Networks and cities' news

The EmPowerIngUs Transfer Journey: From Innovation to Local Ownership

How five cities translated the EPIU Good Practice into locally adapted pathways for tackling energy poverty

EmPowerIngUs final conference sessions

Getafe City Council, through its Municipal Housing Company EMSV, held the Final Event of the URBACT Innovation Transfer Network, EmPowerIngUs, on 1st of July. During the event, cities representatives, experts and a diversified audience had the opportunity to discuss Europe from a local perspective, discussing how European projects translate into real improvements for citizens, and how a just energy transition can be built from within cities, homes and by individuals. 

Energy independence, renovation, and healthy homes were at the center of the debate, exemplified throughout the experiences of the four European cities that have accompanied Getafe on this journey and which have successfully interpreted and adapted the ‘Getafe model’ to their own circumstances.

Organized around two session the EmPowerIngUs final conference engaged a large number of participants both in its on site and in its online sessions. Mixing multiple perspectives, the conference was an important opportunity to explore energy relted issues at different scales and level of governement.

How does participation lead to transformation?

Give teenagers €1,000, no strings attached, trust them to make their city better, step back and watch what happens.

That was the bet Cluj-Napoca made in 2015. A decade later, it has paid off more than 1,000 times. Now comes a more complicated question: can a model built in Cluj-Napoca work in four other European cities?

Under the URBACT-funded Com'ON City transfer network, five cities are working together until 2028 to adapt this model to their own local realities: Leeuwarden (Netherlands), Piacenza (Italy), Valongo (Portugal), Veszprém (Hungary) and Cluj-Napoca as lead partner.

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Safer nights, better nights: when collaboration makes cities safer for everyone

Night-time economy can be an antidote to the decline of city centres and make them safer for all. In this article, CITISENSE Ad Hoc Expert Simone d’Antonio highlights some of the dimensions of nocturnal urban life that can be enhanced to make cities safer and more accessible, in line with the core focus of the network.

IV Quarterly Network Journal - RECUP ITN Network

The article below is based on the original work of Elisa Filippi, Lead Expert of the RECUP URBACT Network. The full article was created with the contribution of the network partners. For readers interested in the complete version and additional insights, the original publication is available on the RECUP website.

INTRODUCTION 

As the RECUP journey enters its final months, partner cities are preparing for an important transition: from experimentation to implementation. After two years of learning, adapting and testing, the focus is now on strengthening the Integrated Investment Plans and preparing them for life beyond the network’s official end in August.

This also means asking a key question: how will we know whether our cultural actions are really making a difference? The third and final RECUP Masterclass addressed this challenge by focusing on monitoring and evaluation of cultural impact, with the contribution of Michaela Saisana, Head of Unit at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, who introduced the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor. The session reminded us that measuring culture is also about understanding change, combining quantitative with qualitative evidence, and showing why culture matters for cities and communities.

In May, RECUP partners also met in Dubrovnik for the fifth Core Network Meeting. The city offered a powerful setting to reflect on cultural legacy and urban transformation, from the regeneration of the former TUP Factory to the reuse of heritage spaces such as Lazareti. During the meeting, partners reviewed their Investment Plans and worked on how to communicate their ideas more effectively through a dedicated storytelling and public speaking workshop. Indeed, to be strong a plan should not only be well designed, but also communicated, making it easy for people to understand it and support it..

If you are interested in knowing how cities can measure impact, turn cultural heritage into living creativity, and prepare strong investment plans, this Network Journal is for you.

Enjoy the reading!