl). It will attempt to foster the social innovation momentum in European local authorities; more specifically by working on the way in which citizens become a central actor in local policies. The network will also work on innovative ways of finance social innovation.

The Arrival Cities project

The Arrival Cities Action Planning Network is tackling one of Europe’s most urgent issues by looking at how cities can manage the challenges of old and new migration flows. Arrival Cities was initiated by Carla Tavares, the Mayor of the Municipality of Amadora, and Amadora is lead partner for the network. As Arrival Cities embarks on the six month phase of partnership development and network planning, Liz Mackie, the lead expert for the network, talked to the Deputy Mayor of Amadora, Cristina Farinha, about Amadora’s reasons for starting the Arrival Cities network, how the network will be developed and what she hopes they will gain from this experience. Ms Farinha became Deputy Mayor in October 2013, her portfolio includes education and training, social development, sport and youth, health, and management of co-financed processes.

Challenges and Ambitions for Baena, the Lead Partner of URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.

AGRI-URBAN is about Rethinking Agri-Food Production in Small and Medium sized Cities.

Interview with Jesús Rojano Aguilera, Mayor of the city of Baena, and with the project coordination team, António Zafra and Raquel Moreno.

Interviewed by Miguel Sousa, Lead Expert of the URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.

Railway Hubs: Changing track in stakeholder engagement

Railway station locations are increasingly being re-invented as vibrant, multi-functional, multi-modal urban attraction poles. This inspired the URBACT ENTER.HUB network to explore opportunities which the “Railway Hub” concept can bring to cities. This innovative transformation can also help in understanding new governance and participation models.

Temporary use European good practices

In occasion of the TUTUR final conference some good practices on Temporary Use Agencies from around Europe were invited to share their experience with the participants and allow for the enrichment of new ideas and insights. During the TUTUR project the experience from the ZwischenZeitZentrale in Bremen was the basis for the work developed in Rome and Alba Iulia, but in occasion of the final conference the idea was to look also into other models, such as the case of the Lakatlan from Budapest, Meanwhilespace from London, Coopolis from Berlin and Stipo from Rotterdam. What was particularly relevant of these other examples is that, unlike what was developed by TUTUR, these are agencies initiated by private bodies and only partially connected to public administration, therefore providing a valuable comparison of approaches within the discussions of the conference. 

The importance for Local Authorities to be active participants in the development of good social inclusion practices

Roma-NeT invited Dr Soryia Siddique BSc (Hon), MSc, PhD, an elected Elected member Glasgow City Council, to present at ROMACT/ROMED Conference in Roma Inclusion in Brussels.