The sixth Network Journal of Cities After Dark highlights the activities carried out at both transnational and local level between September 2025 and December 2025. As the network prepares to showcase its main outcomes at international level, the partners of Cities After Dark have
finalized their Integrated Action Plans (IAPs) and started their promotion at local level, kicking off the first steps towards the implementation of its actions.
The Transnational Meeting and the Cities After Dark Festival in Tallinn
The final transnational meeting in Tallinn was not only an opportunity for defining altogether how to continue to work on night-time economy in the future, but also marked a public celebration of the results achieved by the cities of the network in the framework of an event designed as an open festival hosted by different night venues of the Estonian capital.
Stadt Nach Acht Final Dissemination Event in Berlin
The participation of Cities After Dark at Stadt Nach Acht in Berlin contributed to give international visibility to the network, after the presentation of its initial challenges at the 2023 edition of the Europe’s leading conference on nightlife and nocturnal urban development. Stadt Nach Acht provided an ideal platform to showcase the network’s results, connecting them within the broader debate on culture, safety, health, sustainability, and urban governance after dark.
The Study Visit to Budva
As part of its programme of thematic study visits, Cities After Dark continued to explore how partner cities are experimenting with innovative approaches to managing urban life after dark.
The study visit to Budva represented a crucial moment in the network’s journey, fostering reflection on regulation, cultural sustainability and functional zoning as key tools for governing nightlife in sensitive urban contexts.
The Testing Actions of Zadar and Budva
The Testing Actions of the URBACT Cities After Dark network validated the innovative approaches to the management of night-time economy developed in collaboration with the local
partners. Among the last ones to finalize these pilots, Zadar and Budva offer two complementary examples that address, respectively, night-time mobility and digital tools for visibility and promotion of the night-time economy offering.
Under the Spotlight: The Action of The Cities at Local Level
The partners of Cities After Dark focused on refining the Integrated Action Plans and reinforcing local ownership of the strategies developed over the previous months. After extensive
stakeholder engagement through Urban Local Groups, thematic workshops and testing actions, cities focused on validating political commitment, refining strategic priorities and ensuring the operational feasibility of their plans, including the estimation of a budget for the implementation of the actions. At the same time, many partners organized local public events to promote the IAPs, in order to promote their night-time economy agendas as a shared commitment for the years ahead.
EUI City-to-City: Exchange on Night-Time Economy Between Braga and Kilkenny
The Irish city applied to the EUI City-to-City Exchange programme to learn from the experience carried out by Braga on the topics with Cities After Dark. The cities exchanged two bilateral visits that focused on respective strategies to promote the night sector across different thematic policies, and site visits to clubs, music venues and other cultural premises which are making both the cities vibrant between 6PM and 6AM.
Click HERE to read our #6 Quarterly Journal
