Kostas Karamarkos

I am an experienced URBACT Lead Expert and strategic advisor who helps European cities transform transnational exchange into practical, locally owned and implementable action.

I have served as Lead Expert for three URBACT network cycles: the RU:RBAN Transfer Network, its 2nd Wave, and the TechDiversity Action Planning Network. Through these assignments, I have supported cities with very different sizes, institutional capacities and territorial contexts in designing learning journeys, engaging local stakeholders, adapting good practices, developing integrated responses and producing high-quality network and local outputs.

From July 2023 to December 2025, I served as Lead Expert of TechDiversity, an Action Planning Network involving eight small and medium-sized European cities. I supported the Lead Partner and the partnership throughout the complete network journey: baseline development, network methodology, transnational exchange and learning activities, URBACT Local Group processes, peer learning, local testing and the preparation and review of Integrated Action Plans. The network addressed diversity, inclusion and equal participation in local technology and digital ecosystems.

Previously, I worked for five years with the City of Rome as Lead Expert of the two RU:RBAN Transfer Network waves. I supported Rome and ten partner cities in transferring and adapting an integrated urban-gardens management model, covering community capacity building, stakeholder participation, governance arrangements and local regulations. This experience strengthened my ability to facilitate the transfer of complex practices between cities with very different administrative, cultural and territorial conditions.

I also acted as core technical advisor to the City of Trikala within the VILAWATT Urban Transfer Mechanism, supporting the adaptation of an innovative public–private–citizen model for local energy governance.

My approach combines thematic expertise with strong exchange and learning methodology. I support networks with:

• baseline studies and needs assessment
• network methodologies and learning journeys
• engaging transnational meetings and peer-learning activities
• URBACT Local Group development and stakeholder co-creation
• integrated and participatory policy design
• local experimentation and action-oriented learning
• development and peer review of action plans and portfolios
• monitoring, evaluation, capitalisation and production of network outputs.

Cities working with me can expect a collaborative, structured and pragmatic working relationship. I listen carefully to local realities, adapt methods to different levels of municipal capacity and maintain close contact with partners between transnational meetings. My role is not to impose ready-made solutions, but to help each city mobilise its knowledge, stakeholders and resources to develop credible and locally owned responses.

My principal thematic fields are:

• integrated urban and regional development;
• local economic development and regional competitiveness;
• digital transformation, inclusion, diversity and skills;
• energy transition and just transition;
• sustainable food systems and place-based development;
• multi-level governance, cohesion policy and EU funding;
• S3, innovation ecosystems and mission-oriented approaches.

Beyond my network assignments, I have contributed to URBACT programme-level activities, including capacity-building workshops, Transfer Network Campus moderation, assessment of National URBACT Point performance and adaptation of URBACT IV Toolbox resources for effective transfer.

My work with the European Urban Initiative further strengthens my capacity to support cities in integrated, participatory and implementation-oriented urban development. As an EUI expert and curriculum designer, I have contributed to capacity-building activities for Greek and European municipalities, designed and moderated peer-learning workshops, supported cities in addressing complex challenges such as climate adaptation, digital inclusion, sustainable food systems and integrated urban governance, and helped translate strategic priorities into practical local action.

Since 1992, I have advised municipalities, regions, European institutions and territorial partnerships on sustainable urban and regional transformation. This wider experience enables me to connect URBACT action planning with governance reform, investment opportunities, Cohesion Policy instruments and realistic implementation pathways.

I am particularly interested in supporting partnerships that value open collaboration, ambitious but realistic planning, meaningful stakeholder participation and measurable local impact.

more can be found:  https://kkc.gr/